272 



CASSELL'S POPULAK GARDENING. 



such as bloom during the depth of -vpinter. These 

 are for the most part quite hardy, hut the flowers 

 appear at a time when they would almost certainly 

 be injured if grown unprotected out of doors in 

 nearly aU parts of England. The kinds named below 

 are such as bloom either in spring or autumn, and 

 are all moderate or not very extravagant in price. 

 TheyaU thrive in rich alluvial soil. They should 

 be planted about three inches below the surface, and 

 taken up and re-planted every third year, as the 

 conns get nearer the surface 

 each 5'ear, the new one form- 

 ing above the old one. The 

 earlier they are planted 

 after the conns are pro- 

 curable the better, as when 

 they are ready to com- 

 mence growth they rapidly 

 deteriorate. The foliage 

 should in no case be re- 

 moved prematurely, as is too 

 often done, but should be 

 allowed to die offi naturally, 

 or the corms will not be so 

 large as they otherwise 

 would be. Crocuses may 

 be gi-own pretty successfully 

 beneath the dwarfer Saxi- 

 frages and other similar 

 plants, but this plan is at 

 best somewhat of a make- 

 shift method, and is only 

 mentioned here for the pur- 

 pose of suggesting how to 

 avoid bare places on the 

 rockery. 



Sp7'inff - blooming Crocuses. 

 — First to be named are 

 the best Dutch kinds, 

 which are usually offered 

 in seedsmen's catalogues. 



Many of these are of great beauty, and they in- 

 clude the following colours : — Blue, pui-ple, 

 striped, white and j'ellow, and intermediate shades 

 and combinations of these colours. Some of the 

 choice named Dutch Crocuses are very large and 

 handsome, and are particularly adapted to produce 

 striking effects on the rockery when out-door flowers 

 are very scarce, and consequently correspondingly 

 precious. Besides these, which for the most part are 

 the progeny of C vermis and 0. aureus and their 

 varieties, there are some species of greater rarity 

 which, where variety is desired, may well be grown 

 by enthusiasts. Of these we will mention C. alata- 

 vicus (white, with black lines), C. atlanticus (white, 

 striped with brown), C aureus (rich golden-yellow), 



Cbocos.Bgkhi. 



C. bamnaticus (purple), C. biflorus pusillus (a minia- 

 ture form of the Scotch or Cloth of Silver Cro- 

 cus), C. Boryi (white, bright orange at the throat), 

 C. Imperati (variable in colour and markings), 

 C. lacteus (creamy- white), C. Sieberi (bright lilac, 

 orange at the base), C. stellaris (yellow, striped 

 with black), C. sulphureus concolor (sulphur), C. s. 

 ttriatus (yellow, striped with black), C. a. pallidua 

 (primrose). These specially named kinds vary in 

 price from 3d. to Is. per conn, and are easily obtain- 

 able from leading houses 

 in the bulb and Dutch 

 flower-root trade. 



Autumn-blooming Crocuses. 

 — Crocus cancellatus (vari- 

 ously coloured from white 

 to pale bluish-purple), C. 

 arpetanua (pale purple), C. 

 etruscus (blue, grej'', and 

 white), C. iridijlorus — of 

 which byzanlinus is a 

 synonym (rich Hlac, shaded 

 with purple), C. longifiorus 

 militensis (light purple, 

 yellow at the throat), C. 

 medius (bright purple, veined 

 at the base; the stigmata 

 bright scarlet and much 

 branched), C. nudijlarus 

 (violet-purple), Cochroletteus 

 (creamy- white, orange base), 

 C. odorus longijiorua (soft 

 lilac), C.pnlchellus (lavender- 

 blue), C. satirus (purple), 

 C. serotinus (blue), C. speci- 

 osus (blue), C. suaveolens 

 (violet, fawn, and black), 

 and C. zonatus (pale la- 

 vender, with scarlet zone 

 — most beautiful). These 

 autumnal kinds vary from 

 3d. to Is. 6d. each corm, except sativus, which is 

 procurable at 6d. per dozen. 



As Crocuses are good seed-bearers and ai-e readily 

 hybridised, it is to be hoped that amateurs will 

 possess themselves of many of the species named 

 above, and devote some attention to raising new 

 varieties. They will find the work very interesting. 

 Crocuses are easily raised from seed, which should 

 be sown as soon as ripe. In from two to three years 

 the seedlings will bloom. The additions Tuade to 

 this genus in recent years are of sufficient interest 

 and variety to warrant the expectation that still 

 further valuable additions will be speedily made, it 

 a sufficient number of amateurs can be induced to 

 engage in the work of hybridisation. 





