Gardening for Amateurs 



651 



large heads of glistening white, black 

 centred flowers in June, 15 inches high. 

 It is not so hardy as the others named, and 

 should be covered with dry leaves or ashes 

 in winter. 



Ranunculus. Every lover of flowers 

 must be familiar with the gaudy colours of 

 the Turban, French and Persian Ranun- 

 culuses. For beds and borders during May 

 and June they rival the St. Brigid Anemones 

 in rich and varied colouring. Plant the 

 roots in autumn and early spring ; they 

 delight in richly manured sandy soil. 

 Previous to planting dig 

 in plenty of old cow 

 manure and leaf -mould. 

 In March and April, 

 when growing freely, they 

 require an abundance of 

 water, also give liquid 

 manure, and during 

 showery weather shake 

 a little fertiliser between 

 the plants. When plant- 

 ing beds and groups of 

 Ranunculus in the border, 

 the best procedure is to 

 remove 2 inches of the 

 surface soil, set out the 

 tubers 3 or 4 inches apart, 

 and then replace the soil. 

 By this means all the 

 roots are at a uniform 

 depth. During cold, 

 windy weather, particu- 

 larly in March, it is 

 worth while laying a few 

 branches of Yew and Spruce or heather 

 lightly over the plants. 



The double Turban Ranunculus have large 

 flowers very closely packed with petals, 

 almost suggesting an artificial flower. The 

 colours include scarlet, orange, crimson, 

 yellow, citron, rose and white. These may 

 be purchased separately or in mixture. The 

 same may be written of the double Persian 

 sorts though they are not quite so hardy and 

 robust in constitution. The flowers of the 

 Giant French varieties are larger but not 

 so closely arranged, giving the flowers a 

 less formal appearance. There is a very 

 wide range of colours in this strain, as many 

 as twenty-five named sorts being listed in 



one bulb catalogue. In addition to their 

 value for garden decoration, Ranunculus 

 flowers are most valuable for indoor decora- 

 tion when cut. 



Scilla (Squill or Bluebell). By grow- 

 ing several kinds of Scilla it is quite easy to 

 have flowers from February until the end of 

 May. The first to open their dainty flowers 

 in February and March are S. bifolia, bright 

 blue, and S. sibirica, the Siberian Squill, 

 with porcelain-blue flowers ; there are pure 

 white varieties of both. They grow about 

 3 inches high, and are most valuable for 



Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum arabicum). 



edgings, for the rock garden, and to carpet 

 the ground beneath shrubs. They are also 

 delightful in the shrubbery, and may be 

 naturalised where the grass is not too coarse. 

 S. italica, the Italian Squill, has dainty 

 lavender flowers on stems 6 inches high 

 during April and May. Quite distinct from 

 these are the Bluebells, which flower during 

 April and May. Everybody knoAvs and 

 admires the modest Bluebell Scilla festalis 

 (nutans) of our woods. This is worth 

 planting in spare, uncultivated corners, in 

 the shrubbery borders and other positions 

 difficult to fill with choice plants ; there are 

 varieties with blue, rose, white and delicate 

 blush-coloured flowers borne on spikes 14 



