172 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



dantly at the dawn of spring, and have the essential merit of not 

 requiring annual culture, tufts remaining in vigour in the same spot 

 for many years. 



Dog's-tooth Violets, Snowdrop, Snowflake, Crocus, 

 SciLLA, Fritillary, AND HYACINTH. — The European Dog's-tooth 

 Violet is pretty in the budding grass, where it is free in growth and 

 bloom. The Fritillary is one of the most welcome flowers for 

 grass, and is best in moist meadows ; the rarer kinds do well in 

 good garden soil, those with pale yellow bells being beautiful. Every 

 plant such as these, which we can so easily grow at home in grassy 

 places, makes our cares about the spring garden so much the less, and 

 allows of keeping all the precious beds of the flower garden itself for 

 the plants that require some care and rich soil always. 



The Hyacinth, which is often set in such stiff masses in our public 

 gardens, gives prettier effects more naturally grouped, but it is not 

 nearly so important for the open air as many flowers more easy to 

 grow and better in effect, though some of the more slender wild 

 species, like H. amethystinus, are beautiful and deserve a good place. 

 The Snowdrop is of even greater value of late years, owing to new 

 forms of it, some of which have been brought from Asia Minor and 

 others raised in gardens. In some soils it is quite free and becomes 

 easily naturalised, in others it dwindles away, and the same is true of 

 the -vernal Snowflake (Leucojum vernum), a beautiful plant. The 

 larger Snowflakes are more free in ordinary soils, and easily 

 naturalised in river bank soil. The Crocus, the most brilliant of 

 spring flowers, does not always lend itself to growing naturally in 

 every soil, but on some it is quite at home, especially those of a 

 chalky nature, and will naturalise itself under trees, while in many 

 garden soils it is delightful for edgings and in many ways. 



To the Scilla we owe much, from the wild plant of our woods to 

 the vivid Siberian kind ; some kinds are essential in the garden, and 

 some, like the Spanish Scilla (S. campanulata), may be naturalised in 

 free soils. Allies of these lovely early flowers have come of recent 

 years to our gardens — the beautiful Chionodoxa from Asia Minor, of 

 about the same stature and effect as the prettiest of the Scillas, and 

 some of them even more precious for colour. These are among the 

 plants which may be planted with best results in bold groups on the 

 surface of beds planted with permanent flowers, such as Roses — where 

 Rose beds are not surfaced with manure, as all Rose-growers unwisely 

 advise. 



Iris, Grape Hyacinth, Narcissus, and Tulip. — In warm 

 soils some of the more beautiful of the flowers of spring are the early 

 Irises, but in gardens generally the most beautiful of Irises come in 

 late spring with the German Iris, which is so free and hardy 



