ERAGROSTIS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN, 



EREMURUS. 543 



grown, the stem standing 8 to 15 in. 

 high, and being covered with slender 

 branches. 



ERAGROSTIS (Love Grass). Grasses, 

 some of which are worth cultivating for 

 their elegant feathery panicles. E. 

 iegyptiaca, with silvery-white plumes, 

 maxima, elegans, pilosa, amabilis, pellu- 

 cida, capillaris, plumosa, are all elegant 

 annuals. They are useful for cutting for 

 the house during summer. Seed may be 

 sown in autumn or spring in the open air, 

 on or in a slightly heated frame. For 

 preserving, the stems should be gathered 

 before the seeds are too ripe. 



ERANTHIS ( Winter Aconite). E. 

 hyemalis is a pretty early plant with yellow 

 flowers surrounded by a whorl of shining 

 green. It is 3 to 8 in. high, and flowers 

 from January to March. It is seen best in 

 a half-wild state, under trees or on banks 

 in woody places, though it is occasionally 

 worthy of a place among the earliest 

 border flowers. It often naturalises itself 

 freely in Grass, and is very beautiful when 

 the little yellow flowers peep out in early 

 spring. E. cilicicus is a recent introduc- 

 tion of like stature and character, though 

 distinct as a species, and seems to be 

 of like value and hardiness. We may 

 therefore enjoy it without giving it 

 positions suited for more delicate plants, 

 or taking any trouble about it, but it is 

 more vigorous on chalky or warm soils, 

 and dwindles on some cold soils. 



EREMURUS. Noble bulbous plants 

 from Northern India, Persia, and Central 

 Asia, as yet little seen in our gardens. Of 

 their culture or fitness for our climate 



fenerally little can be said with certainty, 

 lost of the forms are handsome, and \vell 

 suited for the warm sheltered glades of 

 gardens where hardy flowers and plants 

 are grown in a natural and informal way. 

 In such a home they can be associated in 

 bold groups with some of the finest hardy 

 plants, with a background of fine-foliaged 

 subjects and choice shrubs. In planting, 

 however, care should be taken to place 

 the roots where they would not be over- 

 grown or shaded by other plants, so that 

 the crowns should receive the greatest 

 amount of sunshine during the ripening 

 period previous to going to rest. They 

 thrive admirably in deep, rich, sandy loam, 

 such as would suit Lilium auratum, with 

 the addition of some thoroughly decayed 

 cow manure. My own plants were grown 

 in a bed filled in 3 ft. deep with a compost 

 of good fibrous loam, sharp river-sand, 

 peat, decayed cow manure, and charcoal, 

 with a well-drained sheltered situation 

 facing due south. Once well planted, 



they should never be disturbed, as the 

 roots are extremely brittle and very liable 

 to injury. The surface soil above the roots 

 should be kept clean by hand weeding 

 and enriched by occasional surfacings of 

 old manure, leaf-soil, and a little grit, 

 thoroughly broken up and mixed together. 

 Autumn is the best period for planting, 

 which should take place as soon as the 

 young plants have ripened their growth, 

 the sites being well and deeply prepared 

 some little time beforehand, so as to allow 

 the soil to thoroughly settle before the 

 plants are placed in it. As the whole 

 family dislike stagnant moisture, care 

 should be taken to avoid this at the time 

 of planting, and in any favourable situation 

 this can be managed by spreading out 

 the roots of the young plants upon the 

 prepared surface of the bed and covering 

 them with soil so as to form a mound. This 

 can be afterwards surfaced with Cocoa-nut 

 fibre refuse to exclude frost. In any case 

 it is a great advantage to keep the crown of 

 the plant slightly above the soil. I found 

 a plan adopted by Mr. Gumbleton, who 

 is a most successful cultivator of these 

 plants, to be an excellent protection 

 during winter and early spring, especially 

 at the latter period, when the young 

 growth is liable to be injured by frost 

 and the plants to be disfigured for the 

 whole season, if not permanently injured. 

 The shelter, in fact, is very simple and 

 is easily managed being merely the 

 placing over each plant of a hand-light 

 upon supports. As it takes some of the 

 forms several years to flower, old plants 

 are valuable, but are difficult to move. 

 It is better, therefore, to begin with three 

 year-old plants if possible, and care 

 should be taken to obtain the plants from 

 a trustworthy source, or, after waiting 

 patiently, cultivators may find that in 

 stead of the beautiful E. robustus or E. 

 himalaicus, they have the uninteresting 

 E. spectabilis, or some other species that 

 f they do not care for. 



Owing to losing my garden, I had, 

 unfortunately, to break up my collection 

 in the finest condition, before all the 

 forms I had collected had flowered. I, 

 however, flowered E. robustus, Olgae, 

 himalaicus, and Bungei, all of which are 

 very beautiful, and amenable to cultiva- 

 tion. 



These four forms all flowered finely, 

 and throve admirably in a Herefordshire 

 garden. A most interesting account of 

 this family, with a list of the species and 

 varieties known to cultivation, may be 

 found in vol. xxix. (p. 96) of The Garden, 

 which cannot fail to assist those who con- 



