Scilla Snowdrop Sparaxis Sternbergia 



The Scilla campamdata deserves more attention than it has 

 hitherto received. After almost all other spring flowering bulbs are 

 over, it makes a beautiful display, which lasts until nearly the end of 

 May. It somewhat resembles the wild Blue-bell, but is much larger 

 than that woodland flower. 



SNOWDROP 



SNOWDROPS are amongst the hardiest flowers known to our gardens, 

 and are invaluable for their welcome snow-white bells in the earliest 

 days of the opening spring. They should be planted in clumps, and 

 left alone for years. The double-flowering variety is exquisitely 

 beautiful : we might, indeed, speak of it as a bit of vegetable jewellery. 

 The flowers are bell-shaped, closely packed with petals, like so many 

 microscopic petticoats arranged for the ' tiring ' of a fairy : they are 

 snow-white and sometimes delicately tipped with light green. This 

 variety is as hardy as the single, and the best for growing in baskets 

 and pots. When employed in lines the planting ought to be very 

 close together, and the line should be composed of several rows, 

 making, in fact, a broad band. Such a ribbon when backed with 

 Scilla sibirica is very beautiful. The best way of displaying the 

 Snowdrop alone is in large groups densely crowded together. The 

 effect is much more telling than when the same number of bulbs is 

 spread over a larger area. Put the roots in drills, two inches deep, 

 and if possible in a spot where they need not be disturbed for two or 

 three years. Snowdrops maybe grown, in pots, and be gently forced 

 for Christmas. But unless wanted very early, it will answer to lift 

 clumps from the border in November and pot them. 



SPARAXIS 



SEE instructions under Ixia at page 304. 



STERNBERGIA LUTEA 



A HARDY yellow Amaryllis which blooms in September and October, 

 and is one of our most useful autumnal bulbous flowers. It grows 

 freely in a light rich loam, and may be lifted every year, or be allowed 

 to occupy the same spot for two or three successive seasons. Plant 

 in patches three inches deep, either in November or December. 



3*5 



