beginner wonders what he had done wrong, thinks they are 

 all dead, and casts them away in disgust. 



This misfortune has also happened to seedling pelargoniums. 

 Some species have learnt the habit of storing up their life-force 

 through the blazing hot summers and almost desert conditions 

 of the north-west Cape, by forming either spiny succulent 

 stems, or corms, or tubers ; and when they go to rest they 

 appear to be completely dead. But as soon as the weather is 

 cooler and the rains come their leaves re-appear and they start 

 into growth all over again. 



Seeds of the bulbous plants which grow in summer should 

 be sown in spring. Among these are Galtonia candicans, Orni- 

 thogalum Saundersiae, Gladiolus crassifolius, G. salmomus and G. 

 psittacinus. Also all gloriosas, yellow and pink arums, Schi^p- 

 stylis, and Haemanthus, Strelifrja, Valletta and Eucomis. 



Such seeds as Nerine, Crinum, Brunsvigia and Clivia should 

 be sown just as soon as they are ripe. Some will even begin to 

 germinate while they are still on the plant. 



Such things as Agapanthus and Kniphofia germinate at almost 

 any time when conditions are not too severe (i.e., when neither 

 too hot nor too cold). Although seeds of nearly all bulb plants 

 germinate well, they are never in a hurry. Most of them take a 

 month before the seedlings appear ; and occasionally a pro- 

 portion of the seeds will germinate in the usual time and the 

 rest will lie dormant to appear the following season. 



It must be remembered that Cape plants do not require 

 tropical conditions. Most of our bulbs that I have seen grown 

 in England struck me as being kept too hot and too wet. The 

 condition to be aimed at should be plenty of air, plenty of sun, 

 plenty of water when growing, and absolute dryness when 

 resting. 



59 



