NERINB 
Culture. 
ly and before the plants are out of bloom. 
In all the kinds the flowers last a long 
time, and the plants stand very well when 
used for indoor decoration. 
All the Nerines are from South 
Africa, and like other Cape 
bulbs of this class, they need a dry cool 
house or frame. When such bulbs are 
put into warm moist houses they cannot 
bloom or even grow satisfactorily, and 
are soon condemned as worthless. 
Treated as ordinary greenhouse plants, 
with proper seasons of rest and growth, 
no plants are easier to manage, and few 
are more worthy of care. The Nerines 
flower at the end of the summer and in 
autumn, and the appearance of their 
flower-spikes tell when water may be 
given. Up to that point they should be 
kept perfectly dry in a cool frame, upon 
an open wood-work staging, or in a 
sheltered corner of the open garden, 
under glass lights to keep off" rain. They 
should stand in these quarters all sum- 
mer, and (after the foliage has turned 
yellow) dust-dry so far as the most de- 
ciduous section [IV. Sar niejisis and N. 
curvifolia) is concerned, water being 
withheld until the flower-spikes are 2 
or 3 inches above the soil. The plants 
may then be removed to the greenhouse, 
and moisture given as required. The 
same plan should be followed with the 
N. flexuosa section until either flower- 
spikes or leaves appear, when a little 
water should be given, for those push- 
ing up leaves will probably flower with 
the foliage, and if water were withheld 
until the spikes appeared the plants 
might sufler. The aim is, not to in- 
duce leaf-growth by watering, or pro- 
bably the flowers will fail, but when 
leaf-growth begins under these rigor- 
ously dry conditions, the plants must 
not sufler for want of water. During the 
flowering season and after the leaves ap- 
pear, the plants should be freely watered 
and grown on like any other plant, until, 
by turning yellow, the leaves show that 
the resting season has again come round. 
Before this they will be again placed in 
the sunny frame, and from the time the 
leaves wither until the spikes again ap- 
pear, the bulbs must once more be kept 
perfectly dry. Good fibrous loam with a 
little sand added, is the best soil, and 
pots should be used that seem small as 
compared with the plants. Repotting 
should not be done each year but only 
when quite necessary, for the longer 
Nerines are left undisturbed, the more 
freely they flower. 
The Belladonna Lily 
Outdoor Culture. , i ^ 
and some other Cape 
bulbs thrive well in the open, and there 
is no apparent reason why the Nerines 
should not do so, but although I have 
myself succeeded with N. U7idulata and 
a few others, — so far as to get them to 
live and flower irregularly, — and have 
seen similar results with others, — I have 
never yet found them grown with any 
great success as hardy plants in this 
country. Soil and situation have much 
to do with it, and the experiment may yet 
succeed if proper quarters can be found. 
Any who try to grow them outdoors 
should remember that deep planting 
gives the most hope of success ; bulbs will 
have the best chance when sunk at least 
9 inches deep, close to the foot of a sunny 
wall where they will not be disturbed. 
