70 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWER '. 



and a tulbaghia ; its modern name dates from the publica- 

 tion of Aiton's " Hortus Kewensis," wherein, on the authority 

 of L'Heritier, it is entered by the name now universally 

 recognised. It was cultivated in the Royal Gardens at 

 Hampton Court in 1692, therefore it is no novelty ; and 

 yet of its history there is not much to be said. 



This fine plant is commonly and advantageously re- 

 garded as requiring protection in winter, and is, therefore, 

 grown in pots and tubs. It is, however, quite hardy in 

 the southern counties, and in London survives an ordinary 

 winter in the open border, where, if spared for a few years 

 the trial of a severe and prolonged frost, it increases to a 

 large, mass, and flowers freely in the month of September. 

 The winter of 1885-6, the longest we have known, though 

 certainly not the severest, affected out- door plants at Kew 

 so slightly, that when, in the month of April, the spring 

 renewed the growth of vegetation, they were found to be 

 fresh and green, and scarcely touched by the winter frost. 

 In the Botanical Gardens of Manchester some large clumps 

 have stood out in borders for several years, with but little 

 harm, from which they have soon recovered. Some very 

 fine clumps that we had in the open border, on heavy land, 

 in a northern suburb of London, were so much injured by 

 the keen frost that occurred in the month of March, 1880, 

 that it was not until the end of May that they presented 

 above ground a new growth of green leaves from the roots ; 

 and in that year they did not flower, having enough to do 

 to accomplish their re-establishment. 



We are particular to set forth these facts, because, 

 when a noble plant, such as the one before us, proves to 

 be hardy enough to brave an average winter in the open 

 ground, the gain to all lovers of a garden is immense. 



