IN MY LADY'S GARDEN 



The beautiful pure white Bride gladiolus is the hardiest of 

 the early-flowering section, increasing itself rapidly in the 

 garden if planted in a light, well-drained soil, and flowering 

 with greater freedom than in pots. The Blushing Bride, 

 with carmine spots on its lower petals, the scarlet variety 

 blotched with white, named Prince Albert, as well as the 

 lovely salmon-pink flowers of Queen Wilhelmina and of 

 Salmon Queen, are all worthy of a place in the front of a 

 dry raised border ; but in cold districts, or in a heavy clay 

 soil, it will be safer to take out a pit 2 feet deep below each 

 group, placing 6 inches of broken crocks at the bottom, 

 covered with turfs (their grass side being downwards), and 

 over these the hole may be nearly filled with loam, leaf 

 mould, and coarse sand or fine gravel in equal proportions, 

 in which the bulbs should be planted 2 inches apart and 3 

 inches below the surface. A conical pile of fine dry ashes 

 (6 inches deep in the centre) should be added over the bulbs 

 before the storms of autumn set in ; but these precautions 

 are not necessary in a warm, dry position with a gravel 

 soil, for it is the clinging moisture of our winter climate, 

 more than the cold, which injures these bulbs. 



The same may be said of the Mariposa lilies, or star 

 tulips (calochortus), from California, which need to be 

 planted in October, and kept dry by means of a square 

 of glass, raised on four small pots, over the bulbs. They 

 are very pretty, especially such varieties as Vesta, in creamy 

 white, each petal being blotched with an eye like that on a 

 peacock's feather ; but their want of foliage is a drawback, 

 and they look best when carpeted in spring with some 

 dwarf flower, such as campanulas or verbenas. 



A little gem for the rock border, or any sunny, rather 

 dry situation, is Anomatheca cruenta, a tiny irid about 

 5 inches high, which produces brilliant carmine blossoms, 

 blotched with maroon. After flowering, it ripens seed, 

 which should be sown at once, and in this way the plants 

 soon accumulate, blooming the following season ; it was sold 

 some years ago as a novelty under the title of the " scarlet 

 crocus," but is in reality more nearly allied to the iris, being 



220 



