346 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



are upwards of fifty named sorts of English Irises 

 now catalogued ; all are beautiful, but many are too 

 much alike. A dozen of the best would include 

 Argus, pink ; Bacchus, red purple ; Dorothea, violet 

 and deep purple ; Eugenius, deep purple ; Gertrude, 

 white and rose ; Gloriosa, lilac and white ; Lady 

 Anne, blue and purple ; Lucretia, white and lilac ; 

 Nimrocl, deep 

 purple and vio- 

 let ; Oriental, 

 pure white; 

 Perf e cti on, 

 pale blue; 

 Prince Albert, 

 dark blue, 

 blotched with 

 purple ; and 

 Surprise, indigo 

 blue, blotched 

 with lilac. 



X. xiphioides 

 (Spanish Iris), 

 also known as 

 Iris H'ispanica, 

 differs from the 

 English Iris in 

 having small 

 flowers with 

 narrow petals, 

 while the co- 

 lours are differ- 

 ent, for while 

 the chief tints 

 of the English 

 Iris are purple, 

 lilac, and white, 

 the Spanish 

 race consist 

 mostly of yel- 

 lows, bronzes, 

 with white, 

 lilac, and pur- 

 ple. The varie- 

 ties of the 

 Spanish are as 



numerous as the English Irises. A selection of 

 a dozen include the following : — Aurora, Beauty, 

 Cleon, Darius, Diomedes, Gem, General Havelock, 

 Jupiter, La Vestale, Ne Plus Ultra, Romulus, and 

 Thunderbolt ; the last a very beautiful sort, with 

 yellow and bronzy flowers. The others vary from 

 vvhite to different shades of purple, violet, yellow, 

 and bronze. 



Culture. — No prettier effect can be produced 

 with flowers than by planting masses of mixed 

 varieties of the English or of the Spanish races, 



Zephyranthes Treats 



and as these two groups succeed each other in bloom, 

 a garden may be kept gay for several weeks by these 

 bulbs alone. The Netted Iris (X. reticulatum) blooms 

 in early spring, and can be grown in pots, and 

 forced into bloom quite early in the year. Re- 

 potting the bulbs (about half a dozen in a 6 -inch 

 pot) in autumn, and treating them like pot Tulips, 



or Narcissi, they 

 may be had in 

 bloom soon after 

 Christmas. The 

 English and 

 Spanish races 

 may be grown 

 under the same 

 treatment, for 

 their require- 

 ments are the 

 same. They 

 should be placed 

 in a sandy and 

 friable soil, well 

 drained, which 

 should not be 

 too poor ; on the 

 contrary, both 

 kinds repay for 

 enriching the 

 soil by decayed 

 manure or leaf- 

 mould. The bed 

 must be open 

 and sunny, but 

 sheltered, and is 

 better if raised. 

 The bulbs 

 must be planted 

 in August or 

 September, and 

 rather deep in 

 the soil, and 

 the surface of 

 the bed should 

 be mulched. If 

 well planted 



the bulbs will not need to be disturbed for at least 

 three or four seasons, by which time the soil will 

 have become somewhat impoverished. A mulch- 

 ing of manure each winter will tend to enrich 

 the soil considerably. When the bulbs are lifted 

 they should not be kept out of the ground long ; as 

 soon as they are dried and cleared, they should be 

 re-planted in a fresh place in prepared soil. It is 

 advisable to raise the beds above the ordinary 

 level, in order to induce a dry state of the soil 

 during winter. The strong-growing varieties, like 



