294 



HORTICULTURE. 



Flower 

 Garden. 



Ploriits' 

 flowers. 



Tulipi. 



desirable thing. Into this the trees, shrubs, and herba- 

 ceous plants of the New World only are to be admitted ; 

 so that, on entering the garden door, a person pos- 

 sessed of a botanical eye will find himself transported, 

 as it were, across the Atlantic. One of the most com- 

 plete American gardens in this country is at Milburn 

 Tower, near Edinburgh, the seat of Sir Robert Listen, 

 Bart, formerly British ambassador to the United States. 



490. Flowers which are cultivated in beds by them- 

 selves are now to be considered. These are in a pecu- 

 liar manner distinguished by the title of Florists' Jloivers. 

 The principal are the tulip, ranunculus, anemone, iris, 

 dahlia, pink, carnation, polyanthus, auricula, hyacinth, 

 polyanthus-narciss, and crocus. 



Tulip. 



491. The tulip (Tulipa Gesneriana, L.) is a native 

 of many parts of Turkey and of Persia, where the 

 flower is principally of a red colour, each petal having 

 a black mark at its base. It was not brought into the 

 north of Europe until after the middle of the l6th cen- 

 tury ; and it was first cultivated in this country by a 

 Mr Garret, an apothecary of London, about the year 

 1577. A hundred years after its introduction, the tuli- 

 pomania, or rage for fine tulips, attained its height : it 

 prevailed chiefly at Haarlem, and other parts of the 

 Netherlands. High sounding and bombastic names 

 were bestowed on the favourite varieties, a practice 

 which is still continued by florists. The Viceroy 

 and Semper Augustus were two sorts, the bulbs of 

 which sold at the most extravagant prices, or rather 

 gave occasion to the most foolish gambling speculations. 

 Twelve acres of land were covenanted to be given by 

 one person, and 4600 florins, besides a new carriage, 

 with horses and harness, by another, for a single tulip 

 bulb, the flowers of which should possess certain almost 

 ideal perfections. In the present day, tulip collectors 

 possess a few sorts on which they place a high value ; 

 but in general the very finest varieties may be procured 

 at 5 guineas a bulb; and a great many of what are 

 reckoned prime kinds at perhaps 5s. a piece. 



Tulips were formerly divided into presences, or early 

 flowering; mediae, or middle timed: and serolincc, or 

 late flowering. One of the praecoces, it may be noti- 

 ced, is a distinct species, T. suaveolens ; this is the ear- 

 ly dwarfish sweet-scented tulip, or Duke Van Thol of the 

 catalogues : when planted in a small bed by themselves, 

 these Van Thol tulips, when in flower in April, form 

 one of the most resplendent scenes presented by the 

 flower garden. Parkinson, so long ago as 1629, enu- 

 merates 1 40 varieties of tulips, and hints that there 

 were many more. Maddock, in his catalogue, gives the 

 names of 665 choice late tulips, independent altogether 

 of early sorts, double flowered, and what are called par- 

 rot tulips. 



492. Late tulips are the only kind now attended to 

 by florists, the double and parrot sorts being in little 

 esteem with them. They are divided into six fami- 

 lies, distinguished by barbarous titles, a mixture of 

 French and Dutch. 1. Primo baguettes, very tall, (the 

 term baguette inferring that they resemble a small walk- 

 ing-stick, or switch), cups with a white ground broken 

 with fine brown ; and all from the same breeder. 2. 

 Baguettes rigauts (or rougeaudes), with strong stems, 

 though not so tall, very large cups with a white ground, 

 likewise broken with fine brown, and all from the 

 same breeder. 3. Verports, ( or, as they are more com- 

 monly called in this country, Incomparable Verports, 



or simply Incomparables), with very perfect cups, ha- 

 ving a beautiful white ground, or bottom, well broken 

 with shining brown approaching to rose colour, and all 

 from the same breeder. 4. Rose*, allied to the verports, 

 the petals streaked with cherry and rose colours, on a 

 white ground. 5. Bybloemcns, sometimes contracted 

 into byliloems, with the ground white or nearly so, from 

 different breeders, and broken with variety of colours. 

 C. Bizarres, (probably a corruption from bigaree), with 

 a yellow ground, from different breeders, and broken 

 with variety of colours. 



The terms breed*, nJtok lilurvers, and seedlings, are 

 all applied to such flowers, raised from seed, as are 

 plain or of one colour, have a good bottom or ground 

 colour, (visible at the base pf the petal), and are well 

 shaped. They may thus be either bybloemens or bi- 

 zarres. The petals of these, in the course of time, break 

 into various elegant stripes, according to the nature of 

 their former self-colour. In correct language, the term 

 breeders would mean plants, from the seed of which 

 young tulips are to be raised. 



493. The florist's criterion of a fine flower is fre- 

 quently at variance with that of the world at large. 

 Many tulips which would excite the admiration of 

 thousands, are rejected by the connoisseur. The pro- 

 perties of a fine tulip, as set forth in the Florist's Di- 

 rectory, are the following. The stem should be strong 

 and tall, two feet or more. The flower should be large, 

 with six petals ; the petals at the base proceeding for a 

 little way almost horizontally, and then sweeping up- 

 wards, so as to form an elegant cup, with a rounded 

 bottom, and somewhat wider at top than below. The 

 three outer petals should be rather larger, or broader 

 at the base, than the three inner ones ; all the petals 

 should have the edges perfectly entire ; the top of each 

 should be broad, and well rounded ; the ground colour 

 at the bottom of the cup should be clear white or yel- 

 low, free from stain or tinge ; and the various rich 

 stripes, which are the principal ornament of a fine 

 flower, should be regular, bold, and distinct on the 

 margin, terminating in fine broken points, elegantly 

 feathered or pencilled; while the centre of each petal 

 should contain one or more bold blotches or stripes 

 of colour, mixed with small portions of the original or 

 breeder colour, broken into irregular obtuse points; this 

 last character, however, of central stripes or blotches, 

 not being indispensable, and any trace of the breede 

 colour displeasing many florists. 



49-t. The raising of tulips from the seed is a tedi- 

 ous process ; but in this wy alonp .ire new varieties 

 and vigorous bulbs to be expected. Seed is collected 

 only from flowers of one uniform colour, or which are 

 self-coloured, and are at the same time of good shape ; 

 for, contrary to what might naturally be expected, expe- 

 rience, it seems, has shewn that the seed of the most 

 beautiful striped tulips does not yield so fine a produce 

 as is got from the plain coloured. The tulips intend- 

 ed for seeding are planted deeper than usual, perhaps 

 eight or nine inches deep, in order that the stem may 

 be kept longer in a vigorous state ; and they are pla- 

 ced in a border where they may enjoy the full benefit 

 of the sun. Towards the end of July the pods begin 

 to open ; they are then cutoff, and kept, with the seeds 

 in them, in a dry place, till the beginning of Septem- 

 ber, when the seed is sown. This is generally done in 

 shallow boxes containing fresh light earth ; a covering 

 of about half an inch thick, of the same light or sandy 

 earth, is sifted over them. These boxes are placed in a 

 sheltered situation for the winter. By the middle of 

 March the seedling tulips shew their grass-like first 



Klowtr 

 Garden. 



