92 WOOD AND GARDEN 



peaty ground of the adjoining common, covered with 

 heath and gorse and mossy grass, resisted frost much 

 better than the garden or meadow, and it had been 

 her practice for many years to get some thick dry 

 sods with the heath left on and to pack them close 

 round to protect tender plants. In this way she had 

 preserved her Fuchsias of greenhouse kinds, and Cal- 

 ceolarias, and the Yucca in question. 



The most brilliant mass of flower in early July is 

 given by the beds of Alstromeria awrantiaca ; of this 

 we have three distinct varieties, all desirable. There 

 is a four feet wide bed, some forty feet long, of the kind 

 most common in gardens, and at a distance from it 

 a group grown from selected seed of a paler colour ; 

 seedlings of this remain true to colour, or, as gardeners 

 say, the variety is " fixed." The third sort is from a 

 good old garden in Ireland, larger in every way than 

 the type, with petals of great width, and extremely 

 rich in colour. Alstromeria chilensis is an equally good 

 plant, and beds of it are beautiful in their varied 

 colourings, all beautifully harmonious, and ranging 

 through nearly the same tints as hardy Azaleas. These 

 are the best of the Alstromerias for ordinary garden 

 culture ; they do well in warm, sheltered places in the 

 poorest soil, but the soil must be deep, for the bunches 

 of tender, fleshy roots go far down. The roots are 

 extremely brittle, and must be carefully handled. 

 Alstromerias are easily raised from seed, but when 

 the seedlings are planted out the crowns should be 



