FLOWER ROOTS — Miscellaneous. 
25 
MISCELLANEOUS HARDY AND OTHER BULBS (continued). 
Several kinds of Muscari have for ages commended themselves wlion in flower in Spring, though they are as yet 
far from being as popular as they should be. What, for grace of form or beauty of colour can surpass the blue or 
white botryoides ? Nothing in the Spring garden! Then thero is the “Feathered Hyacinth — M. comosum 
moiistrosum — a singularly good thing as a border flower ; while the Musk Hyacinth (M. moschatum), though devoid 
of beauty of colour, is yet most interesting from its free and grateful perfume. 
Sanguinaria canadensis is not so often employed as a Spring flower as it should be. Nothing looks more 
distiuct and pretty when fully opened under a bright Spring sun. It is particularly adapted to free moist soils, an 
half shady positions, but is not very fastidious. It is one of those plants that should be putin the ground the moment 
it is received, as if not the roots are apt to “go off.” 
Sternbergia lutea (page 21) is not a Spring-flowering bulb, but a very charming Autumn-blooming one, 
especially on light aud gravelly soils. It is to the Autumn what the yellow Crocus is to the Spring of the year. 
Well grown on a gravelly soil, we have had tufts of it as large, and as full of rich yellow flowers, as those of tho 
yellow Crocus could bo. 
•different 
pretty. w _ 
sandy. In pots tho Zephyranthes does well treated like an Ixia. 
Thero are two hardy Crinums well worthy the attention of all lovers of hardy plants, which are not nearly so 
often seen in gardens as they ought to be. They are perfectly hardy in this country, and the flowers are sweetor and 
more beautiful than some species that are grown at great expense in the stove. We refer to C. capensc and C. oupense 
album. Plant in very deep and rich soil in a sheltered position, where the leaves may escape laceration from every 
strong breeze, and the result will be a succession of fine large fragrant blooms during the Summer months, at least 
so it will bo when the plants are established. 
The Fritillaries (page 22), especially the English one, deserve our best attention. What can be prettier than 
nice tufts of F, mcleagrls , especially in its paler varieties, and its fine white variety sometimes called F. pracoa' ? 
Then there are the Crown Imperials, which look so showy and imposing around shrubbery margins in Spring, or in 
the background of tho bulb arrangement, wherever that may be. 
For pot culture, and for graceful conservatory decoration in Spring, the Lachenalias are not sufficiently used 
Nothing can look prettier than 6 or 8-inch pots we]l filled with blooming plants of these. The flowers aie so 
gracefully coloured and disposod that they are universally admired. It is too often that cultivators display no bulb, 
but Hyacinths, Tulips, and the like, the result being a sameness, which is, to say the least, not desirable in a gaiuen. 
How different when various other good bulbs are associated with the popular ones ! Nothing can be moie distinct 
from tho ordinary typo of “ Dutch Bulbs ” than the Lachenalias , and nothing can be named more suitable for placmg 
round the edges of vases or baskets filled in the centre with Tulips, Hyacinths, and Narcissus. They merely require 
potting in any ordinary free soil used for that purpose, and cold frame or pit cultivation near the g ass 1 iey 6 
'to show their flower stems, when they may be removed to the greenhouse, the conservatory, or the window. y 
bear a little gentle forcing very well. 
Wo recommend Ornithogalum arabicum as a very noble species, quite hardy and free in good light soils and 
in warm situations. It is a handsome and striking flower. 
Some of tho species of Oxalis are well worth growing, particularly Bowiei, which wo have remarked to do 
splendidly on warm soils in the south of England ; and, when planted close against a wall, and in a very sandy so , 
in most parts. Floribunda, lasiandra, spcctabilis, and versicolor are among the better kinds. 
Camassia esculenta is a handsome hardy blue-flowering bulb, well worthy of culture, and interesting too. It is 
tho Quamash of the North American Indians. It grows in great abundance in swampy plains on the north-west 
coast of America, and the Indians visit those plains in great numbers for the purpose of collecting them It 
handsomo thing when well grown, and, liko most bulbs, does far better on deep sandy or tree earth than 
in any other. 
Bobartia aurantiaca we have proved to bo a hardy and useful bulb, gay in colour, and free to flowei . 
Alstrcemerias are made a fine feature of in some gardens, and they are worthy of attention. The varieties of 
Chilemis do very well out of doors, particularly if planted in deep beds of free soil ; peaty soil suits them to pertec- 
tion, but wc have seen them running wild among shrubs in a deep rich loam. 
The genus Tigridia is justly considered a splendid one, and though the flow-era do not last so long as many of an 
inferior typo of beauty, yet their gorgeous character, and tho freedom with which they are produced makes up or 
any deficiency in that way. They are best kept in a dry state during the winter, and started in April, either to 
flower in pots or in groups in the flower garden or bulb ground. 
The Tritomas have of late years made themselves a conspicuous ornamont in nearly every British garden, and, 
from their surpassing stateliness, and brilliancy of colour, are certain to occupy a still higher position they aro net 
only effective in the highest degree, but are also of distinct and elegant habit and profuse leafage, aud foatui es more 
to bo desired in our gardens at present than any others. As single plants in beds in the back rows of the mixed 
border, or indeed in almost any position, they aro unrivalled. Not their least merit is that of sending up thei o 
spikes when most other flowers aro thinking of going to rest. T. glaucescens, grand, s, and unarm .are .the 
The first named is beyond measure the best aud freest for the general cultivator. Grandis is huge, lato, < d 
magnificent, and not as yet so plentiful as the others. It grows very tall. 
The Watsonias aro handsome and attractive bulbs, somewhat after the fashion of a Gladiolus, and may bo 
cultivated with success on a doop dry warm border. The bulbs should be placed at from six to nine inches deep, and 
in the months of October or November. If grown in pots, the treatment that suits Gladiolus, feparaxis, Ac., 
also suit Watson ia. 
FOR NEW VINES, SEE PAGE 48. 
