CROCUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



CROCUS. 



419 



unnecessary. There are two or three 

 colour varieties album, pure white and 

 the best of all. 



C. YEMENSE is also hardy in the south- 

 west and other favoured parts of Britain, 

 bearing large sweet-scented flowers of a 

 beautiful satin-white colour. The true 

 plant is rare. In flower beauty, however, 

 surpassing all other white flowering kinds. 



CROCUS. Of a genus of nearly 

 seventy species, it is surprising that 

 only three or four are generally used 

 for garden decoration, and these C. 

 aureus and C. vernus and their varie- 

 ties, and perhaps one or two other 

 species have been in cultivation at 

 least three hundred years. Crocuses 

 flower at a time when every flower is 

 of value, and we do not doubt that 

 ere long species recently introduced 

 will add largely to our means of garden 

 decoration during the dull months 

 from late autumn to early spring. 



Cultural Directions seem almost 

 superfluous, but there are a few points 

 to which it may be convenient to refer. 

 The genus must be viewed as in succes- 

 sion, from the beginning of August till 

 April ; but of these only the earlier 

 autumnal, or the distinctly vernal, 

 species can be relied upon for open-air 

 decoration. Although all are hardy, 

 those that flower in November, Decem- 

 ber, and January are so liable to injury 

 by frost and rain that they are prac- 

 tically worthless. 



Crocuses are easily multiplied by 

 seed, which should be sown in July as 

 soon as ripe, though germination will 

 not take place till the natural growing 

 period of the species. Seedlings take 

 from two to three years to arrive at 

 maturity, and should be left for the 

 first two years undisturbed in the 

 seed-bed, and then taken up and 

 replanted. Holland, with its rich, 

 light, alluvial soil, and Lincolnshire, 

 with its " Trent warp," have for many 

 generations been the sources from 

 which the English market has been 

 supplied with the varieties of the three 

 or four species grown in English gar- 

 dens. The last five or six years have 

 put us in possession of nearly the 

 whole of the known species, and we 

 must commend them to the Dutch 

 and Lincolnshire bulb-growers. 



For the less robust and less flori- 

 ferous species a brick pit is necessary. 

 The bottom of this should be well 

 below the level of the ground, and it 

 should be filled up with about i foot 

 in depth of fine river silt or sandy 

 loam, the surface of which should be 

 a little below the level of the adjacent 



ground. Proper drainage is essential, 

 but Crocuses delight in a uniformly 

 moist subsoil during their period of 

 growth. It is convenient to separate 

 the different species by strips of slate 

 or tiles, buried below the surface, the 

 corms being planted about 3 inches 

 deep. A mulching of rotted Cocoa-nut 

 fibre or finely-sifted peat keeps the 

 surface moist, and prevents the loam 

 from clogging or caking on the surface. 

 At the time of the maturity of the 

 foliage, generally about the end of 

 May, water should be withheld and 

 the bed covered up and allowed to 

 get quite dry till the end of July, 

 when a copious watering may be given, 

 or the pit may be exposed to rain. 



Of the earlier autumnal species 

 suitable for the open border, the 

 following may be enumerated for 

 successional flowering : 



C. Scharcjani, orange ; early in 

 August. 



,, vallicola, straw-coloured ; late in 

 August and early in Sep- 

 tember. 



,, nudiftorus, blue 



,, pulchellus, lilac : 

 October. 



,, speciosus, blue ; 

 October. 



,, iridiftorus, blue 

 October. 



,, Salzmanni\li\3iC or blue ; October 



,, Clusi ] and November. 



, , cancellatus 



,, Cambessidesis 



,, hadriaticus 



These are succeeded by a long series of 

 late autumnal, winter, and early vernal 

 species, which are grown to best advan- 

 tage in a brick pit. 



Of the vernal species suitable for 

 the border, the earliest is C. Imperati, 

 flowering in February, followed by 



C. susianus, or Cloth of Gold, in 

 February. 



, , biftorus \ 



, , etruscus 



,, sauveolens 



, , versicolor 



,, vernus 



, , Tommasinianus 



, , dalmaticus 



, , banaticus 



, , Sieberi and var. versicolor 



,, chrysanthus 



, , aureus 



, , sulphureus 



,, vars. pallidus and stviatus 



, , stellaris t . 



, Olivier* 



in 



September. 

 September and 



September and 

 September and 



dUU 



}' 



in the early 

 autumn. 



mnmus 



J 



