October, 1909 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



117 



every garden, and at eighteen cents the dozen 

 or one dollar and fifteen cents the hundred all 

 can afford it. The snowdrop has hard work 

 to steal a march on it, and for a charming 

 contrast let the two sometimes blossom side 

 by side. Even six bulbs make a spot of rich 

 blue that will attract the attention of the 

 passer-by. Scillas spread rapidly if allowed 

 to go to seed; I know of one colony that, 

 started with a few bulbs, is now three by 

 six feet, completely covering a space that 

 later is thick with lilies-of-the-valley and 

 "escaping" into the grass on the other side 

 of the walk. 



Being full of the missionary spirit, I always 

 pass on some of my "new things." So it 

 happened that a few of my bulbs of "glory- 

 of-the-snow" (Chionodoxa Luciliae) were 

 planted under the window of a neighbor who 

 knew not this lovely blue star-flower with the 

 white eye, and I am told that the first glimpse 



St. Brigid anemones, in a variety of colors, need 

 shade and coolness at the roots 



of the blossoms, from within, gave the 

 rarest of pleasures. The " glory-of-the- 

 snow," which costs fifteen cents the dozen, 

 and a dollar the hundred, also seeds freely. 



Though it does not come next in the order 

 of blooming, I cannot wait longer to speak 

 of Milla uniflora, sometimes called Mexican 

 star-flower. Its grayish green, grass-like 

 leaves seem its all when, without having 

 realized that it has budded, you will suddenly 

 come across, some spring morning, the 

 daintiest single blossom of white with a band 

 of faint lilac — a blossom fit for fairyland. 

 One authority questions its hardiness, but 

 it has stood two New England winters with 

 practically no protection. Twenty-five cents 

 will buy a dozen, and seventy-five cents a 

 full hundred. A violet variety (var. violacea) 

 costs only a trifle more. The proper name 

 appears to be Triteleia, but Milla is much 



easier to say, and it goes with the catalogue 

 men. 



Then there is the wood hyacinth, which 

 grows wild in England, but is rarely seen here, 

 though one of the most beautiful of spring 

 flowers. If I could only have one I should 

 prefer the white variety. The more familiar 

 blue is, however, highly desirable, as it 

 comes later than the other small bulbs of 

 the same color, blooming in June. In form 

 it somewhat resembles the Roman hyacinth, 

 but the bells are much slimmer. I know of 

 no small bulb that seeds more freely, one 

 stalk producing fifty seeds or so. While 

 the wood hyacinth is usually catalogued 

 as Scilla nonscripta or 5. nutans, it is proper- 

 ly S. festalis, according to the newest lights. 

 The price is fifteen cents the dozen, and a 

 dollar a hundred for the blue and twenty cents 

 and a dollar and a quarter for the white. S. 

 Hispanica, or campanulata, is larger. 



Year before last I planted a dozen St. 

 Brigid's anemone in a rather dry spot with 

 no result but some pretty leaves the first spring 

 and two blossoms the next. A dozen that 

 I planted last autumn, however, gave me such 

 glorious scarlet, purple and cerise flowers 

 as I have not seen since I was in England 

 and France; they were the wonder of the 

 neighborhood. I put them under some rose 

 bushes, on the sunny side. Anemones are not 

 exactly bulbous, but I must put them in that 

 class to get in the desired word. They cost 

 fifty cents the dozen for improved varieties. 



Golden garlic {Allium Moly), is another 

 small bulb worthy of general adoption into 

 the garden. Its clear, rich, yellow comes in 

 June and laps over into July. It increases 

 rapidly by offshoots. By the dozen the 

 bulbs are fifteen cents and by the hundred 

 seventy-five cents. It is perfectly hardy in 

 both central and western Connecticut. 



The grape hyacinth I plant in both blue 

 and white. The latter is exquisite, and 

 costs only a little more than the blue — 

 twenty cents the dozen and one dollar and 

 forty cents the hundred. 



Crocuses, at less than a cent apiece, 

 should be let into the hardy border only in 

 good-sized splashes of a single color; no rows. 

 The same with Spanish iris (/. Xiphium), 

 which can be had as low as fifteen cents 

 the dozen and seventy-five cents the hun- 

 dred, and English iris (/. Anglica), of which 

 the charming white Mont Blanc is thirty 

 cents the dozen, and one dollar and seventy- 

 five cents the hundred. Neither, however, 

 should be simply put underground. Both 

 need thought. For the Spanish an English 

 writer recommends a "sunny, dry spot 

 where the soil is a moderately light but not 

 too sandy loam," and for the English 

 "dampest, but unshaded situation, prefer- 

 ably a black vegetable mold rich in humus, 

 and supply moisture before blooming." 



Of the small tulips, the "lady tulip" 

 {Tulipa Clusiana), red with a white stripe, 

 is the only expensive small bulb. It costs 

 from fifty cents to a dollar and a quarter a 

 dozen, but is worth it. Tulipa sylvestris, 

 or Florentina of the catalogues at thirty 

 cents a dozen, gives a good yellow. 

 Polyanthus narcissus, thirty cents the dozen, 



The wood hyacinth (Scilla festalis or nutans) blooms 

 in June. Give deep, open soil 



and a dollar and a half the hundred in mix- 

 ture, is also attractive. It is hardy only in the 

 warmer sections. The new "Poetaz" varie- 

 ties are hardier, even enduring in the North. 

 My failures are the queer little Guinea 

 hen flower (Fritillaria Meleagris), thirty- 

 five cents the dozen, one dollar and a half 

 the hundred; the Grecian windflower 

 {Anemone blanda), twenty cents and a 

 dollar and a half, and the winter aconite 

 (Eranthis hyemalis), twenty-five cents and 

 a dollar and a half, due no doubt, to lack 

 of study of proper conditions. Robinson 

 says that the winter aconite "should not be 

 grown in the garden-, but in shrubberies 

 copses, or woods where the soil suits it." 

 In Germantown, Pa., however, I saw it 

 blooming well on the first day of March 

 close to the foundation stones of a house. 



The guinea hen flower {Fritillaria Meleagris) has curi- 

 ously mottled flowers. Give gritty, open soil 



