BULBOUS FLOWEES. 



43 



snow. Foets have made it the subject of their rhymes, 

 sometimes with the license allowed to them; as when the 

 Goddess of Spring, in some propitious hour, has changed 

 an icicle into a flower : — 



" Its name and hue the scentless plant retains, 

 And winter lingers in its icy veins." 



But the snowdrop has an agreeable though faint per- 

 fume. Snowdrops may remain for years in the ground 

 without being taken up, though it will be better to do 

 so from time to time with border patches, to prevent 

 their growing uncouth and ragged. They thrive well in 

 somewhat moist and shady situations, such as under a 

 clump of oaks on a lawn ; there, of course, single flowers 

 only are appropriate, double flowers being out of place 

 beyond the limits of the parterre. Single snowdrops are 

 not shy in bearing seed, though they are seldom propa- 

 gated in that way, except by the hand of nature. Both 

 kinds increase by offsets. Plant in August or September, 

 at the depth of two or three inches. 



Snowflake — Leucojum cestivum — Has flowers very 

 similar to the former in general appearance, but are pro- 

 duced, several on one flower-stem, which is taller, and 

 with a greater proportion of foliage. Quite hardy, only 

 requires lifting every three or four years : but besides its 

 more rampant growth, is of much less value than its 

 cousin the Snowdrop, from blooming in summer, when 

 we have so many more attractive candidates for our 

 favour. 



Squill — Scilla. — A pretty genus, with what gardeners 

 call very " neat " flowers, whose tint is mostly a pleasing, 

 and in some a brilliant blue. The least prepossessing spe- 

 cies, S. rnaritima, the Maritime Squill, makes up for its 

 modest spike of dull-looking flowers by its medicinal 

 virtues. Its large exposed bulbs grow abundantly on 

 the rocks, in many parts of the Mediterranean coast. If 

 cultivated here as a curiosity, it must have the protec- 

 tion of a green-house in -winter, and the bulb must be 

 planted not more than one-third or one-fourth of its 



