One perennial which commands attention in both garden and border is the stately, majestic, multi-flowered eremurus. When mature, it stands 4’ to 12’ feet high, depending on the species or variety, and bears a striking spike of blooms 2’ to 3’ feet in length. Each spike attractively displays hundreds of perfect, starlike, bell-shaped flowers. In … Read more
which the name was initially applied was Primula vulgaris. Its foliage is like that of the polyanthus, but its single-stalked flowers easily distinguish it from the clustered inflorescence of its hybrid. Occasionally, however, some of the modern strains of Primula vulgaris tend to produce small low clusters toward the end of the blooming season. The … Read more
Have you ever been curious about what many of the odd bulbs are in the bulb catalogs? Did you ever try to get a few new ones each year? It’s fun if you can just get up your nerve to order those things you have never seen. Order several different species and varieties of each … Read more
Have you ever tried to grow lilies from scales? If you haven’t, you have missed one of the most interesting gardening experiences. Many new hybrid garden lilies produce little or no seed, so you will find propagating them from scales (the segments of the bulb which look like sections of an artichoke) is an easy … Read more
The golden-rayed lily of Japan, Lilium auratum, has been called the queen of lilies. It is regally tall and graceful, and its deliciously fragrant, waxy-white flowers have broad golden bands flecked with crimson running down the center of the petals. In some hybrids, the bands are crimson and broader than the type. The flowers are … Read more
In your garden, be it large or small, there is no reason why you may not enjoy the exquisite perfection of hardy lilies. Even in a garden filled to over-flowing with other flowers, lilies may be tucked in here and there to enhance the garden picture. And surprising as it may seem, lilies like just … Read more
In many parts of the United States, the lovely, fragrant auratum lily, the gold-band lily of Japan, usually lasts only one year. Why? The experts claim that this is one of the two finest hardy garden lilies, and the other is Lilium speciosum rubrum. Other lilies are touchy, such as: Lilium speciosum album Lilium martagon … Read more
Can one date beauty or say of plants just when they are ready to take their rightful place in the garden world? I believe we can in the case of lilies. These lovely, hardy, easy-to-grow plants have come a long way from the species collected in the wild. They have had a difficult transition period. … Read more
If there is any hardy flower that has gained popularity more rapidly during recent years than the lily, we do not know what it is. The old idea that they are challenging to grow is fast fading out, and rightly so! Many modern lilies are much easier to grow than their predecessors. This, plus better … Read more
The Madonna lily first came to the attention of the man in the “dawn of prehistory.” This was in the part of the world traditionally associated with the Garden of Eden. Whether hungry people discovered and cherished the plant for the food value of the bulb or whether gardeners — their acre gardeners then — … Read more