251 



BULBOUS FLOWERS IN WINDOWS, 



I SHOULD be much, obliged if ia your in- 

 teresting Floral Wokld yoa would 

 kindly inform me whether the Agapanthus 

 umbellatus is likely to bloom with me as 

 a window plant. My house is situated at 

 a corner, in the main road, aspect south 

 and east, exposed to great heat in summer, 

 great cold in the winter. Gas is used in 

 the shop below. The air I consider im- 

 pure, in spite of a strong current of air 

 through the house whenever any wind is 

 blowing. I am quite a window gardener, 

 with not an inch of garden or out-door 

 place to stand a pot, besides window ledge 

 or tiles, where they are then ia constant 

 danger of being blown down. I inclose a 

 list of bulbous plants I have, tried both 

 with the idea that it may useful in assist- 

 ing you to advise me what bulbous plants 

 to try, and also that it may be useful to 

 others similarly situated. 



Of course I have tried numbers of her- 

 baceous plants and seeds, with plenty of 

 failures. I have planted a number of 

 fresh ones (bulbous), this year in pots. 

 The following is a list of subjects that 

 have been attempted in 1862-1863 : — i 

 *jif* means bloomed well, ** means 

 bloomed poorly, * means did not bloom at 

 all. Tritonia rosea*, Tigridia pavonia*, 

 Lilium longifolium*, L. clialcedonicum*, 

 L. aurantiacum*, lancifolium rnbrum*,^*, 

 L. tigrinum*j|f*, L. candidum*^*, su- 

 perbly, Oxalis speciosum*, Iris persica*. 

 Iris Lusitanica*, Iris pavonia*, Gladiolus 

 Byzantinus*^|t*, G. hybrid courantii ful- 

 gens*, G. ramosus** tirst year, *se- 

 cond year ; G. Brenchleyensis*, yellow 

 crocus*j(t*, purple crocus*, Narcissus 

 poeticus*,^*, N. pseudo-narcissus*, N. 

 Grand Monarque*,^.*. Jonquils and Tulip 

 Van ThoU double, two out of six bloomed 

 poorly ; Star of Bethlehem, Oruithogalum, 

 and Hyacinths did well. [The two names 

 which follow here are unintelligible. They 

 appear to read, " Belg. Gael, no bloom ; 

 Alb, hardy.] Allium moly*^).*, Anoma- 

 theca cruenta*.jt*. 



"Window Gardener. 

 [Tlie best part of this communication is 

 that which is " conspicuous by its ab- 

 sence." The writer is not at all despondent, 

 but after so many failures is prepared to 

 " try, try, try again." We confess to 

 some litttle perplexity in attempting to 

 advise him, because we know there may 

 be many reasons for failure in the culture 

 of bulbs, apart altogether from the cir- 

 cumstances ander which our fiiend of 

 Walworth Road is placed ; and we cannot 



of course go through the list seriatim, and 

 lay down rules for each particular class of 

 bulbs. But as bulbs are among the most 

 useful of subjects for windows, we will 

 endeavour to make a few practical re- 

 marks, and first for the subject oi potting. 

 If tbis is not properly done, the bulb 

 may fail to throw up its flowers, although 

 a good bulb always contains its flowers 

 ready formed in an embryonic condition. 

 The pots, boxes, baskets, or what else ia 

 which tbey are to be grown, should have 

 perfect drainage. Over the hole in the 

 pot lay one large hollow crock, or oyster- 

 shell, hollow side downwards ; on this pile 

 a few smaller pieces carefully, and then put 

 in a handful of crocks of the size of hazel- 

 nuts. On this lay two or three pieces of 

 turf torn to the size of walnuts, or if no 

 turf, put a handful of the most fibrous por- 

 tion of cocoa-nut waste. The compost to 

 fill up should consist of silver sand, one 

 part, friable yellow loam, one part, dung 

 rotted to powder and quite free of worms, 

 two parts, all well chopped up and mixed 

 together. Let the pot be nearly filled with 

 this mixture, and pressed in moderately 

 firm. Now take a hyacinth bulb, and 

 press it down into the soil, and fill in round 

 it, so that when the pot is filled to within 

 half an inch of the rim, the bulb will be 

 half in the soil and half out. If the soil is 

 pressed into the pot as hard as a pavement, 

 the bulb will rise on one side and look un- 

 sightly, because of the resistance the young 

 roots will meet with, and if the stuff' is too 

 loose, the pot will not contain sufficient to 

 nourish the plant ; so a moderately firm 

 condition of soil is needful to hit the happy 

 mean, and this must be a matter of expe- 

 rience. Tulips, Crocuses, Irises, Tritonias, 

 and Ornithogalums in pots and boxes 

 should be quite covered with soil ; large 

 bulbs of Narcissus may be pressed in par- 

 tially, the same as hyacinths. Next, as to 

 watering. Give very little at first ; keep 

 the pots or boxes in a window, or in a shel- 

 tered place outside, where they will neither 

 be nipped by frost nor urged into too rapid 

 a growth by artificial heat. As soon as 

 the leaves and spikes rise fully, give plenty 

 of water, and occasionally sponge the leaves 

 with tepid water, but with great care not to 

 snap or bruise them. While the flower- 

 spikes are rising, let them be fully exposed 

 to daylight ; if kept on mantel-pieces and 

 sideboards, the flowers will lack colour and 

 the leaves will be blanched, but when the 

 bloom is full out, they may be placed any- 

 where as desured for ornament. Afi«r- 



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