162 



PAXTON'S FLOWER G-APDEN. 



at a considerable elevation; it differs little in appearance from I. montanum, except that 

 the flowers are darker in colour, having- more of a purple shade in them, and in some 

 cases the head contains a greater number. Again another plant is mentioned in the 

 Gartenftora, t. 953 — under the name of Kolpa/coioskia ixioliriodes, from Lake Sairan 

 — which, by the description, differs little from the Ixiolirions that have already flowered 

 in this country. 



It would be difficult to say too much in favour of these and kindred spring 

 blooming hardy bulbous plants; and it is a pleasing circumstance to note that they 

 are now receiving very much more attention than has been the case for a long time 

 past. The late Dean Herbert, as is well known, was an enthusiast in the introduction 

 and cultivation of bulbous plants, and it seems strange that there have been so few 

 to follow in his footsteps, further than in cultivating a comparatively small number of 

 species, such as the commoner kinds of Lilies, which, handsome as most of them are, still do 

 no more than represent a limited portion of the beauty existent in the many bulbous 

 plants that will thrive in this country in the open air in all but the worst districts 

 for gardening. We are indebted to Mr. Ware, of Tottenham, for an opportunity of 

 figuring the plant, which, like so many other scarce subjects, thrives beautifully in the 

 Hale Earm Nurseries. 



In the cultivation of this and others of the rarer and less vigorous species of 

 bulbous plants, it is essential that they should be kept sufficiently far apart from 

 rank-growing, fibrous-rooted, herbaceous plants, or shrubs, that not only overgrow them, 

 but, what is equally destructive in its effects, impoverish the soil within their reach 

 to an extent that weakens them and gradually reduces them to a feeble condition. 

 In place of this they should have an open, airy, but at the same time well sheltered 

 position, so that their early leaf-growth will not be liable to receive a check by keen 

 cutting winds. The soil also should be moderately porous, and completely free from 

 anything approaching stagnant moisture ; if the subsoil is not naturally porous 

 enough to allow the water to pass through it, draining so far as found wanting should 

 be carried out; the soil likewise ought to be deep enough to admit of the roots descend- 

 ing as far as they naturally are inclined to go. Another matter, which in itself may 

 appear of little importance, is that these, as well as all other deciduous plants, should 

 have the exact spot in which they are planted marked with tallies, inserted sufficiently 

 deep in the ground to avoid any risk of their being disturbed in the operations of 

 hoeing and weeding; otherwise the plants are always in danger of being injured by 

 some or other o£ the implements used in cultivating the ground. 



