AMARANTHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



AMARYLLIS. 429 



are all the species. A. maritiiniiin is the 

 Sweet Alyssum, a small annual with white 

 flowers, useful as a carpet plant. It grows 

 on the tops of walls in the west country, 

 and in sandy places. In these situations 

 it is perennial, but in gardens is grown as 

 an annual, sowing itself freely. There is 

 a variegated form. 



AMARANTHUS {Prince's Feather, 

 Love-lies-bleeding). — Annual plants, some 



Amaranthus (Prince's Feather). 



of distinct habit and striking colour. The 

 old Love-lies-bleeding {A. caudatiis) with 

 its dark red pendent racemes, is a fine plant 

 when well grown, but A.speciosiis and some 

 other varieties are finer. The more vigor- 

 ous species grow from 2 to 5 ft. high. It is 

 best to give them room to spread, otherwise 

 much of their picturesque effect will be 

 lost ; and to use them in positions where 

 their peculiar habit may be seen to ad- 

 vantage, as, for example, in large vases 

 and edges of bold beds. Easily raised 

 as any annual, they deserve to be well 

 thinned out and put in rich ground, so that 

 they may attain full size. The foliage of 

 some varieties is very rich in its hues, and 

 planted with Canna, Wigandia, Ricinus, 



Solanum, their effect is good. The varie- 

 ties of ^. /rzr(?/(?r require a light soil and 

 a warmer place. They do well in gardens 

 by the seaside. Sow the seed in April in 

 a hot bed, pricking out the seedlings in a 

 hot bed, and plant out about the end of 

 May. The cultivated kinds embrace bi- 

 color, tricolor, airo-purpuretis. A . vielan- 

 cholicus ruber, a useful bedding plant 

 with bright crimson leaves, A. Henderi, 

 A. salicifolius, and A. s. Princess of Wales 

 may be used in the summer garden with 

 good effect. A inarattt/i us order. Old and 

 new world. 



AMARYLLIS.— Showy bulbous tropi- 

 cal plants few of the species of which are 

 hardy, though the beautiful Belladonna 

 Lily {A. belladonna) may be grown well 

 in the open air, and is, in fact, almost too 

 free in some soils in Cornwall. It is a 

 noble bulbous plant from the Cape of 

 Good Hope, from \\ ft. to 3 ft. high, 

 blooming late in summer, the flowers, 

 as large as the white Lily, and of 

 delicate silvery rose in clusters on stout 

 leafless stems, arising from the large pear- 

 shaped bulbs. To gi'ow it in inland and 

 less favoured districts choose a place on 

 the south side of a house or wall, take out 

 the whole of the soil to the depth of 3 ft. 

 and place about 6 in. of broken brick 

 m the bottom. Over this put some half- 

 rotten manure to keep the drainage open, 

 and feed the plant. If the natural soil is 

 not good, add some sandy mellow loam, 

 or if stiff, a few barrow-loads of leaf 

 mould, and one or two of sharp sand mixed 

 with it. Having trod this firm, plant 

 the bulbs in small groups. Each clump 

 should be about i foot apart, and if the 

 border is of such a width as to take a 

 double row, the plants in the second 

 should be alternate with those in the first. 

 In planting, place a handful or so of sharp 

 sand round the bulbs to keep them from 

 rotting. If planted in autumn, or at any 

 time during the winter, it will be well to 

 protect them from severe weather by half- 

 rotten leaves, cocoa-nut fibre, or fern. 

 The plants begin to push forth their new 

 leaves early in spring, and upon the 

 freedom with which they send forth 

 these during summer the bloom in the 

 autumn depends. During dry weather 

 give an occasional soaking of water, and 

 with liquid manure once or twice. As 

 soon as the foliage ripens off remove it, 

 and clean the border before the blooms 

 begin to come through the soil. A. B. 

 blanda is a variety with larger bulbs, 

 bearing noble umbels of white flowers, 

 turning to pale rose in summer, and there 

 are other varieties. 



