FERRARIAFREESIA 287 



FERRARIA, or TIGRIDIA 



THE short-lived blossoms of the Tiger flower are most gorgeously 

 painted, and differ from everything else of the great family of Iridsto 

 which they belong. When planted out on a dry sunny border, they 

 are quite hardy ; but on a damp soil they cannot be kept through the 

 winter. Still, the flowers are much finer from the border than when 

 grown in pots, and they present us with great variety, scarcely any 

 two plants amongst hundreds producing flowers exactly alike. A bed 

 of Tigridias makes an agreeable ornament in front of the window of 

 a breakfast room, as the flowers are in a brilliant state in the early 

 hours of the day. Plant in autumn. 



FREESIA 



THE singularly graceful form and the delicious perfume of this 

 flower have made it an immense favourite ; and happily there is no 

 Cape bulb which can be grown with greater ease in the frame or cool 

 greenhouse. One characteristic is very marked, and it is the dispro- 

 portion between the small bulb and the fine flowers produced from it. 

 Procure the bulbs as early in the autumn as possible, and lose 

 no time in potting them. Any light rich soil will answer, but that 

 which suits them best is composed of two parts loam, one of leaf- 

 mould, and one of peat, with enough sand or grit added to insure 

 drainage. Commence with pots .of the right size, for the roots are 

 extremely brittle, and there must be no risk of injuring them by re- 

 potting. The 3|-inch size will accommodate two bulbs placed nearly 

 close to the rim on opposite sides of the pot ; larger sizes may have 

 three, four, or more bulbs. Place under a south wall, and cover with 

 ashes or cocoa-nut fibre until top-growth commences, and then re- 

 move the covering. 



At the end of September transfer the pots to a cold frame, and 

 when the plants attain a height of four inches, support them with neat 

 sticks, which should not be inserted too near the bulbs. Watering 

 will require judgment, for too much turns the foliage yellow. When 

 the pots are full of roots, liquid manure twice a week will be helpful. 

 After the blooming season has passed, encourage the foliage to 

 wither by withholding water. The roots may be stored away in their 

 own pots until the following August. 



