THE WELL-CONSIDERED GARDEN 



it "seeds freely and soon spreads in any sunny 

 border." 



"Crocus Korolkowi," to quote Mr. Bowles 

 again, "from the far East, has two good points 

 — it flowers early and is of a peculiarly brilliant 

 form of yellow." This little crocus I have grown 

 for a few years myself, and it always surprises 

 me by appearing practically with the snowdrop. 



Crocus hiflorus, the "Scotch crocus," is white, 

 with pencillings of grayish mauve on its three 

 outer petals. The markings are exquisite and the 

 early blooming of this crocus marks it as a specially 

 necessary one. 



My prime favorite among all these species cro- 

 cus is Crocus Tommasinianus. It is tall, slender, 

 delicate, with narrow, pointed petals, of a lovely 

 lavender, slightly bluer than Sieberi. An orange 

 pistil within it is like a vivid star. It has great 

 height of stem, and tapering form of flower. It 

 is the one which most delights me as a novice in 

 crocus-collecting; and last spring, in a limited 

 space where the ground runs up into a rather 

 steepish slope for a few feet, which slope is cov- 

 ered by a thick group of the little tree known as 

 the garland thorn, there beneath the small tree 

 stems I hope to see next spring hundreds of Uttle 



98 



