The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 990, December 17, 1898 — John Shaqi
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 990, December 17, 1898Various
General
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 990, December 17, 1898
Various
Children's literature -- Periodicals
Plant these bulbs in the same way and with the same precautions as you
do new bulbs; detach any small bulblets and plant these separately.
Never let the bulbs remain out of the ground longer than can possibly
be helped.
Lilies in pots must be repotted every year. As soon as the stem has
died down, empty the pot, shake out the bulb, separate any offshoots
that it may have made, and replant at once.
Very little water need be given during the winter, but the bulbs must
not be allowed to become dry. It is a great mistake to winter hardy
lilies indoors or in a greenhouse, as it renders the plants tender and
liable to disease.
Although all lilies are perennial, that is, they come up every year,
there are some kinds, notably _Lilium Canadense_, which show great
reluctance to becoming established, and after coming up well for two
or three years, suddenly disappear altogether. This is especially the
case when the plants have been allowed to ripen their seed. Indeed, all
lilies tend to dwindle when they are allowed to go to seed. One reason
why _L. Candidum_ is so much better when grown in neglected situations
than any other lily is because it never produces seed in this country.
There are four methods by which lilies may be propagated; by seed; by
bulblets, which are formed in the axils of the leaves of some species;
by offshoots from the parent bulb, and by detached scales. Again the
bulbs often split into two or more parts. If a single bulb has sent up
two flower spikes, the bulb will probably be found to have split into
two, the scales re-arranging themselves accordingly. If these two bulbs
are separated, each will send up flower spikes either next year or the
year after.
Growing lilies from seed is a tedious affair and is not worth its salt
except when trying to raise hybrids or new species of great rarity.
The seeds should be grown in seed-pans in a mixture of peat, leaf
mould, sand and moss. They take from six weeks to two years to
germinate. Under glass they germinate more quickly. They never produce
flowering bulbs till at least two years after they have been sown.
_Lilium Tenuifolium_ grows the most rapidly, and often flowers in
the third year. Other kinds take from three to ten years to form a
flowering bulb--time enough to exhaust the patience of any amateur.
The vast majority of seeds either never germinate, or, if they develop
so far, die before they have formed a bulb of sufficient size to send
up a flower spike. Not all lilies produce seeds in this country. _L.
Candidum_, _Testaceum_, _Chalcedonicum_, and others never do. Most
kinds only ripen their seeds in very propitious seasons. So much for
seeds.
The second method of increasing lilies is by growing the small bulblets
which form in the axils of the leaves. Only _L. Bulbiferum_, _L.
Tigrinum_, and occasionally one or two others, produce these axial
bulblets. Sow the bulblets as you do the seeds. They usually germinate
very quickly, and produce flowering bulbs within two years.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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