Numerous Early Comers 



of the filaments of their stamens ; in Scilla they are filiform, 

 that is slender and threadlike, but in Chionodoxa they are 

 flattened out, wide at the base, and tapering upwards, so 

 that they lie close to one another, forming a cone in the 

 mouth of the flower, and are conspicuously white. In the 

 hybrids they are of every intermediate width, and readily 

 catch the eye even if they are the only mark that shows 

 the mixed parentage. C. gigantea can be used to follow 

 Luciliae, but its colouring is rather too pink a blue to carry 

 on the same effect, and the form sold as Luciliae Boissier is 

 a better colour, being very nearly Luciliae only flowering 

 later and having more white in the eye, and leading on to 

 C. Tmoli (wrongly spelt Tmolusii sometimes, as if named 

 after a man instead of the mountain), but which I, and 

 also the Dutch growers, find has a habit of dying after 

 seeding, otherwise it would be a pleasant wind-up to the 

 Chionodoxa season. Some of the Chionoscillas are worth 

 looking after, and several have been named. Mr. Allen 

 took an interest in them, and selected several good ones. 

 His variety, Volunteer, is one of the best of a good sardensis 

 blue and very free, and his Queen, a charming soft pink, is 

 one of my most precious gems, but alas ! a great rarity. 

 Now and then, a large or extra bright one has appeared 

 here, and tempted me to burrow to the bowels of the 

 earth for its bulb, so as to remove it to a safe corner of 

 the rock garden. This burrowing is difficult when one 

 has to go some eight or more inches among the plants, 

 and I use another special tool of my own compose for it. 

 An ordinary " lady's fork " of four tines furnishes the 

 raw material for my inventive genius to work upon, a 

 coarse file my coadjutor : mind and muscle and metal 

 97 G 



