ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



third half-rotten spent tan-bark with sandy 

 loam. Our tan-bark here is the bark of 

 the Tanbark Oak (Quercus densiflora), and 

 is ground at the tannery. This gives a 

 soil rich in mould and always loose and 

 porous. It suits the needs of Erytliro- 

 niums exactly, and answers well for many 

 other bulbs. They should always be planted 

 early, as, with few exceptions, the bulbs 

 are not good keepers after the fall, and 

 the sooner they are in the ground after 

 the first of October the better. I plant 

 them so that the top of the bulb is about 

 2 inches from the surface. The drainage 

 should be good. With these essentials, 

 shade, drainage, and a loose soil, success 

 is very probable. Although quite hardy, 

 a heavy coat of leaves, such as Nature 

 protects them with in their woodland 

 home, would be a wise precaution in cold 

 -climates. They do not seem to have any 

 peculiar disease, and growing and flower- 

 ing as early as they do, artificial watering 

 is not necessary. In the region including 

 the Kocky Mountains and the country 

 westward to the Pacific, fifteen forms are 

 now known, classed as species and 

 varieties. A more charming group of 

 bulbous plants does not exist. Their 

 leaves show a variety of mottling, and in 

 the flowers delicate shades of white, straw- 

 colour, and deep yellow, deep rose, pink, 

 light and deep purple are represented. To 

 describe all of these forms, so 'that even 

 a botanist could readily identify them by 

 the descriptions, would be difficult, but in 

 the garden each has some charm of leaf, 

 of tint, or of form. In their native homes 

 they grow throughout a wide range as to 

 climate and altitude, and in cultivation 

 they maintain their seasons, so that the 

 display which is opened by E. Hartwegi 

 with the Snowdrops and earliest Narcissi, 

 is closed by E. montanum and E. purpur- 

 ascens when the others have flowered 

 and become dry. E. Hartwegi can be 

 propagated freely by offsets ; all of the 

 others come from seed. A bulb may have 

 an offset occasionally, and sometimes a 

 clump of four or five will form in some 

 years, but the contrary is the rule. It is 

 all important in handling the bulbs of 

 Erythroniums that they should not be 

 allowed to dry out. Many of the failures 



are owing to lack of care in this respect. 

 If properly handled, they can be kept in 

 good condition out of the ground until 

 midwinter or even February, although 

 early planting is always advisable. The 

 bulbs should be kept in a cool place in 

 barely moist earth or peat or Sphagnum, 

 and in shipping carry best in Sphagnum 

 barely moistened. In dry or hot air, they 

 soon become hollow, and their vitality is 

 impaired. 



Erythronium grandiflorum. The 

 species is not to be confused with E. gigan- 

 teum, which has straw-coloured flowers and 

 richly mottled leaves. Nearly all of the 

 bulbs grown heretofore as E. grandiflorum 

 are really E. giganteum. The true E. 

 grandiflorum has light green leaves, entirely 

 destitute of mottling, the filaments slender 

 and the style deeply three-cleft. There 

 are four strong-coloured forms, each of 

 which has a wide distribution. Mr 

 Watson, in his revision, only mentions 

 two of these, and is incorrect as to 

 localities. They are 



(1) The type of the species, one to five- 

 flqwered, stout, flowers a bright clear 

 yellow. This is the species which Avas 

 exhibited recently in London as E. 

 Nuttallianum. Eastern Oregon. 



(2) Var. Nuttallianum. This only 

 differs from the type in having red 

 anthers. 



(3) On the high peaks of Washington, 

 there is a form with white flowers with 

 yellow centres. It is one to five-flowered, 

 and from very low to 18 inches, according 

 to soil and situation. Watson's var. parvi- 

 florum is accredited to the same localities, 

 but, acccording to him, is bright yellow. 



(4) Var. album, a form having pure 

 white flowers with a yellow centre and a 

 greenish cast, one to five-flowered. This 

 handsome form grows in the Pine forests 

 in a low rolling region of Eastern 

 Washington. In cultivation I find some 

 difficulty with E. grandiflorum, from its 

 tendency to flower too quickly. The 

 plants will often come through the 

 ground with the flower half expanded. 

 Inthe cooler climate of Northern Europe, 

 which is more similar to that of its native 

 home, it will do much better. Eocky 

 Mountains, Colorado, and British America. 



