480 



THE GAKDENEE'S ASSISTANT, 



night. Air should be given on all favourable 

 opportunities. 



After the leaves have faded, the plants 

 should be placed in a sunny, dry position, a 

 frame with a south aspect being best, and ex- 

 posed to full sunlight whilst being kept abso- 

 lutely dry. Upon this process of ripening and 

 resting the succeeding crop of blooms depends = 

 Seeds are ripened by cultivated plants, and 

 these ought to produce flowering bulbs in 

 about three years. All the species hybridize 

 freely with each other, 



The following are the best of the species and 

 hybrids : — 



N. amabilis, scape 12 inches, with large umbel of 

 bright -pink flowers. 



N. atrosanguinea, scape 16 inches, flowers 2 inches 

 wide, wavy segments, colour deep salmon -rose. 



N. Cami, scape 12 inches, with ten-flowered umbels, 

 colour rosy-scarlet. 



N. curvifolia (Fothcrgilli), — The largest and best of 

 the species, and the parent of the best garden hybrids. 

 Scape 18 inches, bearing a twelve-flowered umbel, 6 inches 

 through, each flower 1^ inch wide with broad reflexed 

 segments and long filaments; colour bright glistening 

 scarlet. Specimens in 10-inch pots have borne sixteen 

 heads of flowers. They last about a month, N. Meadow- 

 bankii is a form of this. 



N. elegans-coerulca, a sturdy hybrid with large umbels 

 of crimson flowers tinged with blue, Elegans-alba has 

 pure-white flowers. 



N. flcxuosa. — Leaves and flowers together. Scape tall, 

 flexuose, umbel ten- to twenty-flowered, the flowers de- 

 cimate, wavy, pink, with a darker keel, Stamens and 

 style curved. There are several named varieties. 



N. Manselli. — The largest and one of the best. Leaves 

 wider than others, produced along with the scape, which is 

 2 feet high, stout; umbel 6 inches through, composed of 

 twelve to eighteen flowers, each 1^ inch long, with broad, 

 recurved segments, and coloured sparkling-rose. De- 

 veloped in November, lasting till January. 



N. Moorei. — Like N. curvifolia, but with green not 

 glaucous leaves, a compressed scape 9 inches long, and a 

 nine-flowered umbel of large bright -scarlet flowers. 



N. pudica. — Remarkable in the genus in having ivory- 

 white flowers in loose umbels on scapes 12 inches long; 

 they are bell-shaped and 1 inch long. 



N. sarniensis (Guernsey Lily). — Scape 1 foot, umbel of 

 ten to twenty bright rose-red flowers, each 1£ inch, with 

 red filaments ; leaves narrow, bright -green. 



Var. corusca. Foliage broad, umbels of large bright -scarlet 

 flowers. 



Var. Plantii. Scapes longer than type, and flowers of a deeper 

 shade than the type, being cherry-red. 



Var. profusa. Flowers bright-scarlet, narrow segments. 



Var. rosea. Flowers large, deep-rose. 



A number of late-flowering seedlings after the X. curvi- 

 folia type have been raised by Mr. Elwes. They are 

 named in compliment to Lady Lawrence, Lady Bromley, 

 Lady Carrington, &c. 



Paeony. — There are in cultivation two dis- 

 tinct sections of this showy genus, namely, the 

 Tree Pa?ony (P. Moutan) (fig. 589), a Chinese 



plant — and the many varieties which have been 

 produced from it by cultivators in Europe, Japan, 

 and China — and the herbaceous Pseonies (fig, 

 588), descendants chiefly of P officinalis, and 



Fig. 588.— Herbaceous Pseonies. 



P. albiffora, of which there is now a numerous 

 progeny. 



The Tree Paeonies form substantial, robust, 

 open -branched, early spring -flowering plants, 

 sometimes attaining 5 or 6 feet in height, with 

 grayish, rugged stems, and very prominent 

 scattered leaf-buds, rapidly followed by the 

 large, round flower -buds, which under the 

 genial influences of spring expand into blos- 

 soms of great size, brilliancy, and beauty. They 

 bloom early out of doors, and consequently 

 are liable to injury from frost or cold wind 

 if not protected with hurdles or mats. They 

 are seen at their best when grown in pots and 

 started in a greenhouse in early spring. The 

 Japanese have raised many beautiful varieties. 

 The following list includes varieties of every 

 shade of colour except blue and yellow: — 



Beatrice Kelway, Beauty, Don Quixote, Duchess of 

 Teck, Eastern Prince, Elizabeth Herkomer, Henry Irving, 

 Hera, Jean de Reszke, Julius Caesar, Kelway's Florizel, 

 Lauta, Lord Iveagh, Lord Leighton, Louise Monchalet, 

 Lumen, Mr. Bancroft, Mrs. M'Millan, Mrs. W. Kelway, 

 Princess of Wales, Sir E. S. Hill, Venosa. 



The Herbaceous Paeonies have received special 

 attention at the hands of hybridists for the last 

 sixty years or so, and many varieties have been 

 raised by English, French, and Belgian growers, 

 so that they now furnish numerous striking 

 hues of colour, having flowers of crimson, rose- 

 purple, pink, blush, and white; they are most 

 accommodating in their nature, for they will 

 thrive in spots so shaded that scarcely any 

 other plant will thrive there, and in such 



