PART II.] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



311 



family is nearly allied to Alysaum. It 



li;is lioary foliage, and produces, in 

 early summer, a profusion of small 

 white blossoms. It is suited for the 

 rock-garden or the margins of borders, 

 and will grow well in any ordinary 

 soil, but is not of the first merit. 

 South Russia. 



SCHIZOCODON SOLDANEL 

 LOIDES. The introduction of this 

 pretty mountain plant is due to 

 Captain Torrens, who, in 1891, found 

 the plants growing beside sulphur 

 springs in the mountains of Japan, 

 and, after carrying them hundreds of 

 miles, succeeded at last in bringing 

 home three or four living plants. The 

 flowers of the Schizocodon are like 

 those of a large Soldanella, prettily 

 fringed, deep rose in the centre, 

 passing into blush or almost white 

 towards the edges, and deserves a good 

 place in the rock-garden, in moist 

 gritty soil. 



SCILLA. Beautiful early flowering 

 bulbous plants, charming in colour, and 

 hardy, and so free that they do not 

 need the comforts of the rock-garden, 

 but the colour is so good and the 

 habit so dwarf, that they may be often 

 used with good effect to come through 

 groups of dwarf rock plants, such as 

 the mossy Rockfoils and the Sand- 

 worts. Only the dwarfer kinds, how- 

 ever, are fitted for this purpose, some 

 kinds being too vigorous, and these 

 are omitted here. 



Scilla amcena (Tyrolese Squill). A dis- 

 tinct, early-spring flowering kind, opening 

 soon after S. sibirica, and readily known 

 from any of its relatives by the large 

 yellowish ovary in the centre of the dark 

 indigo-blue flowers. The leaves, usually 

 about | inch across, attain a height of 

 about 1 foot, and are easily injured by 

 cold or wind, so that a sheltered position 

 is that best suited to its wants. Tyrol ; 



increased from seeds or by separation of 



the bulbs. 



Scilla bifolia (Early Squill). A precious 

 kind, bearing in the dawn of spring, indeed 

 often in winter, masses of dark blue 

 flowers, four to six on a spike, and form- 

 ing handsome tufts from 6 to 10 inches 

 high, according to the soil and the 

 warmth and shelter of the spot. It 

 thrives well in almost any position, in 

 ordinary garden soil, the lighter the 

 better. Although it blooms earlier than 

 S. sibirica, it does not withstand cold 

 wintry and spring rains and storms 

 nearly so well as that species, and 

 therefore it would be well to place some 

 tufts of it in warm sunny spots, either 

 on the rock-garden, or sheltered borders. 

 Southern and Central Europe. This 

 species varies very much, and, in con- 

 sequence, lias gone under many names ; 

 the best form being taurica. The name 

 S. prcecox, which occurs so often in gardens, 

 and in Nurserymen's Catalogues, does not 

 really belong to a distinct species, and, 

 when best applied, refers to tlie variety 

 of S. bifolia, which usually flowers some- 

 what earlier than the common form. 



S. Italica (Italian Squill). A native 

 not only of Italy but of Southern France 

 and Southern Europe generally. This 

 Squill, with its pale blue flowers, intensely 

 blue stamens, and fragrance, is one of the 

 most distinct, from 5 to 10 inches high, 

 the leaves somewhat shorter ; the flowers 

 small, spreading in short racemes, in May. 

 It is perfectly hardy, living in almost any 

 soil, but thriving best in sandy and warm 

 ones. Increased by division, which had 

 better be performed only every three or 

 four years, when the bulbs should be 

 planted in fresh positions. It is worthy 

 of a sheltered sunny spot, particularly as 

 it does not seem to thrive so freely in this 

 country as some of the other kinds. 



S. Sibirica, (Siberian Squill). A brilliant 

 early flower, perfectly liardy in this 

 country, and, like most other bulbs, thrives 

 best in a good sandy loam. It is needless 

 to disturb the tufts except every two or 

 three years for the sake of dividing them 

 when they grow vigorously. It comes in 

 flower in early spring a little later than 

 S. bifolia, but withstands the storms better 



