POPULAR GARDEN PLANTS. 



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purposes 8-inch pots are large enough, but large 

 specimens require 12-inch pots. In June give 

 them more air and less heat for a week or two 

 before removing them to the conservatory or 

 greenhouse, where they will do well until Octo- 

 ber, when they may be destroyed, retaining 

 only sufficient to afford a supply of cuttings in 

 the succeeding spring. 



They are little subject to insects, although 

 red spider will sometimes attack them if the 

 atmosphere in which they are grown is kept 

 too dry. 



Crocus. — The Crocus is one of the earliest, 

 hardiest, and brightest in colour of all spring- 

 flowering bulbs, and the Dutch roots are so 

 cheap by the thousand that they should be 

 planted largely in all good gardens. The genus 

 contains in all seventy or more species distri- 

 buted wild over Europe, North Africa, and 

 North and Western Asia. Mr. George Maw's 

 beautiful Monograph of the Genus Crocus may be 

 consulted by all interested in the history of 

 the rarer kinds. Our native species, C. vermes, 

 is the most variable, and the origin of most 

 of the purplish-coloured Dutch seedlings — the 

 golden varieties being derived from C. aureus. 

 These two yield the best of the spring-blooming 

 kinds, the most showy autumnal kind being the 

 blue C. pulchellus. 



Their cultivation is very simple, as they 

 thrive in nearly all soils, although preferring 

 light loam, or even sand or gravel. The corms 

 or bulbs should not be planted more than 3 

 inches deep or they are apt to damp and rot 

 away on stiff, wet soils. The bulbs may be 

 grown in pots or boxes planted in sandy soil 

 or in wood-moss and leaf -mould; they flower 

 very early if sheltered in a sunny frame. Some 

 of the most fragile of the autumnal kinds suffer 

 so much from cold rains and rough gales that 

 they are rarely seen to the best advantage un- 

 less sheltered in cold pits or frames. All are 

 easily grown in pots in a sunny window, and 

 there are few more cheerful sights than a pot 

 or two of Crocus opening to the sunshine of 

 a wintry morning. 



Species of Crocus. 



C. aureus. — The harbinger of spring flowers; vivid 

 orange -yellow. May be grown anywhere. South-eastern 

 Europe. 



C. biflorus. — Scotch Crocus. Flowers white or pale- 

 lilac, very variable. C. Weldeni and others are forms of 

 this species. Tuscany to Georgia. 



C. chrysanthus. — Yellow - flowered. There are three 

 or four named forms, such as albidus, fusco-tinctus and 



fusco-lirteatus, ccerulescens, &c. Very free and early. 

 South-eastern Europe. 



C. hadriaticus (fig. 533). — Leaves and flowers produced 

 together, the latter white tinged with yellow at base in- 



Fig. 533.— Crocus hadriaticus. 



side, with brown outside ; stigmata orange. October. 

 Albania, &c. 



C. Imperati. — Neapolitan Crocus. The earliest to 

 bloom in January out-of-doors. Elowers lilac or purple, 

 fawn-coloured, and striped behind and in bud. There is 

 a white variety, very free and hardy. Naples. 



C. iridiflorus. — Iris-flowered, autumnal, three of the 

 segments broader than the others. Colour lilac or purple. 

 Transylvania. 



C. medius. — Flowers bright mauve -purple striped at 

 base of inner segments ; stigmata conspicuous, bright- 

 orange. October. Maritime Alps. 



C. nudifiorus. — Autumnal Nottingham Crocus, being 

 formerly found in meadows there along with the spring- 

 flowering C. vernus. Flowers purple or violet. South- 

 western Europe. 



C. pulchellus. — Flowers bright-lilac, large as in speciosus. 

 but with a yellow eye and much less conspicuously striped. 

 October. Asia Minor. 



C. reticularis. — An early and pretty spring-flowering 

 species with flowers varying from white to purple, but 

 always striped with purple on the three outer segments. 

 Anthers orange; stigma scarlet. Caucasus. 



C. sativus — Saffron Crocus. One of the oldest of 

 cultivated plants, mentioned by Solomon. Formerly 

 much grown at Saffron -Walden and elsewhere in Eng- 

 land. Flowers violet-purple in autumn. There are many 

 varieties. Italy to Kurdistan. 



C. Sieberi — Perianth lilac-purple with an orange throat, 

 stigma vivid orange-scarlet. March. Greece. 



C. speciosus (fig. 534). — Best autumnal kind. Flowers 

 blue -purple with orange stigmas, very free and hardy. 

 Bosphorus. 



C. Susianns (Cloth-of-Gold Crocus). — A well-known 

 old garden plant, flowering in February, its buds heavily 

 striped with dark purplish-brown, also called C. re vol ut us, 

 as its three outer segments often reflex with age. Very 

 early, bright, and showy. Crimea, Persia, Caucasus. 



