GALANTHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



GALEGA. 



569 



reminding one somewhat of an Ornitho- 

 galum. The outer petals are pale green, 

 shading off to pure white at the edges, 

 and especially at the tips ; the inner 

 petals are entirely green. G. Fosteri 

 Leopard is a great curiosity, having 

 flowers of quite unusual shape, and at the 

 tip of each outer petal a large dark-green 

 spot. M. Max Leichtlin kindly sent me 

 ten collected bulbs of G. Fosteri in 

 January 1890, and one of these flowered 

 as described, and has kept true this season. 

 G. Fosteri Spot is quite distinct from 

 Leopard. It has long outer petals, some- 

 what pearshaped, and at the tip of each 

 is a small pale-green spot. The spots are 

 not sufficiently prominent to give a 

 decided character to the flower, but it is 

 valuable as a variety. 



SOIL FOR SNOWDROPS. With me G. 

 nivalis grows freely in all soils and 

 situations. G. plicatus is not very 

 particular, but still some of its varieties 

 require extra care, as they have an un- 

 pleasant way of disappearing. G. Elwesi 

 does not do well in close retentive soil. 

 G. latifolius and G. caucasicus, I believe, 

 prefer gritty loam, and I should say that 

 G. Fosteri would also like it. Mr. A. D. 

 Webster tells me that peat has quite a 

 magical effect on Snowdrops, but I have 

 not tried it. My ideal soil for Snow- 

 drops in general would be half good sweet 

 yellow loam and almost half unsifted river- 

 grit and a little leaf-mould. The situa- 

 tion I should choose would be a gently 

 sloping bank, more or less shaded by 

 trees whose roots were allowed to wander 

 freely among the Snowdrops. I believe 

 that all bulbs are healthier when planted 

 amongst active roots than in ordinary 

 beds. When the bulbs are at rest it is 

 very essential that the soil should be 

 kept s\veet by the activity of other roots. 

 We too often lose sight of this fact. I 

 think the autumnal-flowering Snowdrops 

 should be treated as alpine plants. All 

 my best Snowdrops are grown under 

 trees, the soil being quite full of their 

 roots. I do not use manure for them. 

 The only drawback to my situation for 

 these spring gems is the soiling of the 

 flowers from the drippings of the trees. 

 I should mention that the climate is so 

 trying that I cannot grow such hardy 

 plants as Primroses, Pinks, Daisies, etc. 

 All these disappear after a season or two. 

 I move most of my Snowdrops when in 

 full flower, and do not find they are 

 injured by it. I have noticed that 

 the more green colour there is in any 

 Snowdrop the more freely it grows and 

 the more rapidly it increases, while the 



absence of green, or the substitution of 

 yellow for the green, makes the plant 

 delicate and slow of increase. 



Galatella. See Aster. 



GALAX ( Wand Plant}. G. aphylla is 

 one of the neatest little plants for the rock- 

 garden ; its white wand-like flowers must 

 have suggested its common name ; its 

 round evergreen leaves are beautifully 

 toothed and tinted, on slender stems 

 6 or 8 in. high. Of easy culture in moist 

 peat or leaf-soil, in the bog-garden, or on 

 the margins of beds of dwarf shrubs in 

 peat. America. 



GALEGA (Goafs Rue). Graceful 

 perennials of the Pea family flourishing 



Garrya elliptica. 



in any soil. On account of their growth 

 they are useful for the wild garden, free 

 and are very effective in groups. They 

 are herbaceous perennials, growing from 



2 to 5 ft. in height, according to position 

 and soil. The kinds are G. officinalis, 

 or Common Goat's Rue, a native of 

 Southern Europe, and 3 to 5 ft. high, in 

 summer bearing dense clusters of Pea- 

 shaped blossoms of a pretty pink. There 

 is a white variety (alba) useful for 

 cutting. A variety called africana has 

 longer racemes and blossoms of a purple 

 tinge. G. orientalis is from the Caucasus, 



3 to 4 ft. high, with bluish-purple flowers. 

 G. persica is a later-flowering kind, from 

 2 to 4 ft. high, with white flowers in dense 



