GALANTHUS. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



GALEGA. 



479 



form, G. p. Omega, flowers with the very 

 latest. 



G. ELWESI. The best forms of this are 

 large and handsome, but it wants the most 

 sheltered spots in the garden to thrive. 

 Many find it difficult to manage, but with 

 me it grows very freely, especially on one 

 bed of very light soil, where the seedlings 

 are almost a nuisance. 



G. LATIFOLIUS. -The most distinct of 

 all Snowdrops, with its broad grass-green 

 foliage and small pure white flowers, it 

 has a delicate beauty all its own, more 

 especially just before the bud expands, 

 when the two leaves curve so lovingly 

 round the flower-stem. 



G. FOSTERI. The markings on the inner 

 petals are very similar to those of G. Elwesi, 

 but the foliage is quite different, being 

 broad and somewhat blunt, and in shape 

 and colour much like the leaves of Scilla 

 sibirica. 



G. ALLENI. Mr Barker thinks this is 

 probably a hybrid between G. latifolius 

 and G. caucasicus, as it has some of the 

 features of each species. The flower is of 

 much the same character as that of G. 

 latifolius, but nearly twice as large, and 

 the foliage corresponds in size with the 

 blossoms. 



AUTUMNAL SNOWDROPS. In Greece 

 and the adjacent countries several 

 Snowdrops have been found which 

 flower in the autumn or early winter. 

 They seem to belong to the nivahs 

 section. One peculiarity I have 

 noticed in them is that they have 

 a glaucous line running down the 

 centre of each leaf, and by this they 

 can be at once distinguished from the 

 spring-flowering forms of nivalis. So 

 far as I can learn, all these Snowdrops 

 grow on high ground, mostly on 

 mountains. I understand that the 

 Snowdrops on the lower grounds do 

 not flower until early in the year. 



G. OLG;E. From the descriptions given 

 of it, G. Olgce must be a fine variety, and 

 it is very unfortunate that it is lost to 

 cultivation. M. Tanka, the Hungarian 

 botanist, asserts that this and G. octobrenfis 

 are identical, but I do not think so ; and 

 the difference between G. octobrensis and 

 G. Rachels confirms my opinion. 



G. OCTOBRENSIS. Lord Walsingham, 

 when travelling in Albania about the year 

 1875, collected some bulbs on one of the 

 mountains and sent them to the late Rev. 

 H. Harpur-Crewe. Amongst these was a 

 bulb which proved to be a Snowdrop 

 flowering in the autumn, usually in Octo- 

 ber. I am sorry to say that it is somewhat 

 delicate and increases very slowly with 

 me. 



G. RACHELS. This is of the same type 

 as G. octobrensis, but the flower is a little 

 larger, and the leaves are quite a third 



broader, and it seems to have a stronger 

 constitution than that variety. It also 

 differs in being a week or ten days later in 

 flowering. 



THE YELLOW SNOWDROPS form but 

 a small class, two varieties only being 

 known at present, G. lutescens and G. 

 flavescens. It must not be supposed 

 that the petals of the flower are 

 yellow ; the name is given because 

 of the rich yellow colour of the ovary, 

 and the markings on the inner petals 

 are also of that colour, instead of the 

 usual green, and even the flower-stalks 

 are more yellow than green. 



With me G. nivalis grows freely in 

 all soils and situations. G. plicatus is 

 not very particular, but still some of 

 its varieties require extra care, as they 

 have an unpleasant way of disappear- 

 ing. G. Elwesi does not do well in 

 close retentive soil. The situation I 

 should choose would be a gently 

 sloping bank, more or less shaded by 

 trees whose roots were allowed to 

 wander freely among the Snowdrops. 

 I believe that all bulbs are healthier 

 when planted amongst active roots 

 than in ordinary beds. When the 

 bulbs are at rest it is very essential 

 that the soil should be kept sweet by 

 the activity of other roots. We too 

 often lose sight of this fact. I think 

 the autumnal - flowering Snowdrops 

 should be treated as alpine plants. 

 All my best Snowdrops are grown under 

 trees, the soil being quite full of their 

 roots. I do not use manure for them. 



GALAX (Wand Plant}. C. aphylla 

 is one of the neatest little plants for 

 the rock garden ; its white wand-like 

 flowers are in dense spike-like racemes 

 9 to 15 inches high. The heart-shaped 

 evergreen leaves are produced in 

 cushion-like tufts, and in autumn are 

 a rich crimson. Of easy culture in 

 moist peat or leaf-soil, in the bog 

 garden, or on the margins of beds of 

 dwarf shrubs in peat. America. There 

 is a larger form, G. macrophylla. 



GALEGA (Goat's Rue). Graceful 

 perennials of the Pea family flourishing 

 in any soil. On account of their free 

 growth they are useful for the wild 

 garden, and are effective in groups. 

 They are herbaceous perennials, grow- 

 ing from 2 to 5 feet in height. The 

 best kinds are G. officinalis, or Com- 

 mon Goat's Rue, a native of S. 

 Europe, and 3 to 5 feet high, in summer 

 bearing dense clusters of Pea-shaped 

 blossoms of a pretty pink. There is 

 a white variety (alba] useful for 



