88 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



ing family. The best known is C. autumnale, which produces its rosy- 

 purple flowers in September and October. There are several varieties, 

 bearing flowers of different hues, and they form a pretty picture when 

 naturalised in the grass or at the edge of a shrubbery. It is always well 

 to plant such bulbs as these, which flower late in the year, with a ground- 

 work of mossy Saxifrage, Stonecrop, Herniaria, or similar things to pro- 

 tect the blooms when heavy rains dash up the soil and sully their fresh 

 beauty. Plant them in August, putting them about six inches deep. 

 The double white variety is charming ; it is like a white rosette. C. 

 speciosum is a splendid flower ; its rosy-purple, goblet-like flower is on a 

 stem or stalk about a foot high, and stands far out of the ground. Par- 

 kinsoni is easily known by its purple-chequered flowers. The most 

 beautiful of all Colchicums is the little-known C. Sibthorpi. That good 

 gardener, the Rev. Henry Ewbank, says of it : "I cannot understand 

 why it has been so little appreciated in the gardening notices of these 

 things which I have read during the present autumn (1900), and the 

 only explanation I can think of is that it is not much known at present, 

 and being an expensive bulb, it has not as yet come to the front save in 

 a few places. Instead of C. Sibthorpi being nearly as large as C. 

 speciosum, as it is sometimes said to be, it is in reality a great deal 

 larger. It is of a more attractive colour than its congener, and its 

 globular shape it seems to sit on the ground like a large cup sets it off 

 wonderfully. Moreover, it is very strong and floriferous, and grows 

 with such ease that no particular rules for cultivation are required. I 

 regard it as quite one of the best things I have had in my garden for 

 some time, and if it answers as well in other places as it does here, it 

 will be worth any one's while to get hold of it and to give it a good 

 chance." The flowers are richer in colour than those of C. speciosum, 

 and with beautiful crimson reticulation. Autumn Crocuses enjoy a cool 

 soil. To increase them lift the bulbs every third year, and replant as 

 soon as the foliage is fully matured. Plant in August. 



GroCUS. Besides the common garden Crocus, golden, purple, white, 

 and striped, there are many other attractive species, some blooming in 

 the autumn, some in winter, and others in the spring. The winter- 

 flowering kinds must be grown in a frame, but the others may be planted 

 two inches deep in the open border. Crocus Imperati, with purple and 

 buff flowers, is the earliest spring Crocus. There are so many Crocuses 

 that it is impossible to do anything like justice to them in a beginner's 

 work. The ordinary Dutch kinds, the large yellow, purple, white, and 

 other colours, are the showiest, and may be planted as margins or in 

 colonies in the border. Near large towns especially, birds are frequently 

 troublesome, so much so that in London sparrows will peck off the 

 florets wholesale. A few lengths of thick cotton stretched across the 

 rows stop the depredators in a large measure. Poison and traps will 

 thin out mice, which have a strong liking for Crocus bulbs. It is a pity 

 that the beautiful autumn-flowering Crocuses are not more grown. The 

 most beautiful is C. speciosus. Mice are fond of it. Plant in the 

 summer, and put the bulbs wherever clouds of purple colouring are de- 

 sired in autumn ; the sun opens out the flowers and discloses the orange 



