200 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



naturally inhabit there is usually the 

 friendly shelter of Grasses or branch- 

 lets about them, so that their large 

 leaves are not torn to pieces by wind 

 or hail. The Ivy-leaved Cyclamen is 

 in full leaf through winter and early 

 spring, and for the sake of the beauty 

 of the leaves alone, it is best to place 

 it so that it may be safe from injury. 

 Good drainage is necessary to their open- 

 air culture. They grow naturally among 

 broken rocks and stones mixed with 

 vegetable soil, grit, etc., where they are 

 not surrounded by stagnant water. The 

 late Mr Atkins, of Painswick, who 

 paid much attention to their culture, 

 and succeeded in a remarkable degree, 

 thought that the tuber should be 

 buried, and not exposed like the 

 Persian Cyclamen in pots. His chief 

 reason was that in some species the 

 roots issue from the upper surface 

 of the tuber only. They enjoy plenty 

 of moisture at the root at all seasons, 

 and thrive best in a friable, open soil, 

 with plenty of leaf-mould in it. They 

 are admirably suited for the rock- 

 garden, and enjoy warm nooks, partial 

 shade, and shelter from dry, cutting 

 winds. They may be grown on any 

 aspect if the conditions above men- 

 tioned be secured, but an eastern or 

 south-eastern one is best. 



Perfect drainage at the roots is in- 

 dispensable for the successful culture 

 of all Cyclamens, growing as they 

 often do in their native habitats 

 amongst stones, rock, and debris of 

 the mountains, mixed with an ac- 

 cumulation of vegetable soil the 

 tubers being thereby often covered to 

 a considerable depth, and not exposed 

 to the action of the atmosphere, as 

 is too often the case under culture 

 if placed on the surface of the 

 soil. This practice is in most in- 

 stances injurious, drying up the 



incipient young leaf and flower buds 

 when the tubers are apparently at 

 rest : for I find in most species that, 

 though leafless, the fibres and young 

 buds for the ensuing year are still 

 making slow but healthy progress 

 under favourable circumstances. Col- 

 lectors from abroad should be specially 

 careful in this particular. We seldom 

 find tubers of some of the species that 

 have been much dried or exposed to 

 the air vegetate freely or sometimes at 

 all. I have now by me some roots 

 imported nearly six years since (I 

 believe from the Greek Isles), that 

 were thus exposed, and though the 

 tubers have remained sound and sent 

 out tolerably healthy fibres, they have 

 not until this season made healthy 

 leaves. In C. hedercefolium and its 

 varieties the greater portion of their 

 fibres issue from the upper surface and 

 sides of the tuber, indicating the 

 necessity of their being beneath the 

 soil. The habit in C. coum, C. vernum, 

 and their allies, of the leaf and flower 

 stalks, when in a vigorous state, run- 

 ning beneath the soil, often to a con- 

 siderable distance from the tuber, 

 before rising to the surface, points in 

 the same direction. 



Cyclamens generally like a rich soil, 

 composed of friable loam, well-decayed 

 vegetable matter, and cow manure, 

 reduced to the state of mould, and 

 rendered sweet by exposure to the 

 atmosphere before use. They are all 

 admirably adapted for the rock-garden ; 

 they enjoy warm nooks, partial shade 

 from mid- day sun, and shelter from 

 the effects of drying, cutting winds. 

 An eastern or south-eastern aspect is 

 best, screened from cutting winds, but 

 a northern one will do well, and they 

 love an open yet sheltered spot. 



Cyclamens are best propagated by 

 seed sown as soon as it is ripe, in well- 



