BULBS FOR THE GREENHOUSE 51 



plants, neat and rather small in growth, quaint in flower 

 colouring, and attractive in leafage, the Lachenalia is a 

 great favourite as an early flowering plant that requires 

 little or no artificial heat, and is excellent either for 

 growing in hanging baskets, or in small pots that may 

 be used for fringing our greenhouse benches. Out 

 of the many species and varieties, perhaps the three best 

 are L. tricolor, with green, red, and yellow flowers and 

 dull purple spotted leaves ; L. pendula, a strong grower ; 

 and L. Nelsoni, with its golden flowers borne from fifteen 

 to twenty on a scape, perhaps the best of them all. 

 Lachenalias should be potted every year in August, put- 

 ting about six bulbs in each five-inch pot. The soil 

 should be rich and very sandy or gritty, road grit suiting 

 well as a medium for keeping the soil open. One half 

 loam, the other half equal quantities of leaf mould, dried 

 and finely sifted cow-manure, and sand will suit well. 

 Plant the bulbs in this mixture half an inch deep, and 

 put the pots in a cold frame ; give one watering, and let 

 this suffice till growth gets well advanced. Leave in 

 the frame until sharp frosts are imminent, then remove 

 to a cool greenhouse shelf where plenty of light may be 

 had. Water freely when the spikes begin to show and 

 until growth ceases, then dry off in the sun and keep 

 dry until potting time comes round again. 



Basket culture has been alluded to, and the way to set 

 about it is to line the baskets with some fibrous soil to 

 prevent the finer particles from falling through them, put 

 on this a thin layer of finer soil, and in this place the 

 bulbs with their crowns looking outwards towards the 

 sides and bottom of the basket, but so placed that 

 the growth will come through between the wires. Fill 

 up with soil, then place a slate or board across the top 

 to prevent the soil from falling out when the basket is 

 inverted, as it should be on to a pot in the cold frame. 

 On removal to the greenhouse later on, when the growth 



