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Gardening for Amateurs 



is a delightful British plant worthy of a 

 place in every garden ; it blooms in April. 

 Half-shady or sunny positions beneath and 

 between deciduous shrubs or under decid- 

 uous trees suit the bulbs, or they may be 

 naturalised in grass or planted in the rock 

 garden. The flowers are purple and white, 

 and spotted or prettily chequered. Named 

 sorts are Cassandra, Meleagris alba, Orion, 

 Sylvanus, and Triton, all of which have been 



The Italian Snowdrop (Galanthus Imperati). 



raised from our British Snake's Head, 

 Fritillaria Meleagris. They grow about 9 

 inches high. 



The North American Fritillary, F. latifolia, 

 flowers in advance of our native plant, and 

 is a little taller. The flowers are prettily 

 marked with red, yellow, green, rose, etc. 



The small- flowered low-growing kinds 

 deserve attention in warm shady nooks in 

 the rock garden. These include F. armena 

 (golden -yellow), aurea, coccinea, citrina, 

 pudica (golden-yellow), and recurva (orange 

 scarlet). Plant the bulbs 2 to 3 inches deep 



in well-drained pockets of sandy loam, leaf- 

 mould, and coarse sand in September or 

 October. Two other useful Fritillarias for 

 the flower borders are F. persica, the Persian 

 Lily, violet-brown flowers, 2 feet high, and 

 F. pyrenaica, plum colour, height 1J feet. 

 The usual method of increasing Fritillarias is 

 by offsets in late summer and early autumn. 

 They may also be raised from seeds sown 

 in a cold frame or on a border of sandy soil 

 outside. Except to raise new sorts, however, 

 seeds are not much favoured, as the plants 

 take from two to five years to reach the 

 flowering stage. 



Galanthus (Snowdrop). A garden, how- 

 ever lovely in summer, is hardly worthy of 

 the name if it does not include the dainty 

 Snowdrop, one of the first flowers to peep 

 through the ground, herald of the approach 

 of spring. Plant the bulbs where they can 

 remain undisturbed and increase in numbers. 

 Nestling in shady nooks of the rockery, 

 among hardy ferns, among shrubs and under 

 deciduous trees where the grass is not too 

 coarse, the modest Snowdrop will thrive. 

 If they are associated with Winter Aconites, 

 Chionodoxas, and Crocus, the effect is 

 delightful. Plant the bulbs thickly 2 to 3 

 inches deep in August and September. 

 Snowdrops thrive in most soils, except those 

 which are water-logged. They are increased 

 by means of offsets taken off in late summer. 

 The Common Snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis, 

 has pearly-white flowers, and grows 4 to 6 

 inches high, flowering in February. There 

 are varieties with single and double blooms. 

 Ehvesii is known as the Giant Snowdrop, 

 being larger in every way than our Common 

 Snowdrop, the blooms are snowy-white, 

 tipped with green. Other dainty Snowdrops 

 are Imperati, the Giant Italian Snowdrop ; 

 Ikariae, having broad foliage ; Redoutei 

 (latifolius) plicatus, the Giant Crimean Snow- 

 drop ; robustus, a large, early-flowering sort ; 

 and Whittalli, having very large flowers. 



Galtonia candicans (Cape Hyacinth). 

 This bulb, known also as Hyacinthus can- 

 dicans, is one of our best late summer- 

 flowering plants. It thrives in ordinary 

 garden soil, and is a most useful plant for 

 beds, flower-borders, and to brighten up 

 shrubbery borders in August. A very pleas- 

 ing bed may be planted with Paeonies and 



