30 



BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



to boot. One occasionally meets with them in several gardens in 

 a particular district, and not one of the owners knows the name, or 

 can remember it for many hours if it is given. This is certainly 

 a case, if there ever was one, for a popular name. Some one 

 has made an attempt to meet the want by calling them Herb 

 Lilies, but that, of course, is altogether too vague and general to 

 be of any use. The plants flower in summer, and the stems rise 

 two feet or more high. The plants give no trouble when they 

 have once become well established in light, warm soil ; in fact, 



^ they are best left to themselves, as they do 



not like frequent disturbance. Any feeding 

 that is thought necessary can be done in 

 the form of mulchings of manure. Per- 

 haps the most attractive species is pele- 

 grina. In cold districts, especially if it is 

 growing in damp, heavy soil, it is wise to 

 spread some dry litter or ashes over the 

 root-stocks in autumn. 



Anemones will be found in the bulb 

 catalogues, and the rugged little roots 

 (which rather resemble lumps of dry mud) 

 sell in thousands, especially in the case of coronaria, the Crown 

 Anemone, of which St. Brigid and Alderborough are splendid 

 strains ; fulgens, apennina, and nemorosa. These will be referred 

 to under Herbaceous and Rockery Flowers. 



The Arum Lily (Richardia or Calla aethiopicd) is a beautiful 

 and popular plant which thousands of bulb lovers grow in their 

 greenhouses and rooms for the sake of its pure white spathes, 

 which we may call flowers in a popular way. The Arum Lily is 

 not perfectly hardy, and cannot be relied on, therefore, to pass the 

 winter out of doors, except in very mild districts. Lovers of the 

 plant must not be misled by seeing it growing in the open air in 

 the Midlands and north of Great Britain, because it is the custom of 



PLANTING BULBS IN BEDS 



A, flat surface where the soil is 

 naturally dry and light ; B, 

 rounded surface where the soil 

 is of a rather heavy nature. 



