HYACINTH HYACINTHUS CANDICANS 295 



kept constantly moist, and covered with the greenest moss, to give to 

 the ornament containing them a finished appearance. 



FEATHER, GRAPE, AND MUSK HYACINTHS will grow in any good 

 garden soil, and are admirably adapted for borders that are shaded 

 by trees. They should be planted in large clumps, and be allowed 

 to remain several years undisturbed. They are all beautiful the 

 Feather Hyacinth emphatically so indeed, numerous as beautiful 

 flowers are, this, for delicacy of structure, has peculiar claims to our 

 admiration, when presenting its feathery plumes a foot or more in 

 length, all cut into curling threads of the most elegant tenuity. 



ROMAN HYACINTH. This flower is particularly welcome in the 

 short, dark days of November, December, and January. For placing 

 in glasses to decorate the drawing-room or dinner table, the spikes of 

 bloom are largely grown ; and the separate flowers, mounted on wire, 

 form an important feature in winter bouquets, for which purpose 

 their delicious perfume renders them especially valuable. 



The bulbs are cheap, and can be grown with the utmost ease. Pot 

 them immediately they can be obtained in August or September, 

 putting three roots in each 48-sized pot, and stand them in some 

 spare corner in the open ground, where they can be covered with 

 a few inches of cocoa-nut fibre or ashes. This will encourage the 

 roots to start before there is any top growth. In October remove 

 the covering, and transfer the pots to a pit or frame, or they may 

 even be placed under the greenhouse stage for a time, provided they 

 will not be in the way of dripping water. A little later room should 

 be found for them upon the stage, or the foliage may become drawn. 

 When the buds are visible, plunge the pots in a bottom heat of 

 65 or 70, and in a week the flowers will be fit for use. Like its 

 more imposing prototype, the Roman Hyacinth may have its roots 

 gently freed from soil for packing in bowls or vases filled with wet 

 moss or sand ; but they ought not to be subjected to a violent change 

 of temperature. If wanted in glasses, they can be grown in water 

 after the usual fashion, but the flower is scarcely adapted for this mode 

 of treatment. 



HYACINTHUS CANDICANS 



THIS bulb produces stately spikes of flower, which make it an ex- 

 cellent companion to Delphiniums, Salvias, and perennial Lobelias 

 in the mixed border. It also associates well with shrubs, and will 



