HARDY FLOWERS. 



PARROT TULirS, 



Dutch Tulips, familiar in parks a id gardens early in 

 the spring. Gesner's Tulip, described in catalogues as 

 T. Gesneriam spathulata, or T. G. major, should lie 

 planted in hold groups by itself or with other plants. 

 A happy association is a colony amongst Quince trees, 

 the great goblet-shaped crimson flowers, when expanded 

 in the May sun, glowing as if alight with colour. Dull 

 and ineffective are all other kii ds against this splend d 

 flower, tall, vigorous, and rich in colour, made still more 

 so by the bluish centre. In large gardens fill distinct beds 

 with it, and use it too in the hardy border or permanent 

 beds of perennials as a relief to other things. T. elegans, 

 the dark crimson florets reflexing at the apex, Fulgens. 

 crimson, Golden Beauty (also known as Bouton d'Or), 

 deep yellow, and Golden Eagle, also yellow, but w ith a 

 margin of crimson to the florets, are also handsome. A 

 delightful kind is Macrospila, a form undoubtedly of 

 Gesneriana, but the flowers are rose carmine in colour and 

 sweetly scented ; no Tulip is so fragiant as this sturdy 

 kind. Then there are various varieties of Gesneriana — 

 carminea, with its white centre, and alba marginata, 

 ivory white, thinly margined with rose. Picotee is dainty 

 in form and colour, and not quixotic as some kinds — T. 

 Greigei, for instance — in its behaviour. The flowers are 

 pure white, the florets narrowing towards the apex, where 

 they recurve, and the soft rose edge adds to their delicate 

 beauty. Viridiflora is quaint, the flowers green with 

 yellow colouring towards the margin, but this should not 

 be thought of before any of those previously named. T. 

 Didieri is a hardy graceful kind, bright crimson with 

 black base, and the variety alba is a good kind, also T. 

 vitellina, the flowers soft yellow, a tender shade, and T. 

 flava, a handsome, bold, very late yellow flower. 



A host of Tulips less vigorous as a rule than those 

 mentioned compiise such gems as T. australis, yellow ; 

 the brilliantly-coloured T. Batahni ; the wild Tulip 

 Sylvestris, and T. suaveolens, pretty in the grass whe e 

 they can be established ; T. Clusiina, or the Lady Tulip, 

 a slender dwarf variety of rose and white ; T. lanata, and 

 T. linifolia, scarlet ; the dwarf T. persica, sweetly scented 

 and yellow in colour ; and T. undulatifolia. The Tulip 

 family nnmbeis, however, many beautiful species and 

 varieties, and of late \ ears their number has been greatly 

 added to through the introductions from Russia, Armenia, 

 and Eastern Europe generally. 



The Parrot Tulips are a strange group, and their 

 origin is hidden in mystery. T. platystigma is probably 

 one parent, as in a group of it flowers show gashed 

 florets similar to those thai distinguish the Parrot race. 

 Whatever their origin, they possess distinct charm, but 

 the bulbs sometimes disappoint. Unfortunately, gaps 

 are not uncommon, though when a bed is a success the 



blaze of bizarre colouring is Oiiental in its splendour. 

 The 1 ong beds of Parrot Tulips in Mr. Walker's nursery 

 at II i m are a brave sight, colour pictures painful almost 

 in I heir intensity. The flowers arc bulky, florets gashed 

 ami ( ill grotesquely, the colour laid on in splashes and 

 blotches, sometimes self, sometimes yellow against 

 crimson a curious but never inharmonious medley. 

 The flowers are too heavy for the stems to support, and 

 therefore it is wise to plant the bulbs in groups, 

 colonies, or in a carpet of some low-growing plant, as the 

 Saxifraga, to prevent them being splashed by rains 

 beating up the soil. Through the uncertain flowering of 

 these Tulips, it is advisable not to plant them too 

 freely. When used, plant a little closer together than in 

 the case of other Tulips. 



The late-flowering Tulips, described as Darwin, are of 

 undoubted value, and from an almost complete collection 

 of them the following are selected as not only distinct, 

 but clear and agreeable in colour : Carminea, carmine, 

 tall and handsome ; Dorothy, lavender shot with Luff ; 

 Early Dawn, rose purple, silvery towards the margin, 

 a pleasing shade ; Charles Dickens, bright crimson ; 

 Flambeau, brilliant carmine: firebrand, deep crimson, 

 a bold flower on a tall scape or stem ; Glow, well- 

 named, its neat shapely flower aglow with crimson 

 colouring ; Loveliness, I. right carmine ; Bronze King, 

 rich bron/y, outer segments margined old gold, the inner 

 ones entirely of the latter shade ; Phyllis, a beautiful 

 Tulip, white, margined rose, the centre of the segments 

 feathered with bull yellow ; Salmon King, salmon ; and 

 The Sultan, which is almost black, so intense is the 

 colouring. 



The early Tulips are familiar in parks and gardens 

 before the nobler later kinds are in bloom. Such clearly- 

 coloured varieties as Canary Bird, yellow, or Chrysolora , 

 of the same colour : Cottage Maid, rose pink ; the 

 various Van Thols, of course not omitting the scarlet 

 and yellow form, Keizerskroon ; Pottebakkers in their 

 several shades ; Vermilion Brilliant, vermilion, and 

 Ophir d'Or, are important. Amateur gardeners know, 



DOUBLE TULIPS] 



or should do, their value, especially the Due Van Thols, 

 for potting up and gently forcing, or leaving them to 

 come on gradually in the greenhouse. A potful of some 

 bright-flowered Tulip in the room early in the year is a 

 welcome reminder ol lengthening days and sunnier skies. 

 The double Tulips are less graceful, but they have their 

 value. They possess a great virtue — a longer bh ssoming 

 lime. Loam mixed with rathsr l<iss than half well- 

 decayed manure, or a mixture of old leaf-mould, loam, 



