22 THE FLOWEK GABDEN. 



of the first attempts at horticulture by juvenile gar- 

 deners ; and are occasionally the only means by which 

 city residents can gratify their taste for growing flowers. 

 By far the great majority of bulbs produce exceedingly 

 handsome blossoms, often odoriferous and even highly- 

 scented. As a general rule, too, they are early rather 

 than late in their season of flowering, and readily sus- 

 ceptible of forcing by artificial heat. They are well 

 adapted for pot culture, for at least one season; the 

 next, they may be returned to the open ground, and 

 replaced by others to succeed them in the greenhouse or 

 the parlour window. Bulbs produce annually only a 

 limited number of leaves ; if these are destroyed, they 

 are not reproduced, as is the case with most trees, shrubs, 

 and herbaceous plants. Consequently, the leaves of 

 bulbs must be carefully protected and preserved during 

 the whole period of their growth, both before flowering 

 and after ; otherwise, the plant will suffer from the failure 

 of those functions which all leaves perform. Bulbs are 

 solid, like the tulip ; coated, like the hyacinth and the 

 onion ; and scaly, like the white and the orange lily. Tor 

 convenience, bulbous flowers are here arranged in alpha- 

 betical order, which will be adhered to for the plants in 

 other sections. 



Agapanthus umbellatus or umielliferus. — A striking 

 plant, which is too much confined to the greenhouse, 

 inasmuch as the lovely blue of its handsome head of 

 flowers only attains its fulness in the open air. The 

 Agapanthus is only half-hardy in England ; and though 

 it may be permitted to remain throughout the winter in 

 the open ground, under a covering of litter or leaves, it 

 must always be at a risk. It is safer to keep the bulbs 

 in pots (which must be large) in good, light, rich soil. 

 At the beginning of June, these pots may be sunk in a 

 bed or along a border, being liberally supplied with water 

 in hot dry weather. "Where there is a good stock of 

 bulbs in hand, half may be ventured in the garden, and 

 half retained in pots, to be removed into a cold frame for 

 the winter. [Flowering commences in July, and con- 



