HARDY SUMMER- AND AUTUMN-FLOWERING BULBS. 897 



these plants. The bulbs should be put in from November to January, 

 three inches deep and two inches apart, and be surrounded and covered 

 ■with coarse sand. The earlier plantings should have a light covering of 

 straw litter or heather to protect the early top-growth, but this should be 

 removed in March. In stiff soils or where there is much wet in winter, 

 the bulbs should be planted on raised beds, and in such cases it is better 

 to plant late than early. A position due south against a wall or green- 

 house will suit the Ixia well. During very dry weather in late spring 

 and early summer, watering should not be neglected. There are a great 

 many varieties of Ixias, but for a choice of selection I would recommend 

 the following: — 'Emperor of China,' 'Conqueror,' * Humbert,' ' Excel- 

 sior,' ' Erubescens major,' ' Crateroides,' 'Magnum bonum,' 'White 

 Queen,' 'Pra?stans,' ' Nitens,' 'La Favorite,' 'Lady Slade,' 'Azurea,' 

 'Elvira,' and * Viridiflora ' (the green Ixia). The Ixia makes a very 

 charming pot-plant, five or six bulbs in a four or five inch pot. Use a 

 compost of turf-loam, leafy soil, and sand, potting the bulb firmly, and 

 plunging in ashes or cocoa-fibre in a cool pit or frame. This may be 

 done any time from October to January. ^When top-growth has some- 

 what advanced, keep the lights off, except during wet or frosty weather. 

 As soon as the flower-spikes are showing, the plants may be transferred 

 to the greenhouse, where they should be given a position close to the 

 glass and be regularly attended to with water. 



Sparaxis. — Belonging to the same natural order as the Ixia, and 

 flowering about the same time, we have the delightful little Sjxiraxis, 

 growing only ^ ft. high, but exhibiting such brilliant combinations of 

 colour in the same flower as to at once arrest attention. A bed of 

 these little gems when in flower produces an effect not readily forgotten. 

 The cultural treatment is the same as for the Ixia. I can strongly 

 recommend it for planting in grass in warm, sunny nooks, or on grassy 

 mounds, fully exposed to the sun. In such positions the gorgeously 

 coloured flowers show up in charming contrast to their grassy bed. 

 When planting them in such places it is advisable to surround the bulbs 

 with sand. Perhaps the most striking varieties are ' Tricolor,' ' Grandi- 

 flora,' 'Angelique,' 'Garibaldi,' and 'Queen Victoria,' but to obtain the 

 finest effect I recommend a mixture of different sorts being used. 



Calochortus. — The Calochortus is one of the gems of June flowers, 

 and this will be admitted by anyone who has gazed upon the delicate 

 beauty of its flowers. A native of California, it is the sole representative 

 in the western hemisphere of the Tulip family, although to the un- 

 initiated it bears very little resemblance to our garden Tulips. There are 

 three natural divisions into which the Calochorti fall : firstly, the ' Butter- 

 fly ' or ' Mariposa ' Tulips, bearing on branching, wiry, zigzag stems several 

 large erect open flowers, many of them being beautifully blotched and lined 

 with silky hairs. In height these range from one foot to two feet. Secondly, 

 we have the 1 Globe ' Tulips or ' Fairy Bells ' ; these differ from the ' Mariposa ' 

 Tulips in being of dwarfer stature and having smaller drooping flowers, 

 which are globular and closed. The section is a small one. Thirdly, we 

 have the ' Star ' Tulips, also of dwarf growth, and bearing dainty little 

 open cups on slender dwarf stems. In this section, also, there are only 

 a few species, and the flowers are mostly covered with silky hairs. All the 



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