210 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING-. 



BULBOUS PLANTS. 



By "William Goldring. 



Gagea lutea. — This is a pretty native plant, 

 •with small yellow flowers in the way of the Star of 

 Bethlehem. G. serotina and tr {flora, both European 

 plants, are included now in the genus Lloydia. 



G. Elwesi is the latest ad- 

 dition to the list of cul- 

 tivated Snowdrops, and a 

 most beautiful plant it is, 

 disputing with Imperati 

 the place of being the 

 finest Snowdrop. Its 

 flowers are almost as large 

 as those of Imperati, and 

 the broad snow-white se- 

 pals being very concave 

 give the flower a more glo- 

 bular form than other 

 Snowdrops. The silvery 

 glaucous and compara- 

 tively narrow leaves form 

 a character by which this 

 species may at a glance be 

 distinguished from the 

 rest. It flowers from 

 February to April, about 

 the beginning of March 

 being its usual season. 



G. Imperati— this is the 

 largest and finest of all the 

 Snowdrops, the flowers 

 being fully thrice the size 

 of the common kind, borne 

 on stems often a foot 

 high . The sepals are often 



an inch long, and pro- 

 portionately broad; the 

 foliage is also very 

 large. It differs in no 

 way from G. nivalis ex- 

 cept in stature, and on this 

 account botanists con- 

 sider it only a variety of 

 the common species, but 

 from a garden point of 

 view it is absolutely dis- 

 tinct, and the most desir- 

 able of all the Snowdrops. 



G. latifolius, or Eedoutei, 

 is not a commendable 

 plant, inasmuch as its 

 flowers are small, though 

 the foliage is extremely 

 broad, and this character, 

 combined with their deep 

 green tint, separates it 

 from the rest. It more- 

 over flowers when most 

 other Snowdrops are past. 



G. plicatus— this, the Cri- 

 mean Snowdrop, has been 

 a tolerably common plant 

 in gardens since the Cri- 

 mean war, though it was 

 introduced many years 



before that date. It is 

 altogether a larger-grow- 

 ing plant than the common 

 species, the leaves being 

 very broad and charac- 

 terised by their margins 

 being turned back, hence 



the name plicatus. It 

 is a hardy, vigorous, fast- 

 growing, and free-flower- 

 ing plant, and invaluable 

 for the spring border. It 

 flowers soon after the 

 common kind commences. 



Bethlehem, G. serotina and tnjlora, both European 

 plants, are included now in the genus Lloydia. 



Galanthus {Snowdrop). — A favourite with every 

 one is our native Snowdrop. The double-flowered 

 variety is ' even commoner in gardens than the 

 single, and though showier is not so elegant. 

 Besides the double form there are numerous other 

 varieties of G. nivalis now in gardens; some com- 

 mon, others extremely rare. Among these are the 

 following : major, of larger growth than the original, 

 and with finer flowers ; angustifolius, with narrower 

 leaves ; Shaylocki, or virescens, with a green blotch 

 on the interior of each sepal ; quadripetalus, flowers 

 usually with four sepals instead of three ; serotinus, 

 a later-flowered form than the type ; poculiformis, 

 distinct from the original in having the petals of the 

 same length as the sepals, and spotless ; Corcyrensis, 

 the Corsican Snowdrop ; and Octobrensis, a form 

 which usually flowers in autumn. 



Besides these there are some distinct seedling 

 varieties known under the collective name of G. 

 Melvillei. There are four varieties, which vary 

 chiefly in their time of flowering, but they are also 

 altogether finer in flower than the ordinary Snow- 

 drop. The earliest of Melville's seedlings commences 

 to flower in February, and is followed by the others 

 in succession, on through March, and the beginning 

 of April. 



The following are the other species of Galanthus 

 in cultivation : — 



Culture. — All the Snowdrops are of easy culture ; 

 any soil suits them, but they delight most in a sandy 

 loam. The common kind, and its varieties, will 

 grow anywhere, in the shade or in the open, in the 

 border or in the wood, or in any nook or comer 

 in the garden. Snowdrops may be grown in pots, 

 window-boxes, vases, &c, for adorning conserva- 

 tories and rooms. If tufts of bulbs are dug up 

 from the open border in early autumn, potted, and 

 placed in a frame, they will flower much earlier 

 than those in the open. Snowdrops may also be 

 forced into flower by Christmas time, though they 

 do not lend themselves kindly to this treatment. The 

 best plan is to lift tufts in autumn from the border, 

 and without disturbing the clumps place them in 

 pots or boxes in a slightly heated frame or green- 

 house, but on no account place the pots in a stove 

 or other highly-heated place, or leaves only will be 

 forthcoming. 



Galtonia (Hyaeintlms) candicans. — One of 



the stateliest bulbous plants from the Cape of Good 

 Hope. Its stems rise from two feet to even six feet 

 in height, and carry spiry clusters of ivory-white 

 bell-shaped flowers. It is quite hardy in the warmer 

 parts of this country in the open air, if planted in 

 light soils. Planted in well-drained, light, rich soil, 

 it seldom requires more than protection during 

 wanter. It may be grown well in pots, and as it 

 flowers in autumn it is valuable for the green-house. 



Gastronexna sanguineum. — A South African 

 plant of rare beauty, nearly allied to Cyrtanthics. It 

 has evergreen foliage like Vallota, and about the end 

 of summer produces flower-stems about a foot high, 

 bearing three or four funnel-shaped flowers, some 

 two inches across, and of a rich colour, almost a 

 scarlet. Flowering as it does in August and Septem- 

 ber, it is well worthy of good attention for adorning 

 the green-house. A very beautiful hybrid has been 

 raised by intercrossing G. sanguineum and Vallota 

 purpurea, and is named G. hybridum. Gastronemas 

 require the same treatment as Vallotas. 



Gladiolus. — This genus is the largest in the 

 Iris family, and numbers nearly one hundred species, 

 all from Africa, with the exception of a few natives 

 of Southern Europe. It is remarkable that so few 

 species have been introduced that are sufficiently 

 attractive to be worth cultivating; indeed, there 

 appear to be only about a dozen wild species that 



