CALOCHORTUS 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. CALOCHORTUS. 457 



plant, and fine masses of colour collec- 

 tively. The dwarf bouquet kinds, whilst 

 specially good for pot culture, are valuable 

 as edgings to beds of taller kinds. For 

 pot culture for exhibition the best are the 

 medium-growing Victorias, as these, if of 

 a good strain, possess quality, and hand- 

 some even heads of bloom. 



CULTURE. Mr. J. Betteridge writes : 

 " For several years after I com- 

 menced the culture of quilled Asters 

 I always sowed the seed in bottom- 

 heat ; but during the last decade I 

 have sowed it, between 26th March and 

 26th April, in a cold frame, under glass, in 

 drills 6 in. apart, and not too thick in the 

 drills. A few days suffice to bring the 

 plants above the soil, when a liberal 

 supply of air must be given, or they will 

 be weak. When large enough, prick 

 them out into another cold frame, slightly 

 shaded, where they will soon be estab- 

 lished, and after they are strong enough 

 to handle plant them out in well- 

 manured soil, and be careful not to break 

 the tender fibres of the roots. Let the 

 rows be I ft. apart, and plant the strongest 

 plants i ft. from each other, in showery 

 weather, and they will soon get estab- 

 lished. If the weather be hot and drying, 

 give them a little watering till rooted : 

 afterwards keep them clear of weeds by 

 hoeing among them. About the first week 

 in August top-dress with rotten manure 

 from an old hotbed, giving a good soak- 

 ing all over if the weather continues 

 dry. 



" SOIL. China Asters like a deep rich 

 soil, and, should dry weather set in, it is 

 only in such soil that really fine flowers 

 can be obtained and the plants induced 

 to hold out. Planted in the ordinary 

 way, they are weeds in comparison with 

 those that are well nourished and 

 watered. Confined to the top shallow 

 crust of earth, they soon dry up and 

 starve. The best way to manage them 

 is to dig and cast off the top spit to one 

 side, handy to be returned to its place 

 again, and then to trench and break up 

 the soil below, working in with it plenty 

 of short manure. In very light soils a 

 few barrow-loads of clay, chopped fine 

 and mixed well in, will do more than 

 any other to grow fine China Asters. 

 The thing to aim at is to keep the 

 bottom cool and moist ; then, if the 

 weather be favourable, the plants will take 

 care of themselves. But considering 

 this work has all to be done for one 

 year's bloom only, the question is 

 whether the same labour would . not be 

 better given to hardy plants or choice 



shrubs which thrive for many years 

 in the same spot after such preparation 

 as is here spoken of to secure one year's 

 bloom, and that perhaps a short one." 



Calluna. See ERICA VULGARIS. 



CALOCHORTUS (Mariposa Lily}. A 

 lovely family of bulbous plants from 

 Western North America, belonging to the 

 Lily Order. Forming one of the most 

 charming groups of hardy bulbous plants, 

 the colours being so varied and delicate. 

 Excepting the Mexican species, which 

 are, fortunately, few, Calochorti are hardy ; 

 but my experience is that unless on very 

 warm soils their culture is precarious in 

 our country, and no wonder, considering 

 they come from one of the most genial 

 and sunny of climates. 



They are so singularly beautiful, how- 

 ever, that many will attempt their culti- 

 vation, and the advice of Mr. Carl 

 Purdy, who has studied the wild species 

 in their native wilds, and cultivated them, 

 is the best we can have. 



THE CULTURE OF CALOCHORTI. 

 Calochorti are natives of a vast region in 

 North America, stretching from far east 

 of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific 

 Ocean, and from Northern Mexico to 

 British America. From the sea-coast 

 and islands they grow from 6000 feet to 

 9000 feet altitude on the peaks. Some 

 are natives of the intensely hot deserts of 

 Southern California and Arizona, and- 

 some grow in the moist meadows ot 

 Oregon in a climate differing but little 

 from that of England. In Montana and 

 other States of the inland region the 

 species indigenous there have to bear as 

 low a temperature as 40 below zero. In 

 the soils in which they naturally grow 

 there is as much diversity. Clay, sand, 

 loam and rocky debris are respectively the 

 chosen homes of certain species, and 

 several choose the blackest and stickiest 

 of clays. One is found in salt meadows 

 and many in grassy meadows. 



I have at different times tried nearly 

 every known species in many soils and 

 situations. The winter climate of Ukiah 

 is quite wet, with the thermometer often 

 at 20 to 24, and sometimes as low as 

 15 above zero. Often the Calochorti 

 leaves are frozen till they crackle, but I 

 have never known any injury to result. 

 In spring there is abundant rain until 

 their flowering time, while our summer is 

 perfectly dry. Perfect drainage is the first 

 essential to success for all sorts. I have 

 gradually come to the use of three mixtures. 

 Along our river banks there is a winter 

 deposit of sandy silt. This is excellent 

 Calochortus soil, but not so good as the 



