September, 1911 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



61 





crimson and pink are the nerines. Some 

 have been long in cultivation, and numerous 

 good seedlings have been raised. They 

 are essentially greenhouse plants, but 

 when rightly understood present no special 

 difficulties of culture. They belong to the 

 Amaryllis family and have the same 

 habits i. e. a season of growth, a resting 

 period when the leaves die off, followed by 

 a flowering season in advance of leaf 

 growth. Winter is their growing season 

 and when growth is completed (this being 

 indicated by the leaves turning yellow) 

 water must be gradually, and finally, 

 entirely, withheld and the pots laid on 

 their sides. This topsy-turvyness of 

 growth is the only reason for their not 

 being really popular. The flower spikes 

 appear in late summer and fall, and as soon 

 as they begin to grow, watering must be 

 gradually resumed. The commonest species 

 is N. Sarniensis. 

 The Guernsey lily 

 is so called because 

 it is well and largely 

 grown on that island. 

 A particularly fine 

 form is corusca, so 

 named from the glit- 

 tering appearance of 

 its orange - scarlet 

 flowers. The flowers 

 are largely grown 

 in a few of the famed 

 gardens of New- 

 port, the flowers be- 

 ing highly esteemed 

 for table decora- 

 tions. 



THE BELLADONNA 

 LILY 



A really near rela- 

 tive and so nearly 

 hardy that it might 

 be grown in thou- 

 sands of gardens if 

 afforded slight pro- 

 tection to the roots 

 from deep penetrat- 

 ing frost is Amaryl- 

 lis belladonna. Bulbs bought in spring 

 will flower during summer. Its leaves 

 appear early in spring then die away; 

 in late summer or early fall the flower 

 spikes come up from the ground, attain 

 a height of from two to three feet, ter- 

 minating in great heads of rosy pink 

 flowers, each flower as large as a white 

 madonna lily, and the effect of a hundred 

 such spikes of flowers is a revelation of 

 new and striking beauty coming in glorious 

 freshness when most summer flowers are 

 on the wane. Plant in sunny, sheltered 

 spots to ensure perfect maturity of growth 

 for subsequent flowering. We ought to grow 

 quantities of so noble a flower even to the 

 extent if need be of lifting the bulbs each 

 year where great severity of winter prevails. 



THE SCARBOROUGH LILY 



Looking like a crimson clivea (and like 

 all the preceding flowering in an umbel 



on top of a long stalk), the Scarborough 

 lily, Vallota purpurea is one of the most 

 striking of summer bulbs. With winter 

 care in the house and standing outside in 

 summer, it is easily grown and always 

 attracts attention. The rich crimson 

 flowers are 3 to 4 inches long, produced in 

 umbels of 6 to 9 and may be 30 to 40 stalks 

 to one plant. Can you imagine anything 

 more gorgeous? So nearly hardy is this 

 that it could be easily cared for through 

 the winter, yet strange to say we have 

 failed to realize its possibilities for open 

 air summer treatment with our glorious 

 sunshine. When grown at all it is usually 

 as a window plant and gives the richest 

 color of any plant grown under such con- 

 ditions. 



The catalogues call this a greenhouse 

 bulb, but it can be grown by any amateur 

 even if he does not possess any glass, 



Lachenalias. with flowers of greenish yellow, are splendid for the window garden. Pot them now for 



flowers in late winter 



provided tne pot containing the plant 

 can be kept over winter in a well-lighted 

 cellar. It must not be kept dry during 

 the winter, either. In this respect, it is 

 an exception to the general rule of bulbs. 



A GROUP OF DULLER COLORS 



There is a peculiar type of beauty in 

 the Lachenalia or Cape cowslip which may 

 be likened to a "greenery-yallery," loose 

 spiked hyacinth or giant scilla. The subdued 

 tints run through a wide range of varied 

 colors green to white, yellows in every 

 shade with lilac, blue, dull purple and 

 red in combination. They flower in the 

 spring and the usual treatment is to pot 

 the bulbs in August in the pots or pans 

 in which they are to flower, six to eight 

 bulbs being put into a 5-inch pot, just 

 covering the bulb with barely an inch of 

 soil. Place them in a cool spot but 

 light, and throughout the winter cool 



treatment is required, with plenty of 

 ventilation when possible. Strong heat 

 they do not like, and the cooler they can 

 be grown, in fact, just to the exclusion of 

 actual frost, so much the stronger and 

 better will the flowering be. Try them for 

 the window garden! They will flower 

 for a month or two in winter and spring. 

 The secret of success is to water them 

 so long as the foliage is growing — then 

 dry off. 



The best known lachenalias are, L. tri- 

 color, pendula and Nelsoni, a hybrid, of 

 which there are several forms in the trade. 



THE GLADIOLUS 



This needs no introduction. South 

 Africa is the home of a score or more 

 different species of gladiolus although 

 few if any of them are in cultivation to-day. 

 The gladiolus was taken in hand years ago 

 by the hybridizers, 

 first in France and 

 later in England and 

 America, and so nu- 

 merous and beauti- 

 ful are these hybrids 

 that they have prac- 

 tically superseded 

 their progenitors. 

 Yet among the true 

 species there are 

 graceful and pretty 

 kinds that deserve 

 to be better known 

 and more generally 

 grown. Some are 

 well adapted for pot 

 culture and can be 

 flowered in an ordi- 

 nary greenhouse; 

 others may be 

 panted in the open 

 ground and given 

 treatment similar to 

 that accorded to the 

 more popular hy- 

 brids. Some of the 

 best and most dis- 

 tinct species are G. 

 cardinalis, bright 

 red; G. cruentus, which has a broad open 

 flat scarlet flower blotched with whitish yel- 

 low; G. dracocephalus, variously colored in 

 shades of purplish red, yellow, and green. 

 G. grandis (also called versicolor) gives a 

 distinct reddish-brown shade and on ac- 

 count of the early flowering season (May 

 and June) must be grown in pots. G. 

 psittacinus is of interest, too, as one of the 

 parents of the garden varieties. G. Saun- 

 dersi was a very popular species in gardens 

 some years ago, but except in rare instances 

 it has given way to the hybrids; yet it is 

 a handsome autumn flower of a rich crim- 

 son color spotted with white. 



Resembling the gladiolus especially in 

 foliage and flower, but decidedly more 

 tender, is Watsonia. Quite some interest 

 was created in this family a few years ago 

 through the introduction of the white- 

 flowered W. Ardemei, which might be lik- 

 ened to a slender white gladiolus, but the 



