33 6 AMARANTHUS. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. AMARYLLIS. 



rock plant with white flowers. A. 

 spinosum is a silvery little bush with 

 white flowers, and there is a pink form, 

 A. spinosum roseum. A. serpylli- 

 folium is a grey-green leaved form, 

 with yellow flowers. Small plants 

 quickly become Lilliputian bushes, 

 3 inches to 6 inches high, and when 

 fully exposed are almost as compact 

 as Moss. 



Among other kinds, A. Wiersbecki 

 and A. olympicum are not quite so 

 good as the common kind. The alpine 

 and rock kinds are of easy culture in 

 light or dry soil, as indeed are all the 

 species. A. maritimum is the Sweet 



Easily raised as any annual, they 

 deserve to be well thinned out and put 

 in rich ground. The foliage of some 

 varieties is rich in colour, and planted 

 with Canna, Wigandia, Ricinus, Sola- 

 num, the effect is good. The varieties 

 of A . tricolor require a light soil and a 

 warmer place. Sow the seed in April 

 in a hot-bed, pricking out the seedlings 

 in a hot-bed, and plant about the end 

 of May. 



AMARYLLIS. Showy bulbous trop- 

 ical plants, few of the species of which 

 are hardy, though the beautiful Bella- 

 donna Lily ( A . belladonna) may be 



A group of the Belladonna Lily. 



Alyssum, a small annual with white 

 flowers. It grows on the tops of walls 

 in the west country, and in sandy 

 places. In these situations it is peren- 

 nial ; in gardens is grown as an annual. 

 AMARANTHUS (Prince's Feather, 

 Love-lies-bleeding) . Annual plants, 

 some of distinct habit and colour. 

 The old Love-lies-bleeding (A. cauda- 

 tus), with its dark- red pendent racemes, 

 is a fine plant when well grown, but 

 A. speciosus and some other varieties 

 are finer. The more vigorous species 

 grow from 2 to 5 feet high. It is best 

 to give them room to spread, otherwise 

 much of their picturesque effect is lost. 



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 

 1 1 feet to 3 feet 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 grow it in irfland 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 feet, and place about 6 inches of 

 broken brick in the bottom. Over this 

 put some half-rotten manure to keep 



