BULBOUS SPECIES 69 



be more welcome than the large blue flowers of /. alata 

 with their golden central stripe ? It is unfortunately true 

 that our summers are not long enough nor hot enough 

 to ripen this Mediterranean bulb, but it is now so cheap 

 that it is worth a shilling or two expended in purchasing 

 annual supplies. The bulbs should be obtained as soon as 

 possible, in August or early September, and planted at once 

 in rich soil. Care must be taken not to break off the 

 fleshy roots, which have a way of "coming off in your 

 hand," and when this happens the bulbs are necessarily 

 weakened, for these roots contain supplies of nourishment 

 on which the bulb draws during the effort of flowering. 

 When all is well, the reward is a succession of flowers 

 from November till February. 



Those who are fond of sweet-scented flowers, and those 

 who are interested in any plant that comes from Palestine, 

 should not fail to plant a few bulbs of /. Vartanii in some 

 sheltered, sunny corner. In this case, too, the bulbs must 

 be obtained early and planted at once. Old leaf-soil may 

 with advantage be added to lighten a heavy soil or to 

 enrich dry sand. Then almost immediately the leaves 

 begin to push up, and usually well before Christmas the 

 pale slaty-blue flowers appear. They are of the same 

 shape as the well-known /. reticulata, but the style crests 

 are longer, and somehow the effect is more fragile, and so 

 too, unfortunately, is the constitution of this bulb. With 

 care, however, and the aid of a sheet of glass to throw 

 off excessive rain in the early months of the year when 

 the foliage should be ripening off, the bulbs might be 

 induced to live on from year to year, and possibly to 

 accustom themselves to the altered conditions of our 



