A CGt'ST, 19 11 



THE GARDEN MAG A Z I N E 



1.-) 



Glory of Leyden and Emperor. The former is lu.ly 

 one-third the larger 



Following these trumpets came the 

 bicolors, Empress and Victoria. Bicolor 

 Victoria is much finer than Empress and 

 gave beautiful big flowers, the segments 

 of the perianth being whiter than Empress. 

 The latter, however, gave extra fine flowers, 

 the perianth divisions being fuller and the 

 stems sturdier than usual. 



Emperor was a revelation. A big patch 

 was in bloom for nearly a month, and the 

 flowers were better than Glory of Leyden 

 as I had grown it in previous years. After 

 seeing the improvement in the Emperors 

 I was curious to see Glory of Leyden, and 

 when this enormous trumpet opened a 

 few days late, it was fully a third larger 

 than Emperor. 



Elvira, the hardiest of the poetaz section, fragrant 

 and enduring 



Sulphur Phoenix, often hard to flower, responds to 

 improved conditions 



With the Glory of Leyden came the 

 so-called white trumpets. Mme. De Graaf 

 was very fine although I have had it under 

 suspicion. In the first place, the trumpet 

 never fades to white. It is a pale straw 

 color at best and all descriptions say 

 the trumpet fades to white. In Mrs. Camm, 

 Mrs. Thompson and Helen Falconer, the 

 entire flower does fade to a white, with a 

 creamy tint, it is true, but yet pale enough 

 to be called white. The Mme. De Graaf 

 bulbs do not correspond to descriptions 

 in another particular. Mine have a very 

 distinctly recurved trumpet. However, 

 they were beautiful, being a little smaller 

 than the Emperor. 



Helen Falconer, a curious drooping, 

 white trumpet with twisted perianth divi- 

 sions, had shown a general floppiness in 

 previous seasons. Under better treatment 

 it perked up, the bloom being much larger 

 with more character to it. 



The most striking improvement of all 

 the narcissi was shown by Lady McCalmont 

 a giant Irish Leedsi. I had considered 

 this a very beautiful bloom but couldn't 

 quite admit the giant portion of its name 

 as it was very little larger than Mrs. 

 Langtry and others of the commoner 

 Leedsi. That year it was truly a giant, 

 rising to a height of fifteen inches with a 

 wide spreading snowy perianth. 



Its rival for snowy whiteness *was poeti- 

 cus King Edward. This was almost double 

 the size of the ordinary or type poeticus. 

 It showed a stronger character and more 

 individuality than ever before. 



Bernice, a little red-cupped narcissus of 

 the Burbidgei section gave a blossom for 

 the first time although I had had it three 

 years. A dwarf-growing type with tubular 

 leaves like the jonquils, it sent up a flower 

 of creamy white with a funnel-shaped 



Barri conspicuus. always a large, massive flower 

 surpassed itself 



cup of deep red, the intense color extend- 

 ing to the base. 



The finest mass of bloom was given by 

 Poetaz Elvira. This is well adapted 

 to this section, being as hardy as the 

 poeticus and multiples rapidly. I rather 

 question the hardiness of other poetaz 

 varieties. I have planted a number of 

 varieties on two occasions but the only 

 one to appear in the spring was Irene, a 

 pale yellow variety. It was anaemic and 

 never appeared after its first effort. The 

 others never came up although the bulbs, 

 apparently, were strong and healthy. 

 Dealers' catalogues say the varieties are 

 all perfectly hardy but they do not appear 

 to be so in my neighborhood. 



Madame de Graaf is one of the largest: pale yel- 

 lowish white 



