S6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 258. 



few years ago a stem was shown in London with several very 

 large flowers of a pale rose color, the whole appearance of the 

 plant resembling L. auratum as much as L. Krameri, but the 

 bulb resembled that of the former more closely. Unfortunately 

 the two plants have suffered so much that they have not flow- 

 ered for the last two years. 



LiLiUM speciosumGroup. — Lilium speciosum isof theutmost 

 value wherever cut flowers are required, as it is equally well 

 adapted for pot-culture orthe open border.and aslongasthesoil 

 is neither too dry nor too damp there are few places where the 

 bulbs will not grow. If wanted for early flowering, bulbs 

 should be potted in October, without injuring the roots much, 

 and then plunged in a cool frame during the winter. Early 

 in the spring, when well-rooted, they might be moved at first 

 to a cool house and later on to a temperate house and forced 

 into flower. Those for the open border can either be planted 

 during the autumn or winter, and as late as March if the bulbs 

 are not shrivelled up and the roots have been kept grow- 

 ing. The best material to preserve them in is cocoanut-fibre. L. ' 

 speciosum (or L. lancifolium as it is often incorrectly called) 

 is usually divided into sections. Those with green stems are 

 put under var. Album, and those with a purplish tinted stem 

 under var. Rubrum. It is, however, difficult to draw a line, 

 especially as many of them are crosses between the two and 

 belong as much to one as to the other. L. speciosum roseum 

 has a stem from two to three feet in height, the flowers of a 

 delicate rose-spotted crimson. Of these we have several very 

 beautiful forms, the principal being the following: Album 

 Kraetzeri, which has white flowers, the segments being marked 

 with green mid-ribs. Album verum, which is synonymous 

 with Album novum, and Album vestale, which flowers a 

 week or two earlier than Kraetzeri and has broader leaves, 

 larger and broader segments, with less green. Album punc- 

 tatum has the same bulb and leaves as the last, the flowers 

 being white, dotted delicate rose and tinted pale rose. Rubrum 

 has reddish-tinted flowers, the stem green tinted with purple, 

 leaves dark green, often purplish tinted. The outside seg- 

 ments of the flower are more or less shaded with rose or red. 

 The intensity of the coloring depends much upon the strength 

 of the plant and upon the weather, a sunless autumn meaning 

 paler-colored flowers. I have often seen flowers of the com- 

 mon Rubrum sent from the south having a deeper color even 

 than the variety Melpomene purpureum, or even Cruentum. 

 Roseum, properly speaking, is only a poor Rubrum with 

 paler-colored flowers. A form sold under the name of 

 Roseum verum, though having greenish purple stem, has pale 

 rose flowers with white edged segments, dotted purple, the 

 pedicels being much branched and twisted. Purpureum has 

 a slender stem from three feet to five feet high, the flowers 

 large, rose-tinted, and dotted with intense purplish crimson, the 

 segments irregular, recurved. Melpomene has a large, but 

 less pointed, bulb tlian Purpureum, the flowers large, rose in 

 the centre, tinted and dotted with deep crimson, the exterior 

 purple. Cruentum differs by having a straight stout stem, 

 short lanceolate leaves, and deep-colored flowers, the outside 

 being rich crimson-purple. Multiflorum, or Schrymackersi, is 

 almost like Rubrum, but flowers a week earlier. The bulb is 

 in proportion smaller but well shaped. 



L. speciosum and its numerous forms flower from the be- 

 ginning of August till the middle of October, the first in 

 bloom being Album verum and Multiflorum, the last Purpu- 

 reum and its allied forms Melpomene and Cruentum. Besides 

 forcing them earlier into bloom, there is also a way of retard- 

 ing them, which is done by keeping bulbs out of the ground 

 till March in a dry, cool and airy place, laid in cocoanut-fibre. 

 They are protected from rain and sun, and must, of course, not 

 be allowed to shrivel. Imported bulbs flower also much later 

 the first year. 



L. Henryi properly belongs to this group, the whole charac- 

 ter of the plant being like that of L. speciosum, except that 

 the flowers are apricot-colored or orange-yellow. It is a most 

 beautiful, but at present very rare, Lily. It flowers in Septem- 

 ber, and is a native of China. — G. Reuthe, in Gardeners' Maga- 

 zine. 



Some American Bulbs. 



'X'HE bulbous flowering plants of Mexico, as a rule, do much 

 -*- better in our northern climate than those of California and 

 Oregon. The collected bulbs, after a year's growth in good 

 rich soil, double, and often treble, in size, producing larger 

 and more abundant flowers. Our soil seems to suit them 

 exactly, as also our climate, so far as summer is concerned, 

 but our severe winters would, no doubt, be too mucfi for them 

 unless they were entirely protected from frost. When well- 



ripened off and properly dried their bulbs winter well indoors, 

 most of them nicely in any dry cellar, and the Tigridias in a 

 dry warm place. 



The number of Calochortuses in Mexico is small, as com- 

 pared with those of California, but they are attracfive, and do 

 finely. Not only do the bulbs become larger when grown here, 

 but they seed freely, and some of them multiply fast by the lit- 

 tle bulblets borne in the axils of their leaves, as with Lilium 

 tigrinum, only in much greater profusion. The best Calo- 

 chortus I have seen from Mexico, and, as well, the best from 

 any locality, is C. Bonplandianus. The large, dark purple, bell- 

 shaped flowers are borne in greater profusion, I believe, than 

 those of any other species. C. flavus, which is another name 

 for Cyclobethra flava, is also a fine species, and so is C. Ma- 

 drensis. 



These Mexican bulbs all do best planted in spring, and seeds- 

 men who handle these and the California bulbs, I believe, 

 place all the Mexican bulbs in their spring catalogues, and all 

 those from California and Oregon in their autumn Usts. Milla 

 biflora, which was not common ten years ago, has won its way 

 into almost every catalogue of flowering bulbs in the country. 

 It is easily grown in any ordinary garden soil and, unlike most 

 bulbs, does not have to be replaced every year. The Tigridias 

 too, with half a chance, are sure to give satisfaction. Bessera 

 elegans has never matured here, not so much because of our 

 short season as that it is so late in starting. It may be planted 

 very early and not come up perhaps until July. There is then not 

 sufficient time before frost for it to mature. When the bulbs 

 do not mature it is difficult to keep them over. This is the 

 only species of Mexican bulbs that has not done well here. 

 Nemastylis brunnea, though it does notmuhiply, grows much 

 larger flowers and bulbs than the collected ones. The Coope- 

 ryas also thrive in our northern soil and the Zephyranthes all 

 produce much larger bulbs. The bulbs of Cooperias and 

 those of the various species of Zephyranthes, if well dried, keep 

 perfectly well in any ordinary cellar. 



The various species and varieties of Calochortus from Cali- 

 fornia and Oregon have never done as well with me as those 

 from Mexico. When wintered in a cool cellar, if above the 

 freezing point, they begin to grow in February. By the time 

 the weather is sufficiently warm to plant them out they have 

 become so weakened by this growth that they do not amount 

 to much. The only way is to plant them in autumn and pro- 

 tect them, when good bulbs will flower the first season at least. 

 They do not, however, increase in size like the Mexican bulbs, 

 but, on the contrary, they decrease. C. longibarbatus has done 

 the best with me of any from the Pacific coast and C. Benthami 

 next best. I am not satisfied that they cannot be successfully 

 grown here. The trouble is that they are so early. If they 

 were in frames covered with glass I believe they would do 

 much better. 



The Brodiaeas do better. They not only seem to hold their 

 own so far as size of bulb is concerned, but they multiply by 

 offsets and flower quite freely. A clay loam seems to suit 

 them. Brodiaea grandiflora, B. ixioides and B. stellaris are 

 among the best. B. coccinea is very attractive, but it is not so 

 thrifty here as some of the others. 



The Erythroniums do nicely here. They should be planted 

 out by the last of August, that they may become well-rooted 

 before winter. E. grandiflorum has several varieties, all very 

 firm. One of the best of these is the one from Oregon, some- 

 times called E. giganteum. It has large nodding creamy 

 white flowers. E. Hendersoni is a very handsome species from 

 Oregon, but not so robust as some of the others. 



The Fritfillarias are pretty and easily managed in the same 

 beds with Brodiaeas and Erythroniums. F. recurvae, with its 

 orange-red hly-like flowers, is the best. The little F. pudica, 

 producing its little yellow flowers so early, is also valuable. 



The California Lilies are among the best of the genus. Lil- 

 ium Washingtonianum is a little difficult to manage. It 

 needs time to become established and to have protection in 

 winter. L. Parryi, with its canary-yellow flowers, is quite easily 

 managed. Any of these Lilies, planted in well-drained soil, 

 four or five inches deep, mulched with two or three inches of 

 peat, will thrive. Perhaps L. pardalinum is the hardiest of the 

 California species, but if L. parvum or L. rubescens are planted 

 in sandy loam, they will thrive. L. Columbianum is a fine 

 plant, with its spotted recurving petals ; it has done better with 

 me in clay loam than in sand. L. Humboldtii needs two 

 years to establish itself before it does its best. 



Charlotte, Vt. F. H. H. 



Grevillea robusta. — This has proved to be a very satisfactory 

 plant for the conservatory. I put a strong specimen in the 

 ground of a house having no centre bench, where it rooted 



