26 
FLOWER ROOTS — Miscellaneo us . 
MISCELLANEOUS HARDY AND OTHER BULBS ( continued ). 
Tritonia aurea is a popular plant of much merit, but we think it will be found, on fair trial, that 1 . crocata is not 
only more brilliant and beautiful, but also more useful to the gardener, as the following extract may prove : 
“This is now rather an old plant, but few, if any, new plants in its way are so useful for conservatory decoration. That many old plants now lost 
or neglected are far better than those frequently introduced with high praises and higher prices, is u mere truism among gardeners, but^ 1 conioss to 
having oftenor looked for these ‘good old tilings’ than to have found them. However, at Cliveden u short time since, 1 had a very ‘ lucky And. 
There, in a long span-roofed house — something botween a greenhouse and intermediate house — a most brilliant and novel effect was produced by a 
number of plants of Tritonia crocata , in 48-sized pots. The plants were placed at intervals of a few feet along the edge oi either bench, a few inches 
from the front and behind the small row of dwarf-flowering plants that ran along it. From each small spot sprang about a dozen branched flower 
spikes, and of these the heaviest laden and fullest in flower fell over and below the front edge of the bench ; others were drooping horizontally, and 
some woro nearly orect, so that the passage straight through the house was most gracefully fringed with flowers of a brilliant orange scarlet almost 
as effective a colour as that of Tulip a gesneriana. The individual flowers, too, are largo, and altogether the plant is more desirable than any ot its 
order that I have 6een u«od for greouhouso ornament. It is a great favourite with Mr. Fleming for basket und drawing-room embellishment, and 
droops over the edges of vases, &e., very gracefully and effectively. 
“ This Tritonia is readily forced, ‘and may be had in flower six months of the year.’ The plants seem to have been cultivated in the simplest 
manner. They aro annually shaken out ufter going to rest, and ten or twelve bulbs replaced with fresh soil in 48-sizcd pots. Being ot easy propaga- 
tion, a stock will not take long to get, and that accomplished — say to the extent of from 24 to 100 pots, according to the wants of the conservatory 
the gardener will find ho has a valuable and distinct subject for its decoration. I may add the flower stems wore not staked, and that the plants are 
grown in cold pits when not in flower or required for forcing.”— William Robinson, Gardeners' Chronicle. 
The Babianas are a pretty class of Cape bulbs, half hardy, and requiring much the same treatment as Ixias and 
the like. They may also be grown in a warm border in very light soil ; protected however in winter, except in the 
warm parts of the south of England, where no doubt these and many other slightly tender bulbs might be grown to 
a perfection unattainable about London. 
Among the Tropseolums are not a few bulbous kinds distinguished by much beauty, and suitable either for 
conservatory or flower-garden work. They delight in rich free loam, leaf mould, and sand. The best kinds for pot 
culture are azureuni , bracliyceras, Jarratti, and tricolomm. They should be potted in Autumn, and allowed to make 
way all through the winter in an airy greenhouse, the stems being trained up light trellises oi some kind. ALor the 
blooming season, the bulbs should be allowed a rest of a few months. T. pentuphyllum and speciosum are among the 
best half-hardy kinds for growing against walls, on trellis-work, &c., in sunny warm places. Protected in winter by 
some loose material, they may remain and do well for years. 
Anomatheca Cl'Uenta is a pretty and rather hardy bulbous plant : if grown in pots, it requires treatment l:ko 
the Ixias. It may bo used with good taste as an edging, or dwarf plant in the buib border. By the way, every 
gardon in which bulbs are appreciated should have a well-mado border of this kind, in which all rare and much 
valued plants may be preserved and propagated. About four feet wide is the best size, and the bulbs should bo 
arranged in lines across it. The soil should be of the freest and best character for three feet deep, and then all bulbs 
will freely grow in it — sandy of course. 
Triteleia uniflora is a plaht we particularly wish to recommend, and that it is worthy of it, the following extract 
from The Field , of April 2 1st, 1866, may prove : — 
“A. new Spring Flower — Triteleia n niflora. — Wo have much pleasure in recommending this pretty South American plant to the 
notice of such readers as take an interest in Spring gardening. It is not new in the sense of having been recently introduced to the country, but 
quite so as rogurds its use in the open air; and this is a pity, as with us at present it is quite equal to the Siberian Squill, or any other first-class 
Spring flower in cultivation, while quite distinct in aspect and colour from all. It is a native of Mendoza, introduced about thirty years ago, but 
chiefly grown in frames and in pots and in botanic gardens, where its merits as a hardy Spring flower were not observed. The flowers are nearly an 
inch and a half across, white, with a delicate band of blue along the centre of each petal, and emit a fragrance similar to that oi the Persian Ins. 
Dutch readers, and those who delight in the aroma of the Allium, may bo pleased to learn that when the leaves are bruised they smell remarkably 
like those of an Onion, while those of a different turn of mind will be consoled by the reflection that bruising the leaves of such a pret ty little plant 
may with advantage be loft eut of its treatment. In an open and exposed position it bus grown nbout six inches high, and flowered abundantly, the 
blooms closing at night and looking their best during sunshine, and the leaves seem capable of standing greater hardship than even those ot the 
Snowdrop. Whether an unusually sevoro frost like that of ’60 would kill it wc c-unnot say; but wo have no hesitation in pronouncing it a real 
acquisition to the Spring garden. It may he had comparatively cheap with the bulbs in Autumn, or, indeed, at uny other seuson, in one or two of 
the London nurseries.” 
Arum Dracunculus, italicum, and crinitum are not ornamental in the sense that the previously mentioned 
plants are, yet, from their distinctness of habit, and interesting botanical character, they are welcome to many 
cultivators. A. crinitum is a most extraordinary — almost a frightful flower ; grow in good soil in a sheltered 
position. 
Colchicum autumnale (the Autumn Crocus) should not bo left out of a selection of this sort, as its flowers, 
peeping through the bare earth in Autumn, have a charm for many. 
We finish with the exquisite genus Cyclamen, to which belongs the most beautiful of all dwarf winter and early 
Spring-flowering bulbs. If wo had but tbo one 6pecies per si cum, our in-door gardeners would possess a charm which 
no other known plants could produce. All visitors to the Metropolitan Spring Shows must have been struck with the 
great variety of colour displayed by this plant, from pure pearly white to rich rosy or violet crimson ; not a few of 
the kinds aro delightfully fragrant ; even the leaves of the plants, when well grown, are ornamental, and a good 
plant keeps flowering for many weeks in succession. In the dawn of Spring a fine bloom may bo had from these 
plants, without which, indeed, the greenhouse is not furnished; they bloom for weeks in rooms without injury. For 
out-door work, choice borders, &c., somo kinds are admirable, particularly hed tTerJolium and cur op awn, these we 
havo seen make a charming display out of doors in many gardens ; some of the other species aro highly interesting, 
and all aro pretty, though for the generality of cultivators those wo name are the best kinds. The best soil for the 
greenhouse kind is one composed of leaf mould, silver sand, and loam. After the bloom of the Cyclamen is past, the 
plants should not be immediately dried off, but allowed to grow. During the Summer they should get a partial rest, 
standing on a cool shady border, and then in Autumn taken to an airy greenhouse, where they may have plenty of 
light and a full allowance of water, when in vigorous health, during their growing and flowering season. They should 
be potted or top-dressed, as the age or state of the plants may require, in Autumn, 
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