I04 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



flower-gardeners. Who would have thought a few years ago that 

 our Snowdrop was only one of a large number taking care of them- 

 selves in the mountains of Asia Minor and other regions? Others 

 are coming, and when these increase in our gardens we shall have 

 fresh aids to make our spring gardens more beautiful. As these 

 new kinds are mostly plants from cool regions, they will probably 

 be easily naturalised in many soils. The snowflake must not be 

 forgotten — {q\\ spring flowers are more free than the vernal and late 

 Snowflakes. 



SciLLAS, Hyacinths, and like Plants. — The lovely early 

 group of plants allied to our Wood Hyacinth — Scilla, Chionodoxa, 

 and H}'acinthus (the more tiny and dwarf wild species are referred to 

 here under this last name) — ask for some thought as to their artistic 

 use. The Scillas are well known, but the newer forms of Chionodoxa 

 give an unlooked-for loveliness of blue very early in the spring, and 

 show a pretty variety in their delicate colours ; and yet there is no 

 more lovely thing among them than the Taurian Scilla, a large form of 

 the long-neglected Scilla bifolia. It is so early and so deep a blue that 

 one may get rich effects with it very early. The more tiny and select 

 of all these plants are alpine, delightful for rock-gardens, and all the more 

 so if we can use them in visible groups. The stouter kinds, such as 

 the larger Chionodoxa, are coming in such numbers that we may try 

 their effects in many ways ; it is impossible to omit them from what- 

 ever kind of spring gardening we adopt. 



The common Hyacinth — in its double forms at least — is so stiff 

 that we take little interest in it for the flower garden ; but the 

 simpler colours of the single kinds deserve a place. Would it not 

 be worth while growing the single Hyacinth provincialis from which 

 these all come ? Hyacinths will come up year after year in flower 

 beds, and throwing away the roots after once blooming is a mistake. 



Other Lilies. — Apart from the true Lilies there are certain 

 plants to which the name is also given betimes, such as the Torch 

 Lily (Kniphofia), the Day Lily (Hemerocallis), the Peruvian Lily 

 (Alstroemeria), the African Lily (Agapanthus), the Belladonna Lily 

 (Amaryllis), the Cape Lily (Crinum), the Plantain Lily (P'unkia), the 

 Wood Lily (Trillium), the Mariposa Lily (Calochortus), besides other 

 Lilies that do not come under our present heading, or which do not 

 ask for thought as regards their effective use. 



The Torch Lilies are brilliant in colour, and have been added 

 to of recent years, but severe winters have thinned them, and they 

 will always be best in dry soils and in sunny positions, protected 

 in winter. They are best kept apart from flowers more refined in 

 colour, such as the Tea Rose. The Day Lilies are a really hardy 

 race, and most of them will grow anywhere. With their fine leaves 



