IX I A 



IXIA 



839 



tvell to sprinkle a handful of saud on tlie spot where 

 the bulbs are to lie. This helps the drainage, especially 

 uu heavy lands, and prevents rotting. The bulbs should 

 then be covered with about 3 inches of leaves, hay, or 

 better still, \niie needles. In the latitude of Boston, 

 bulb beds can be uncovered during the tirst week of 

 April. However, there will still be sharp frosts to nip 

 the tender slioots tliat have started beneath the winter 

 rovering. L'onstM"[uently a little hay or other covering 

 material should be left near by, where it can be easily 

 gotten when a chilly evening threatens. In ten days 

 the young sprouts will become sulhcieutly hardened to 

 withstand any subsequent cold. Even such hardy 

 things as Alliums, wiien tirst uncovered, can hardly 

 withstand any frost at all. It is, however, a mistake tu 

 wait two weeks longer and then permanently uucover 

 the bulb beds, for by that time the early-starting things 

 are likely to lie so lank and long that they never attain 

 ideal sturdiuess. It is better to uncover too early than 

 too late. The secret of success with Ixias outdoors is 

 largely in hardening the plants in early spring and in 

 never allowing them to grow too fast under cover, 

 where they become yellow and sickly. During the win- 

 ler shutters can be placed over the bulb beds to shed 

 tiie rain; but the bult)s do as well without this protec- 

 tion, though they may be later in starling. Of course, 

 Ixia bulbs cannot stand any 

 freezing, and they mu^t, 

 therefore, be planted in un- 

 frozen soil. After liower- 

 ing, let the bulbs remain in 

 the soil until the end of 

 July : then take them up, 

 and store them, not in dry 

 earth, but in boxes without 

 any packing. Let them re- 

 main in a dry place until 

 they are wanted for Novem- 

 her planting. In the south- 

 ern part of England Ixias 

 can be planted 6 inches deep 

 in hardy borders as late as Decem- 

 ber, and Krelage, perhaps thinking 

 of still warmer regions, considers 

 Ixias as summer-blooming bulbs, and 

 advises planting from October to 

 December. In the writer's experi- 

 ence, the flowers from the old bulbs 

 are not at all inferior in succeeding 

 years: indeed, the contrary has been 

 the case, and the bulbs he raises are 

 vastly superior to the ones he buys. 

 Amateurs are commonly advised to 

 throw away the offsets because fresh 

 bulbs are cheap. Yet the under- 

 signed tinds that many of the off- 

 sets bloom the first year and nearly 

 all of them the second. 



It is commonly thought that if 

 Cape bulbs are ever raised com- 

 mercially in America, California or 

 the coastal plain of the southern 

 states would be the fittest regions for 

 the industry. The writer knows of 

 Ixias being raised commercially near 

 Boston with every prospect of suc- 

 cess. It is strange that Tritonias. 

 Sparasis and Babianas cannot_ be 

 grown in the same way, though it is 

 some consolation that they can be so 

 easily grown in pots. To the under- 

 signed Ixias are the most pleasing 

 ufall bulbs. He has thousands in 

 bloom in tiie month of June, and 

 thinks they make a braver show even 

 than tulips. ■^. e. Endicott. 



1188. Ixia 

 paniculata l,X ^; 



like a compound of sandy soil and leaf-mold. It is sup- 

 jiosed that three-fourths of the failures with Ixias are 

 due to hasty forcing. The pots should be stored under 

 a bench or in a rather dark cellar, at a temperature of 

 45'^. The object is to hold back the tops while the roots 

 are growing, in order to get stocky, well coh -n-d. slowly 

 started shoots. They 

 need no water until 

 irrowth has started. Then 

 water carefully until the 

 flowers come, as the 

 yuung plants are liable 

 to rot at the surface of 

 the ground. While iiow- 

 ering water freely. Af- 

 ter flowering, some gar- 

 <leners give the plants 

 no water. Others keep 

 the soil moist until the 

 leaves turn yellow, and 

 gradually withhold water, 

 temperature, the plants may be 

 lu'ought into a cool greenhouse 

 (.")0'-) when well started, and to- 

 wards the end of January may be 

 given 'i'"' more heat if flowers are 

 desiied as early as the middle of 

 I\Iarch. Ixias have to be staked \ 

 and tied. The old bulbs, from \ 

 \\hich the offsets have been re- V> 

 moved, may be used again. Ixia y. 

 l.iulbs, which are really fibrous- \i 

 coated corms about ^i in. thick, 

 keep as well as Freesias. Seed- 

 linirs flower the third vear. 



w. :\r. 



ClxttplE of Ixias ]X Cdlti- 

 FRAMES.— Choose for the franie 

 aiL open place, sheltered from nsg. 

 north and west winds. In its 

 construction give especial care 

 to providing good drainage, to close-fitting and snug 

 banking, so that frost, mice and moles can be kept out. A 

 santly soil, without manures, is safest and best for Ixias. 

 If fertilizers are used they must be placed several inches 

 below the bulbs, never in contact with them. As in out- 

 door culture, the bulbs must be planted late and in soil 

 well dried by placing the sashes over the frame some 

 time beforehand. Plant about 3 inches deep, as far 

 apart, and treat afterwards much as in greenhouse cul- 

 ture. Take off the sashes in early May to showthe mass 

 of rich, odd flowers which, ordinarily, will open about 

 tliat time and last for several weeks. If the frame is to 

 have other tenants through the summer, the Ixias may 

 be ttiken up after their tops are dead and stored in dry 

 sand till planting time comes around again. Otherwise, 

 merelv cease watering as the topsof the Ixias die down, 

 and put on the sashes again, tilting them so that they 

 will give air and shed rain. l_ Greenlee. 



INDEX. 



aristata, .'1. Intea. fi. panir-ulatn. 2. 



.-olumellaris. 10. marulata, n. ii;jtens, 7. 



rraterioides, S. mmiadelpha, !'■'■. polystardiya, 4. 



tlexnnsa. :'^. odorata. 1. specin^a, S. 



longiflora, 2. ovata, 11. viriJitlora, 12. 



A. Tiihc ,<! prri<f)}f]t ilihffril fn'hur llu: Un>h into a 

 disfnirt fauuLl. 



Ixia maculata. 



(X'3.) 



1. odorata, Ker. FIs. pure re 



;.M. 1173. 



('rLTURE OF Ixias in GKEEXHOrsES.-Isia bulbs can 

 be planted any time from September 15 to October 30. the 

 >ooiierthebet'ter. In general, tender bulbs of small size 

 tend to iosevitalitT when kept a long time in the dry 

 airof warebonses. "ixia bulbs should be planted an inch 

 deep, 5 or G in a 5-in. pot. or S to 10 in a G-in. pot. They 



\.\. Tube of prrhnilli )i"/ tlilateil. 



v.. Letirjfh f'f tiihe 2^.,-3 hi. 



•1. paniculata, Delaroche I r. hnigifl<n;:. Berg.l. Fig. 

 IISS. .Setrraents white, often tinged red: throat same 

 color or black. B.M. 25G and 1502. 



BB. Li liglh of tube 1 ill. 



3. aristata, Ker, FIs. whitish, according to Baker, but 

 a tine pdnk iu B.3I. 5S0. 



