120 



GARDENERS- CHROMCLE 



Interesting Spring-Flowering Bulbous Plants 



IT is astonishing what a wealth of garden beauty is prac- 

 tically unknown to the great majority of garden own- 

 ers. Granted that a very large proportion of plant- 

 lovers have very small — too small — gardens, it is none tlie 

 less remarkable that there is such a com])arative scarcity of 

 many interesting species and even genera in i>rivate places. 

 This is as true of spring-flowering Inilbous plants as 

 of any secl'on of hardy ])lants. Daffodils, florists" Tulips. 

 Hyacinths and Dutch Crocuses are to he found in prac- 

 tically every garden, but when we come to the very beau- 

 tiful and interesting little DalTodils of the Hoop-Petti- 

 coat, Angels' Tears and cyclamineus sections, to mention 

 but three, in how many gardens can we find them ? 



How often does one see even the commonest of the 

 species Tulips growing, or species Crocuses for that mat- 

 ter? All the Frilillarias and Erythroniums are really un- 

 common. There nuist be many thousands of gardens of 

 some size in which even our beautiful native Snakeshead, 

 Fritillaria Meleagris, is wanting, and the same may be 

 said even of the common Dog's Tooth Violet, Er\-thro- 

 nium Denscanis. The glorious sky blue Muscari Heaven- 

 ly Blue is still a catalogue name to many, and even the 

 old Grape Hyacinth, Muscari botryoides. which was 

 fairly common in Victorian days, is now almost a rarity. 



Of the small Narcissi, none is more interesting than 

 the forms of the Hoop Petticoat Narcissus, N. Bul- 

 bocodium. 



Besides the Bulbocodiums and the Angels' Tears, there 

 are such tiny and beautiful species as N. minimus, a per- 

 fect little trumpet Daffodil which scarcely exceeds three 

 inches in height. This little charmer does admirably in 

 the heath garden, or, in peaty soil, it will flourish on a 

 rocky bank. N. nanus is a giant by comparison with 

 the last, yet it scarcely ever grows taller than six inches. 

 The blossoms are a deep golden yellow, and it is very 

 effective among short grass on banks or mounds. 



Of Tulip species none is easier or more beautiful than 

 T. Kaufmanniana, an April-flowering kind of very vari- 

 able coloring, but, as generally sold, soft creamy yellow 

 tinged on the exterior with pink. T. Greigi, also April- 

 flowering, is also fairly easy, though it seldom increases 

 to any extent. This is a large-flowered species with bril- 

 liant vermilion blossoms ; the leaves are handsomely 

 blotched with purplish brown. 



The wild species which is the parent of the j\lay- 

 flowcring Darwin Tuli])s, T. (jesneriana, is admirable. It 

 is, as might he expected, a tall grower, and the brilliant 

 crimson-scarlet blossoms, each with a conspicuous black 

 zone at the base, are sweet scented. T. dasystemon is a 

 pretty little sjiecies very distinct from any of the florists' 

 Tuli]js in that it habitually bears several flowers on a stem ; 

 strong bulbs will produce as many as .seven. The blos- 

 soms, in their garb of yellow ed.ged with white, remind 

 one of that V>ril!iant Californian annual, Lininanthes 

 Douglasii. T. persica also bears two or more blossoms 

 on each stem. This is a dwarf species, and the bright 

 yellow flowers, which are bronzed externally, are fragrant. 

 It is l>est, therefore, in the rock garden and not too far from 

 the eye. Tulipa sylvestris is a native of P.ritain and worth 

 growing for its fragrance alone. In color it is pale yellow, 

 touched at the edges with red. There are a great number 

 of other Tulip species, but these should suffice for the 

 beginner to try. 



When we come to the Crocus sjjecies, considcTabk- 

 selection is necessary, for an article could easily be written 

 upon this topic alone. Crocus Sieberi is a Grecian species 

 of bright lilac coloring in the typical form, with orange 



at the base ; but the natural variety, versicolor, has a 

 wider range of coloring — white, purple and lilac being 

 mottled and striped above the orange base. Crocus Im- 

 perati is one of the largest of the species Crocuses, yet. 

 if size be a desideratum, it falls short of the Giant Dutch 

 sorts. There is a beautiful clear rose form and also a 

 pure white. This is quite one of the best of the very 

 early-flowering species. Crocus Tommasinianus is one 

 of the most beautiful and useful. It flowers just before 

 C. vernus and the Dutch varieties raised from that species. 

 There are numbers of other spring-flowering species and 

 several good autumn-flowering ones, all easy to grow 

 and beautiful. Of these latter, probably, C. speciosus, 

 of rich bluish purple hue with a touch of gallant orange 

 provided b}- the stigmata, is the best. 



Fritillaria Aleleagris, the Snakeshead, still to be found 

 wild in some English meadows, is equally easy in turf- 

 land or in garden soil. It does not like too hot a situation, 

 but will grow and increase on banks facing east or west, 

 and does not disdain the light shade of deciduous trees. 

 It will flourish on light sandy soils, but probablv prefers a 

 moderately greasy loam. When the quaintly speckled 

 bells reach a height of two feet or more, as they will 

 easily do when happy, this is a most effective plant. It is 

 also excellent for cut flowers. There are now quite a 

 number of named varieties, but those who have never 

 grown the Snakeshead would be well advised to try the 

 typical plant and its even commoner white ( or whitish ) 

 variety first. Afterwards, stock can be ra]>idlv increased 

 from the seeds which are produced in such abundance. 

 Of the other Fritillarias we may neglect the Crown Im- 

 perials (F. Imperialis), since everyone knows them, 

 though, strangely enough, thev are little grown nowa- 

 days. 



Comparatively few gardeners have any conceurion of 

 the beauty of the better Erythroniums wlien naturalized, 

 for in suitable soils and situations naturalize themselves 

 they all will. Perhaps E. revolutum is the most useful 

 species. Some of the forms of this are magnificent and 

 easy to grow. White I'eauty has self-colored flowers 

 of a delightful buttery-cream tone with all the finish 

 we expect in the lily family. The blossoms are not 

 seldom three inches across and when established the 

 flower stems are often more than a foot in height. No 

 r)ne who has only seen this plant as a pigmy sjiecimen in 

 a small pot at a Royal Horticultural Society's meeting 

 can form any conception of its beauty in the garden. 

 This, indeed, applies to all the .American S])ecies and 

 varieties. Other good forms of E. revolutum are Johnsoni, 

 clear pink, and W'atsoni, cream color with a rosy zone. 

 E. Pink I'leaiily is a fine rosy pink sort which makes an 

 excellent companion to W'hite lleauty, but is obviously not 

 very closelv related. K. americamim is a pretty clear 

 yellow species with red s]K)ts, but not free to flower. The 

 soft orange and yellow E. Howelli. rather a rare plant at 

 i)resent, is mure lloril'eruus. — 77/<.- (iardrii. 



'("he wlinle life of man is hut a jKjint "\ time: let us 

 enjoy it, therefore while it lasts, and nut spend it to no 

 purpose. — Plutarch. 



A CORRECTION 



In the .\])ril issue, the ilhistratiun of lirasso-Cattleya, 

 llenc, was inadvertently ])laced up side d()wn, after it had 

 slipped from the forms when ready for i)ress. The error 

 was not discovered till the pages were printed. 



