1869.] HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 563 



,jsroTEs olsr hardy herbaceous plants. 



Cyclamen — ' Sotvbread.' — There is perhaps no more attractive group 

 in the whole range of Alpine plants than that comprised in this genus. 

 They are all neat and dwarf in habit ; all have foliage of pretty form ; 

 and the flowers, in every case beautiful, are in some exquisitely so. 

 They are mostly spring-blooming plants, so early, indeed, that in our 

 fitful climate their beauties are rarely enjoyed out of doors ; but culti- 

 vated in pots they are well adapted for the decoration of rooms, the 

 conservatory, or greenhouse ; and for choice cut flowers, the fine colours, 

 peculiar and beautiful form, and, in the case of some sorts, the delicate 

 fragrance they possess, render them charming. Their culture is simple 

 enough when their nature and requirements are understood and at- 

 tended to. With the exception of C. persicum and its hybrids and 

 varieties, and perhaps also C. repandum, the remaining species may be 

 considered hardy Alpine plants. For the most part, the species inhabit 

 high cold regions on the great mountains of southern Europe, and their 

 constitution is consequently adapted to resist the greatest cold they 

 will be exposed to in our climate ; but when winter is gone, and we 

 are looking forward with expectation for the unfolding of their 

 beauties, along with the lengthening days of March and April, the late 

 frosts and battering rains so common in these months bring disaster to 

 Cyclamen flowers, as they do to the flowers of many more important 

 things. Something may be done to protect them, with hoods or ex- 

 tinguishers oi frigi domo, so made as to be easily slipped over and fas- 

 tened upon stakes permanently fixed around the plants, in anticipation 

 of inclement w^eather ; but it is troublesome and unsatisfactory, inas- 

 much as we are often taken at unawares by the sudden changes ex- 

 perienced in the spring months. It is necessary, therefore, if we would 

 fully enjoy the beauty of the early-flowering Cyclamens, to provide 

 them with indoor accommodation of some sort. It is one of the re- 

 commendations of these plants that they do not take up much room in 

 winter ; many may be stored in small space. A cold frame in which 

 the pots may be plunged in coal-ashes is the most suitable place for 

 them ; but in the absence of that, they may be stored under the stage 

 of a cool greenhouse, or in a vinery or peach-house, in which, if not 

 provided with heating apparatus, the roots would require to be pro- 

 tected by some means in severe weather. Hand-glasses and cloches 

 are fit enough also for wintering a few plants, and they may even be 

 successfully flowered in such ; but nothing could be better for the culti- 

 vation of these and kindred plants all the year round than those cheap 

 ground vineries ; they are specially commendable to amateurs for such 

 purposes. 



