192 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



esting for the rock-garden. Among 

 these more than perhaps any other 

 plants for our purpose, we should 

 seek out the more beautiful among 

 the many-named, and, once found, 

 make effective use of them. The in- 

 dividual flowers do not, as a rule, last 

 long, but, as they are produced in 

 succession, there is a long season of 

 bloom. The flowers are often destroyed 

 through being grown in bare beds, 

 where the splashing of the blooms 

 during heavy rainfalls impairs their 

 beauty. A good way is to plant 

 them in grass, where the soil is well 

 drained and rich. In the rock-garden, 

 too, among dwarf Sedums and similar 

 subjects, Colchicums thrive, and make 

 a pretty show in autumn, when rock- 

 gardens are often flowerless. They 

 look better in grassy places or in the 

 wild garden than in any formal bed 

 or border. Their naked flowers want 

 the relief and grace of grass and 

 foliage. The plants have a rather 

 wide range, some species extending 

 to the Himalayas; others are found 

 in North Africa; but the majority 

 are natives of Central and Southern 

 Europe. Though there are so many 

 names to be found in Catalogues, the 

 distinct kinds are few, and there is 

 such a striking similarity among these, 

 that they may be conveniently classed 

 in groups. The best known is 



Colchicumautumnale, commonly called 

 the autumn Crocus. The flowers appear 

 before the leaves, rosy-purple, in clusters 

 of about six, 2 or 3 inches above the sur- 

 face, flowering from September to Nov- 

 ember. There are several varieties, the 

 chief being the double purple, white and 

 striped ; roseum, rose-lilac ; striatum, rose- 

 lilac, striped with white ; pallidum, pale 

 rose ; album, pure white ; and atropur- 

 pureum, deep purple. Similar to G. 

 autumnak are 0. arenarium, byzaMinum, 

 montanum, crociflorum, Icetum, lusitanicum, 

 neapolitanum, alpimim, hymetticum; all, 



like autumnale, are natives of Europe, 

 and, from a garden standpoint, are very 

 similar in effect. 



Colchicum Parkinson!. A distinct and 

 beautiful plant, readily distinguished from 

 any of the foregoing by the peculiar 

 chequered markings of its violet-purple 

 flowers. It produces its flowers in autumn, 

 and its leaves in spring. Other allied 

 kinds are Bivonce, variegatum, Agrippinum, 

 chionense, tessellatum, all of which have 

 the flowers chequered with dark purple 011 

 a white ground. 



C. speciosum, from the Caucasus, is 

 large and beautiful, and valuable for the 

 garden in autumn, when its large rosy- 

 purple flowers appear nearly 1 foot above 

 the ground. Like the rest of the Meadow 

 Saffrons, G. speciosum is as well suited 

 for the rock-garden as the border, thriv- 

 ing in any soil ; but to have it in per- 

 fection, choose a situation exposed to the 

 sun, with sandy soil. There are several 

 varieties of it. 



C. Bornmulleri. According to M. S. 

 Arnott, writing in the Garden, " this is one 

 of the most handsome of all the Colchicums, 

 which is admired by every one who sees 

 it here. It is larger than speciosum, and 

 comes pale-coloured when in bud, passing 

 off purple, with a broad white zone in the 

 interior." 



C. variegatum (Chequered Meadow Saf- 

 fron}. This is one of the prettiest kinds, 

 and is often grown under the name of, 

 and mixed with, the common meadow 

 Saffron, but is distinguished by its 

 rosy flowers being regularly mottled 

 over with purple spots, and its leaves 

 undulated. Like the common species, it 

 flowers abundantly in autumn, grows well 

 in ordinary soil, and may be associated 

 with the autumn-flowering Crocuses on 

 the rock-garden. 



C. Sibthorpii (Sibthorp's Meadow Saf- 

 fron). Of rather recent introduction to 

 gardens, this is thought by lovers of those 

 plants to be the finest of all. It is an 

 inhabitant of the mountains of Greece, 

 ascending to a height of 5000 feet. Its 

 flowers are distinctly tessellated, the 

 segments of the perianth broad, and the 

 leaves not undulated. It is a good 

 grower in free sandy or gritty loam. 



