52 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



January 20, 1912. 



Primns 



the most common is U. gracilis, 

 are all grafted plants, and those of the 

 sinensis type form neat little bushes when 

 tlie.r clusters of snow-white flowers are pro- 

 duced all along the slender growths. There 

 are several species, svich as P. Mume, 

 double white ; there is also a pink form of 

 this, which is very pretty; P. sinensis flore 

 alba pleno, and rosea pleno ; also the 



SNOWDROPS. 



Soon shall kind spring her flowery 



gifts 



bestow 



On teuimy banks, where silver snowdropvS grow. 



— J- Scott. 



Snowdrops are better known as garden 

 blossoms than as real w*ild flowers. Like 

 the primrose, the lily of the valley, and the 



double-flowering sloe. As the flowers of foxglove, their beauty and grace have lead 

 these expand with the aid of a low tem- 



they should be 



perature, it is essential 

 grown in a light airy structure, and not be 

 .subjected to an excess of warmth. Some 

 of the pyrus also make grand subjects for 

 forcing, and where large conservatories 

 have to be furnished, these early-flowering 

 shrubs form special features when well 

 grown. Such forms as P. corona ria fl.-pl. 

 and P. floribunda atro-sanguinea, when 

 grown as standards, make delightful sub- 

 jects for conservatory decoration ; their 

 long sprays of highly-coloured sweet-sr-ented 

 flowers rem nd us of the profuse display of 

 flowers ])ioduccd late in the spring in the 



Then we have the various forms of 



C. Maulei, their 

 which 



CD J ^ 



to their wholesale mtroduction into the 



open. 

 Cvdonia 



and 



freely 



japonica 



richlv-coloured flowers, wnicn are 

 produeed, being most attractive. 



Who is there that does not admire the 

 eherry blossom early in the spring. The 

 various double-flowered forms of these are 

 most interesting. They all force well, and 

 the double-flowering kinds, wdiether white 

 or ]>ink. are very attractive. Thev may be 

 had either as dwarfs or standards, but for 

 them to show to best advantage the plants 

 should be of fair size. They are all grafted 

 and when grown in pots will need liberal 

 treatment. Syringas or lilacs are always 

 much admired, particularly the white varie- 

 ties. Plants of these may be purchased of 

 almost any size, but those most useful are 

 such as can be grown in moderately-sized 



]^ots. It is a gi-eat mistake to force these 

 into bloom too rapidly, as, by so doing, the 

 flowei's are rendered soft, and therefore do 

 not stand so well, either on the plants or 

 wlien cut. 



The old snowball tree (Viburnum opulus 

 sterile), which is found in such abundance 

 all over the cotintry, needs no descript'on. 

 but there are several others that are not, 

 as a rule, well known to the generality of 

 gardeners. V. plicatum, V. macrocepha- 

 lum, and V. tomentosum are alike useful 

 for forcing, and those who have not grown 

 them thus can have but li-^tle idea of their 

 beauty. The large trusses of pure wfiTte 

 flowers, which are borne in such abundance, 

 produce a most attracti^-e display. 



All are more or less acquainted with the 

 hardv deciduous azaleas, but there are now 



garden. I'hey are nevertheless true wild Galanthus 

 nowers, as truly wild as any buttercup. 

 It nas oeen contended by some writers that 

 tne snowUrop is probaoiy not indigenous, 

 but it has in any case got so tlioroughly 

 naturalised amongst us tnat, whatever may 

 have been the state of aflairs hve hundred 

 vears a^^o, it is now as much a wdd flower 

 in our midst as any of the otlier plants men- 

 tioned in tlie British flora, and as such is 

 alAvays included without question among 

 them. I'he snowdrop is a perennial galan- 

 thus, its graceful little droopmg tiowers 

 must be sought for in gardens, orchards, 

 shady pastures, woods, and hedgerows dur- 

 ing the months of January^ February, and 

 March. 



beauty, as they can be carried better and 

 open tresher in water, than if cut when 

 fully expanded. 



llie present very interesting and grow- 

 ing state of our knowledge of snowdrops 

 may best be gleaned from a paper read by 

 the late Mr. James Allen before the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, of wh.ch the follow- 

 ing is an extract : Less than twenty years 

 ago there was practically but one kind of 



grown in England — Galanthus 



and double foims. 



snowdrop 

 nivalis- — in 



its 



introduced 

 it 



soon 

 not 



so many hybrids from the various sect.ons 

 that it is not easy to say to whi^ h section 

 they belong. The long-tubed forms are 

 very pretty^ reminding one of the honey- 

 suckle. Then there are the mollis^ mollis 

 hybrids, and the Ghent hybrids. These 

 hardy azaleas would of themselves form a 

 glorious feature in the conservatory during 

 the early spring months, and as they are 

 so easilv ";rown and forced, should be had 

 in quantities. A peat soil suits them best, 

 though they will thrive in a loam that is 

 free from lime. Clethra alnifolia is some- 



in a most miserable 



i'ondition on account of its }>eing planted 

 in the common garden soil, wlieioas it is a 

 ]>eat-h>ving subject. When gi-o\ving in the 

 open it does not bloom until the latter part 

 of the summer, but no sbrub that T am 

 acquaint<Hl with forfcs sf> well, oi- is an 

 object of gren tor beauty ■w lien in bl^iom . 

 It produces upri<:;ht terminal spikes, and 

 luis a light graceful habit. The flow* is arc 

 pure white when forced. 



H. C, Prinsep. 



times seen in gardens 



(first offered 



" In oui 

 Hulme. 



own orchard/' writes Edward 

 '•and nestling deep down in our 

 hedges, Ave ha\'e them springing up by 

 thousands at the opening of each year. 

 The third week in January is generally the 

 time when we may look for them." Gilbert 

 White, the famous Selborne naturalist, 

 gives the dates of flow^ering 12th to the 

 24th. I can give you some dates from my 

 own observation^ namely : 1906, January 

 1907, January 20; 1909, January 12; 



1910. January 16^ only one bulb flowering; 



1911, J an ua i y 18, three or four blooms 

 flowering. How often haA^e we noticed it 

 showing its drooping head immediately 

 after the melting of the snow. Dr. Alfred 

 Smee tells us that one year, and only one 

 he new of, his snowdrops appearing 

 l^etween Christmas and the New Year, 

 and I remember some being brought 

 from Stanway Hall, Essex, at the end of 

 December. 



Snowdrops are naturally single, but cul- 

 tivation has given us a variety with doid>le 

 flowers, but I think niy readers will agree 

 with me that the former have the greater 

 charm. It is only necessary to plant the 

 ))ulbs, and then to leave them, when they 

 will multiply year by year. Quantities of 

 snowdrops should be grown in every garden 

 and in shrubberies, and under trees when- 

 ever tile space can be found, as they light 

 up the bai'c ground in the garden among 

 ferns, etc. A larger species of snowdrop 

 known as Galanthus plicatus,was introduced 

 from the Crimea in 1872. The flower is 

 somewhat larger, and the leaves are much 

 broader and coarser. It is less plentiful 

 than the common species, and differs so 

 little from it that it is hardly to be recog- 

 nised without f^areful and close examina- 

 tion. Except as a mere curiosity, it is not 

 a very desirable addit'on to the garden. 

 The old snowdro]) is now known to be only 

 one member of a large family, most of which 

 have some merits for garden culture. The 



never looks better than when 



single 

 plicatus was 

 after the Crimean War, but it was 

 often seen unless in botanic gardens. Early | 

 in the 70s Galanthus Elwesi was intro- | 

 duced, and in 1875 Mr. Barr offered, under 

 the name of Galanthus Imperati, a very 

 fine form, which the late Mr. James Atkins, 

 of Painswick, procured ' from somewhere 

 in the kingdom of Naples. This is much 

 finer than the Galanthus Imperati offered 

 some two or three years later, and now 

 generally grown under that name. I pro- 

 pose that the earlier form be called Galan- 

 thus Atkinsi. Then Galanthus latifolius 



as Galanthus Retloutei), a 

 snowdrop with the leaves of a scilla, Avas 

 followed later on by Galanthus caucasicus, 

 and finally by Galanthus Fosteri." We 

 have also discovered that a few forms of 

 Galanthus nivalis, from the mountains of 

 Greece, hurry into flower in September or 

 October, instead of January, and some of 

 their little cousins in Corfu try to do the 

 same, but cannot get their wardrobes ready 

 until a few weeks later. In speaking of 

 snowdrops, we must not forget that, be- 

 sides the division into species and sub- 

 species, we have the arrangements into 

 classes according to colours, and other pecu- 

 liarities. Consequently, we hear of whit^ 

 snowdrops and yellow snowdrops, and also 

 green snowdrops. Galanthus Elwesi is a 

 native of the Levant, with large flowers, 

 the three inner segments of wh'ch have a 

 much larger and more conspicuous green 

 blotch than the common kind which is a 

 native of Great Britain, and largely culti- 

 vated in Lincolnshire for the supply of 

 flowers to the London and other markets, 

 and also for the production of bidbs for 



sale- 

 Many of my readers will understand 



that nivalis is a Latin adjective that sig- 

 nifies relating to or resembling siio^- 

 The generic name is Greek in its origi"? 

 and signifies milk flower. And now for 

 the description of the flower itself. The 

 leaves are two in number, bluish-green m 

 colour 



, hence no other green (not even ivy 

 leaves) associate so well with snowdrops 

 when used for decorative purposes, th^ 

 leaves being long and narrow, and at the 

 time of flowering they are often six inches 

 in ](Mi2;tli, but after the blossoms liave died 

 away, continue to elongate for some tinie. 

 and may often be found a foot long, ano 

 the vigorous unward errowth of the^^ 



snowdrop 



naturalised amid the tender 



of 



an 



old orchard or paddock, the margin of 

 lawns, or beside the pathways of woods. 

 Almost any soil suits them . but rich 

 gravrlly-ljottomed soils drained aro best, 

 though we are nn-t by flu* rather startling 

 fact that in lioiccstersliire and Xottinghnnu 

 shire this flower "^rows well on the flav 

 of liedur bunks and old orchards. As 

 flowers, snow(lroi)s are most attractive 



V i go r ous up ward g row 

 younger days exchange<l for a sonie^vliat 



drooping and feeble appearance. 

 flowering stem tliat rises from the niid^^ 

 of these little leaves, bears "a single flowei'^ 

 The flowers of the snowdrop are somewhat 

 bell-shaped and oomposecl of six segmenL.s^ 

 of these three are pure wliite^ while 

 other three that alternate with these, an 

 are placed within them are considerabl. 

 sinalhM- anfl are tipped or blotched at their 

 outer extr(Mnitv with a snot of bnS" 



The three 



more 

 tVn- 



soil 

 cut 



and useful, and a delightful addition to 

 bouquets, etc.. To cut the flowers in bud 

 is. however, essential to ensuring perfe:*t 



a spot 



gre^n. i ne tnree outer and larger scg; 

 ments spread outwards ■eonsiderablv 

 than do the others. It <l()**s not c:iH 

 lnr:'iiig, and it is very disappointing" to ti} 

 it, tor the leaves 2;row lon^r Ix^tore tu^ 



(tlit^ 



flowrr r(^v(*!ils its beautv. If vou 

 thetn early tor a bowl in the room 

 bulbs, I mean of couimO. Hft a i-lump 3^\' 

 as it shows above iironnd, and you 



will 



