108 FLOW BBS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



plant the large-sized bulbs early in March in 1 1-inch 

 pots, three together, in rich sandy earth. Place them 

 safe from frost, give very little water, but plenty of air 

 in mild weather. They should grow slowly to give 

 strength to the roots, and when frost is over for the year 

 they may be plunged in a bed of old tan, until, from the 

 advancing season, the greenhouse gets thin of plants ; 

 then place them there with pans under the pots, mulch 

 the surface with well rotted dung, and give air and water 

 liberally. In the open ground they may be cultivated 

 like the white lily, but there must be a covering 

 of dry ashes, or some such protection, over the bulbs in. 

 winter. They throw out roots at the bottom of the 

 stems like the tiger lily, and are propagated, like the 

 white lily, by offsets. 



Irises (although I include them in this chapter) are of 

 three kinds, the fibrous rooted, those which grow from 

 tubers, and those which grow from bulbs. The first like 

 a rich loamy soil, the others will thrive better in leaf- 

 mould and peat, with the addition of sand, as much 

 damp rots the roots. The fibrous rooted are increased 

 by division of the roots, and taking off the suckers; and 

 the tubers by division. The bulbs form new roots, and 

 as the new come under the old roots, they should be 

 taken up and replanted every second or third year 

 The handsome Chalcedonian iris requires a dry soil m 

 winter, and plenty of pure air. The Tigridia, or Jersey 

 iris, of which there are several varieties, is a showy 

 flower, with a gay mixture of scarlet, yellow, and choco* 

 late. It grows well in sandy loam and leaf-mould, and 

 the roots must be taken up for the winter. Each flower 

 lasts only one day, but every root produces several. The 

 irises are summer flowers. 



The Agapanthus, or African Lily, is a half-hardy bulb 

 from the Cape of Good Hope : the large umbels of blue 

 flowers, and its free growth, keeping verdant all the 

 winter, are familiar to all. It flowers in summer, and 

 keeps in flower a very long time. The roots are generally 

 grown in pots, as they must be housed safe from frost 

 in the winter. Forming a portion of a group under a 



