EARLY BULBS 



the outside of each petal a broad band of dull 

 reddish-rose. To myself I called it a water-lily 

 long before I read that it had been often described 

 as the water-Uly tulip. In warm corners it has 

 opened with me (latitude of Boston) as early as 

 March 25, though its usual flowering time in our 

 climate is mid-April. 



Among the florists' varieties of crocus, the one 

 with true magnificence of form and color is Crocus 

 purpureus, var. grandiflorus. Magnificent is a 

 large adjective to apply to a low-growing flower; 

 ordinarily one should reserve it for the altheas, 

 or the finer gladioli, sensational in their beauty. 

 But it is a fact that people unaccustomed to the 

 sight of so large and fine a crocus as this can 

 sometimes not be persuaded that it is a crocus; 

 therefore, the word may be permitted. And when 

 close-growing numbers of this particular beauty 

 are near other close colonies of S cilia Sibirica, 

 there is then a spring effect worth going far to 

 see, Maximilian, a clear light-lavender, is a fa- 

 vorite with me. Madame Mina, white with rich 

 lavender stripes the length of its fine petals, is a 

 beauteous flower; and Reine Blanche, of which 

 mention has just been made, one of the loveliest 

 imaginable whites. Mont Blanc, white, is also 

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