182 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



way. These annuals and others as small in their 

 growth should be sown or planted in the bare places 

 left by early flowering bulbs, such as Chionodoxas 

 and the spring and winter Irises and the dwarf Daf- 

 fodils. But there are also bulbs well fitted for the 

 rock garden which will flower in the late summer and 

 autumn. One of the best of these is Anomatheca 

 cruenta, a plant like a miniature gladiolus with bright 

 crimson-scarlet flowers, which grows about half a 

 foot high, and which should be planted in spring and 

 lifted for the winter. There are also the autumn 

 flowering Crocuses, such as Crocus speciosus, C. 

 zonatus, and C. pulchellus, all with delicate lilac- 

 coloured flowers, the autumn flowering Cyclamens, 

 and the beautiful autumn Snowflake, Acis autum- 

 nalis, which likes a cool place and very sandy soil. 

 The Colchicums are not so suitable for the rock gar- 

 den, as they throw up very large leaves in the spring; 

 but Sternbergia lutea is a fine plant for large rock gar- 

 dens, and will flower from the end of September al- 

 most up to Christmas. It is sometimes rather a shy 

 bloomer, but seems to do best in warm sheltered places 

 and light soil with a good dose of manure well below 

 the bulbs. It also likes lime. All of these bulbs, ex- 

 cept perhaps Acis autumnalis, are the better for a 

 covering of one of the smaller Stonecrops, so that the 

 ground they occupy need never be bare. 



