656 



Gardening for Amateurs 



Wild Tulips. There are a goodly number 

 of Tulip species, or wild Tulips, and together 

 with their varieties they are excellent for 

 border decoration. Some of the finest are : 

 billietiana, yellow, rosy-scarlet base ; Didieri 

 alba, creamy-white ; elegans, crimson-red, 

 pointed petals ; flava, soft yellow ; Fors- 

 teriana, glowing scarlet, immense flowers ; 

 gesneriana spathulata, crimson-scarlet, black 

 centre ; Greigi, orange scarlet, very beauti- 

 ful ; kaufmanniana, carmine-red and white, 

 orange centre, very early flowering ; macros- 

 peila, crimson-black, yellow centre, fragrant ; 

 ostrowskiana, scarlet ; praestans, orange- 

 red, several flowers on a stalk ; retroflexa, 

 lovely pale yellow with reflexed pointed 

 petals ; Sprengeri, orange-scarlet, one of the 

 best May Tulips. 



Dainty Tulip species for the rock garden 

 are clusiana (Lady Tulip), white, flaked and 

 striped with rose ; montana, scarlet, black 

 and yellow blotch ; persica, golden yellow, 

 6 inches high, branching, fragrant ; pulchella, 

 crimson-carmine, blue base ; saxatilis, rosy- 

 pink, yellow centre ; sylvestris, the wild 

 English yellow Tulip the latter may also be 

 planted in grass. 



The English Florists' Tulips, the pride of 

 the old-fashioned gardens of years gone by, 

 are not now much grown. They do not 

 possess the gaudy colours and vigour of our 

 present-day varieties, but they are both in- 

 teresting and pretty. The Florists' Tulips 

 are divided into three groups, Bizarres, By- 

 bloemens and Roses, these again are sub- 

 divided into Breeder, Feathered and Flamed. 



Anyone deciding to grow a set of these in. 

 teresting flowers would do well to obtain the 

 following twelve : Annie McGregor, Bessie, 

 Duchess of Sutherland, Dr. Hardy, Elizabeth 

 Pegg, Goldfinder, Mabel, Mrs. Barlow, Rose 

 Hill, Samuel Barlow, Sir Joseph Paxton, 

 Talisman. 



Zephyranthes (Swamp Lily, Zephyr 

 Flower). Dainty bulbous plants, growing 

 some 6 to 8 inches high, with Crocus-like 

 flowers, needing a well-drained, light soil. 

 All the sorts except Z. Candida, which is quite 

 hardy, must be planted on a south or west 

 border, or in warm spots in the rockery. 

 Z. Atamasco, white ; Z. carinata, delicate rose ; 

 Z. rosea, bright rose ; and Z. Andersoni, 

 brownish-red and yellow, flower from June 

 to August or September. Plant the bulbs 

 3 inches deep, and a similar distance apart, 

 in February or March. The best of all the 

 Zephyr flowers is Z. Candida, which comes 

 to us from the Argentine. It is an evergreen, 

 and produces quantities of lovely white 

 flowers in late summer and autumn. The 

 best use to wiiich one can put this plant is 

 as an edging to borders by the side of gravel 

 walks. Being evergreen, it makes an ex- 

 cellent substitute and a pleasing change 

 from box edging. The plants seem to revel 

 in such a position, presumably because, being 

 against a gravel walk, the soil is well drained. 

 To form a good edging, plant the bulbs in 

 spring in a double row 1| to 2 inches apart. 

 Zephyranthes are increased by offsets ; 

 replanting is not desirable as long as the 

 plants grow and flower satisfactorily. 



To Prevent Fly Attacking Celery. 



As soon as the plants have been planted 

 out measures should be taken to stop the 

 Celery fly from laying its eggs on the leaves. 

 A good remedy is to syringe with quassia 

 extract twice a week and sprinkle with soot 

 once a week. This should go on until the 

 plants have been earthed up and are fully 

 grown. It is a simple and inexpensive 

 remedy. 



Hints on Transplanting. When trans- 

 planting beds of Lettuce, or when planting 

 beds of seedling Cabbage or other plants, 

 get a board the required width, and about 



\ or | of an inch thick. Now get a lath 

 about \\ inches wide and nail it flat on one 

 edge of the board, so that one side of it 

 overlaps. This when laid on the bed will 

 make a drill which serves instead of a line, 

 thus there is no need to cross the bed except 

 to plant. When the end of the row is 

 reached, move the board, and there is the 

 line already made by it. A few boards of 

 different widths will serve many purposes, 

 and the work is much more pleasant than 

 trampling the beds, especially when the latter 

 are wet. The boards can be used as tem- 

 porary shelves when not wanted. 



