THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 213 



linearifolium, G. Uttorale, G. Neapolitanim, and G. vernum. The tender 

 species are G. Fersicum and G. repandum. 



Culture of Hardy CrcLAiiEif. — It would be a folly to deal with 

 hardy cyclamens as we deal with most other hardy spring flowers, 

 because if exposed to all the rigours of the early season at which they 

 bloom, nothing but disappointment is to be expected. Hardy c5-clamens 

 must not be committed to a common garden border in the same way as 

 we plant tufts of daisy and arabis, and, except in warm localities, where 

 the soil is peaty, the border must be specially prepared for them. Those 

 who grow Ixias, Sparaxis, and other of the nearly hardy Cape bulbs, out 

 of doors, are in just the proper position to do justice to hardy cyclamens. 

 A border facing south, sheltered wath a back wall or greenhouse, or 

 enjoying some of the surplus warmth from a stove or furnace, and con- 

 sisting chiefly of peat and leaf-mould, on a warm and well- drained sub- 

 soil, is the place for Cyclamens, Tritonias, Ixias, the hardy Amaryllises, 

 Alstra^merias, and myriads of the choicest flowering plants known, which 

 need not so much the help of artificial heat as moderate protection against 

 the scathing blasts and perishing sleets of our springs. In such a border 

 in some parts of the south-western counties, all the species of cyclamen 

 could be grown, but anywhere the so-called hardy kinds might be culti- 

 vated with the certainty of success. We can promise to any of our 

 readers who will, during this present October, make up a border for 

 plants of the land just namerl, an amount of enjoyment far surpassing 

 all that they have ever derived from the pursuit of gardening according 

 to the established routine of making a grand summer display, and 

 devoting every possible energy to the development of the bedding system. 

 But as we cannot now pursue this subject, we will just state that, if the 

 position is well drained and sheltered, all that hardy cyclamens require 

 is a mixture of turfy peat, leaf-mould, and silky yellow loam, equal parts. 

 This must be a foot to eighteen inches deep, and when the bulbs are 

 planted, the bed should be covered with two inches of dung, rotted to 

 powder. The season for planting is October, and every succeeding 

 October the bulbs should be taken up and replanted, otherwise the flowers 

 get fewer and poorer eveiy year. In planting, use silver-sand in contact 

 with the bulb, and press the bulbs of G. coum an inch below the surface. 

 The others press in slightly, in the way in which onions are planted. 

 The bed should be covered during winter with four inches of tanner's 

 bark, as a protection against frost. 



Culture of Greenhouse Ctclamens. — The usual method of culture 

 is to pot the bulbs in autumn in successional batches, so as to insure a 

 successional and long-continued bloom. The same soil as recommended 

 for border culture answers for plants in pots, if a fifth part of silver-sand 

 is added to the bulk. The first potting of strong bulbs should be in small 

 pots. "When this is accomplished, place the pots containing the bulbs in a 

 frame, and give them very little water. As soon as they begin to grow 

 freely, increase the supply of water, but always be moderate with it, and 

 as soon aa the pots are full of roots shift to the next size, and use plenty 

 of drainage. We find that we can grow very handsome specimens in 54- 

 sized pots, but large old bulbs will readily fill 48 or 32-size. Whether in 

 greenhouse or frame, the plants must have air as often as possible, but be 

 kept quite secure from frost, and as soon as they show for bloom let them 

 have plenty of water. As soon as the bloom is over, set them out of 



