HARDY BULBS 



45 



alba, though scarce, is obtainable, and is a charming plant. 

 Scilla autumnalis likes a light soil, and a warm, dry 

 place on the rockery. It flowers in autumn, and is 

 worth some trouble to establish for the sake of its blue 

 flowers. The pink form, japonica, is desirable. 



Ciliaris, hyacinthoides, and peruviana are highly 

 ornamental in the border, with their large heads of 

 flowers in summer, and their broad foliage ; they are, 

 however, shy bloomers in some soils after the first year, 

 and want thorough ripening off after blooming. 



A Scilla little seen in gardens is Lilio-hyacinthus, 

 which has broad leaves, large bulbs with scales, like 

 those of a Lily, and pretty bluish flowers. There is 

 a rare white variety, but the pink form seems to have 

 been lost. 



Puschkinias are pretty bulbous plants allied to the 

 Scillas, and producing neat spikes of porcelain-blue or 

 whitish flowers lined with blue. They are easily grown 

 on light soil, but require protection from slugs when 

 they first appear. They bloom in March, and there 

 is only one species in cultivation scilloides the variety 

 compacta having a denser spike. 



Chionodoxas deserve all the praise they have received, 

 although in our climate they do not come, as a rule, 

 when we have snow, so that the popular name of 

 " Glory of the Snow" is not so appropriate as in their 

 native country. The best known is C. Luciliae, which 

 has blue flowers with a large white eye. The greater 

 number of the others are distinct enough for garden 

 purposes, although classed by botanists as varieties of 

 this species. Sardensis is a favourite, with its smaller, 

 deeper coloured flowers, with hardly any white in the 

 centre. Gigantea and Alleni are nearly alike, but the 

 latter has more flowers on the stem, and is deeper in 

 colour. Tmolusii is the latest to bloom of these 

 varieties; it resembles Luciliae, but is of a deeper, 



