i2 THE BOOK OF THE WILD GARDEN 



all the Lilies, L. tigrinum, must on no account be omitted, 

 its two strongest varieties L. tigrinum splendens and L. 

 t. Fortunei being selected. Experiments may be made 

 with many others that will possibly prove more at home 

 in the wood than in the border. Of these L. Humboltii, 

 L. longiflorum, L. Broivnii, L. speciosum, L. sulphureum, 

 may be mentioned, with L. rubellum for dry half-shaded 

 banks. 



Montbretia. — These autumn-flowering plants, with 

 their brilliant orange-scarlet flower-scapes, are most 

 effective when growing in drifts in the open spaces of 

 steeply-sloping woods. In such a site the corms do not 

 get so crowded as in the border, while the grass and 

 other vegetation shields them from harm in the winter. 



Muscari. — Grape Hyacinth. Pretty little plants with 

 spikes of beaded blue flowers, seen at their best when 

 growing in the short grass on banks under leafless trees. 

 M. botryoides, M. conicum Heavenly Blue, M. latifolium 

 and M. {Hyacinthus) azureus amphibolis are effective 

 kinds. 



Ornithogalum. — Star of Bethlehem. The dwarfer 

 species such as O. nutans and O. umbellatum look well, 

 associated with Scillas or Chionodoxas, on knolls and 

 banks, while the tall-growing O. pyramidale is effective 

 massed against a background of foliage. 



Scilla. — Everyone knows our native Wood Hyacinth 

 or "Bluebell," that at the close of spring veils the 

 ground with the azure of the sky and that, though 

 common, remains the most beautiful of a lovely family. 

 Other species adapted for naturalisation are the early- 

 flowering S. blfolia and S. sibirica with their white forms, 

 both of which being of dwarf habit thrive best on banks 

 of light soil sparsely covered with grass. S. hispanica or 

 campanulata and S. italica succeed in warm soil, and S. 

 peruviana with its Yucca-like leaves and pyramidal flower- 

 head, though not strictly hardy, will generally weather 



