HENDERSON'S BULB CULTURE. 



2i 



PUSCHKINIA. 



A beautiful family of spring flowering bulbous 

 plants, of which P. Scillioides, with light blue 

 flowers is the best known. It is perfectly hardy 

 and succeeds best in a rich, sandy soil. It is an 

 admirable plant for edging small beds or borders 

 of other early spring flowers, or for massing in 

 in the shrubbery, etc. Dormant bulbs may be 

 procured from September to January. 



RANUNCULUS. 



Half-hardy, tuberous-rooted plants, the flowers of 

 which are unrivalled for lovely form and bright and 

 attractive colors, ranging through all shades of 

 white, crimson, yellow, purple and black. They 

 may be planted three inches deep by about the 

 same distance apart, in frames or pits, from Sep- 

 tember to November, where they will flower pro- 

 fusely in spring. They are admirable plants for 

 forcing, and if placed Ave to seven m a five inch 

 pot in good, rich, sandy loam and plunged in a 

 frame or protected from frost for six or eight 

 weeks, they may be introduced to the house or 

 greenhouse, as desired. The scarlet Turban 

 Ranunculus is about two weeks earlier in bloom- 

 ing than the other sorts, but both are desirable for 

 forcing. For out-door culture, plant the Turban 

 Ranunculus from October to December, and the 

 Persian varieties in March or April, covering the 

 early plantings during severe weather with dry 

 litter or leaves, removing it in spring before the 

 foliage gets injured. In April and May, during 

 dry weather, water the beds freely, if necessary 

 two or three times a week, taking every care to wet 

 the foliage as little as possible. Dormant tubers 

 may be procured from September to March. 



RICHARDIA. Calla Lily, of Lily 

 of the Nile. 



This old favorite is so generally known that any 

 description is unnecessary. It is largely grown 

 for winter blooming, and though it will grow and 

 flower during the entire season without resting if 

 sufficiently ted by being repotted, yet it is more 

 profitable to dry it off, say from June to October. 

 The roots thus rested will flower more abundantly 

 and produce fewer leaves, and thus twice the 

 number of flowers may be obtained from the same 

 space. Dry, well ripened tubers as grown in 

 Bermuda and California, are esteemed by many 

 as superior for forcing and winter flowering pur- 

 poses, they come into bloom quickly, and making 

 less and smaller foliage, require less room. Dry 

 tubers planted in four inch pots will give the same 

 or better results than plants that have been kept 

 growing or only semi-dormant will do in five cr 

 six inch pots. Dormant tubers may be procured 

 from September to January. 



The yellow Calla, R. hast at a, is identical in all 

 respects with the foregoing, excepting that the 

 flowers are of a light yellow color, with a choco- 

 late-colored throat. The Spotted Calla, R. albo 

 maculata, is very ornamental, even when not in 

 flower, the leaves being beautifully marked and 

 spotted with white. The flowers are smaller than 

 the common Calla and are white with a purple 

 throat. It goes to rest in winter, starting into 

 growth in March or April, and makes an excellent 

 plant either for growing in pots or for planting out 

 In a mixed border, or as an edging to a bed of 



Cannas or other tropical-like plants for the sum- 

 mer. Dormant tubers may be procured from No- 

 vember to May. 



RIGIDELLA. 



A small but beautiful genus of Mexican bulbous 

 plants, with bright flame-colored flowers, succeed- 

 ing best in a light, rich soil out of doors. It flow- 

 ers similar to and requires the same treatment as 

 the Tigndia. 



ROMULEA. 



A genus of pretty Iris-like bulbs with generally 

 rose-colored flowers, produced from April to June 

 and succeeding best if planted in a cold pit or 

 frame in a compost of sandy loam and leaf -mould. 



SCHIZOSTYLIS. Caffre Lily. 

 Crimson Flag. 



S. coccinea, the best known species, is a very 

 pretty, half-hardy, bulbous plant, belonging to 

 the Gladiolus family. The leaves are neat and 

 glossy, and the flowers are rosy scarlet, produced 

 in November and December. It must, therefore, 

 be flowered in the greenhouse, but if planted out 

 in May, and potted carefully in October, it will, in 

 a cool house, give large quantities of flower up to 

 January and even later, as the more flowers are 

 cut from it the more spikes are produced. 



SCILLA. Squill. Star Hyacinth, 



Beautiful dwarf, spring-blooming, hardy, bul- 

 bous plants, of the easiest culture, and which are 

 worthy of a place in the most select border. They 

 may be used with good effect as an edging to bed's 

 of spring flowers, or in clumps or masses in shrub- 

 beries or borders. They should be planted about 

 two inches deep in October, if possible in a situa- 

 tion where they will be undisturbed for years, as 

 crowding from their natural increase does not 

 seem to injure them. S. Peruviana has dark blue 

 flowers produced in long racemes, and is an ex- 

 cellent plant for pot culture as well as for the cold 

 frame or pit. S. Sibirica and other dwarf sorts 

 when potted and grown on slowly in a cool house 

 or frame are also charming for greenhouse or 

 home decoration. Dormant bulbs may be pro- 

 cured from September to January. 



SPARAXIS. African Harlequin 

 Flower. 



Dwarf bulbous plants producing flowers exceed- 

 ingly rich and beautiful in their coloring, being 

 blotched, spotted, and flaked with pure white, 

 yellow, orange, red, purple, and violet in almost 

 every possible manner. They are more compact 

 and dwarf than the Ixias, few of them attaining 

 a greater height than six to twelve inches, and 

 grow well when planted in a cold frame or pit 

 where they can have a slight protection in winter. 

 They also succeed well when grown in pots or boxes 

 in a cool greenhouse. The bulbs should be potted 

 five or six bulbs in a five inch pot in September in 

 a rich, sandy loam, and placed under the stage or 

 in partial shade until they begin to grow, when 

 they should receive light and water. * Sparaxis, 

 Ixias, Babianas and other Cape bulbous plants 

 are fast rising in the estimation of florists for cut- 

 ting for loose flowers, large numbers being now 



