OF GARDENING ° 
ried away : and frefh Soil from a Pafture brought | 
into its Place: In this let them be eee 
: Jan. 
planted, as at firft; and they will from Year J 
to Year improve, rather than decline. 
an. 
~ 
7 BLUE STARRY HYACINTH. 
Plate There are feveral Kinde of the ftarry Hya- Spike: they are placed ‘on the lender. Foot- 
tah cinth, which from their early flowering have | ftalks, ‘and their Weight in warmer. Seafons 
Art, fome Roots of it may be brought to 
match their celeftial Blue, with the cleareft Sky 
at this Seafon. a 2 
The Botanical Writers of late Titbichalbn dont 
the Plant, for fince its firft Appearancein the Euro- 
vopean Gardens in the Year Fifteen Hundred and 
Ninety, none could omit to celebrate its Beauty. 
The Engli/h Name is a Tranflation of that by 
which it is commonly, tho’ improperly called 
in Latin, Hyacinthus Steliaris celureus 5. to7 this: 
C. Bauyine adds, Amenus, on Account of its 
particular Beauty; others Byzantinus, from the 
Place whence we are fuppofed firft to have 
received. it; 
its Flowers, refembling that of the Borage 
Flower, Flore Boragius. ae 
Linn us much more diftin& and accurate, 
feparates this and the reft of the ftarry Kind from. | 
the other Hyacinths, and ranges them with the 
Sguill. He gives in his fpecifick Name for this a 
Character of the Flower ; he calls it, Scilla ra- | 
dice folida Flovibus lateralibus alternis fubnutantibus : 
folid rooted Squill, with the lateral Flowers 
alternate, and a little drooping on their Foot- 
ftalks. | | : 
To thofe acquainted with the old Botany, 
there will appear fomothing ftrange, even to 
Extravagance, in refering the ftarry Hyacinth 
to the Squill : but the Fault remains not with 
him who removed it to this Place, and called it 
by this Name, but with thofe who mixed it 
among the Hyacinths. The Error is not the lefs, 
becaufe many have adopted it. 
perfectly agrees in all its Parts with that of 
the Squill; and has not the leaft Refemblance. 
to that of the proper Hyacinth. , . 
This influenced Linn us to remove it from 
the Place in which it had fo long improperly 
ftood; and with this all the others: ’tis one of 
his happy Boldneffes in the Improvement. of 
the Science ; and thofe to whom it appears moft 
rafh, will on examining the Flowers find it per- 
fectly juft. | | | 
The Root is a large Bulb, roundifh, white, 
flefhy, and full of a thick mawkith Juice. 
The Leaves are long and narrow, pointed at 
the Extremity, and of a deep and elegant green. 
The flowering Stalk rifes to eight or ten 
Inches high, and is round, but a little ridg’d, 
juicy, and tender: of a whitifh green at the 
Top; but towards the Bafe purphth. 
The Flowers are numerous, and of a con- 
fummate Beauty. They ftand in a handfome 
No. 18, 
and others from the fine Blue of 
_ a pale Crimfon. 
ful- Manner. 
The Flower. 
makes them droop a little; but it is not fo 
with thofe which are brought to flower at 
this Period; nor much with any. ° 
Each Flower is compofed of fix Petals, re- 
gular in Size and Shape, and naturally full fpread 
open. / 
They are oblong, broadeft in the Middle, 
and fharp pointed; and theyare placed imme- 
diately upon the Foot-ftalk, without any Cup. 
The Colour is naturally a fine Sky-blue, 
but it is fometimes paler, and fometimes has a 
Glow of the Violet Purple : in the moft perfect | 
State of the Flower the Body of the Petals is of 
this celeftial Blue ; and there runs along the midft 
of each, a Line of bloody Purple, which dif- 
fufes itfelf in a more faint Tinge on each Side, 
‘Tis this which blending with the whole, gives 
the violet Purple to the entire Flower; but the — 
moft perfect Conditionis, thatit fhould be diftin&. 
In the Centre of the Flower rife fix thort Fi- 
laments of a violet Blue, and in the Midft of 
them a fingle Style; this is alfo of a violet Purple 
at the Top, but toward the Bottom whitith. 
The Foot-ftalks of the loweft' Flowers are con- 
derably long, and ufually they are tinged with 
Sometimes in a very beauti- 
The Clafs to which this Plant belongs, is 
read confpicuoufly in the Filaments and Style, 
the former being fix, refer it to the Hemandria ; 
and the fingle Style fhews it to be of the frit 
SeCtion, under that Head, the Monogynia. 
Culture of the Buuzt Starry Hyacinru. 
The common Method of propagating this 
Plant is by Off-fets from the Roots; but for 
thofe who entertain the true Spirit of Gar- 
dening, and with Curiofity unite the Patience, 
the Bufinefs is to be done by Seeds. | 
This Method has the Advantage of raifing new 
Varieties; and the other, the Difadvantage of 
fpoiling the flowering: for when the Roots are | 
frequently cleared from their Off-fets, they pro- 
duce only a fingle Stalk; whereas, when they 
are entire for four or ive Years, every Root fends 
up a whole Clufter of Stalks loaded with Flowers. 
The beft Soil for this Kind is this. Mix together 
a Load of dry pafture Earth, half a Load of 
Pond-mud, a Barrow of Sand,’ and the fame 
Quantity of rotted Cow-Dung. te 
Let thefe be well blended, by often turning 
and expofing to'the Air, during’ the Winter 
and the fucceeding Summer. | 
~In Autumn, let the Gardener prepare fome 
31 Beds 
