256 
THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
Feb., a charming species; and C. chrysanthus, orange-yellow, 
Jan. The Autumn-flowering species worth growing are : C. 
nudiflorus, blue. Sept; C. pulchellus, lilac, Sept. ; C. speciosus, 
blue, Sept. ; C. iridiflorus, blue, Oct. ; and C. Clusii, lilac, Oct. 
There are three ways of growing crocuses in our gardens. 
One is to use them as edgings to beds or borders, a formal 
method ; another to group them in patches or masses in borders 
and on the rockery ; and a third plan, and one of the most 
natural withal, is to grow them in the turf of the lawn, the 
wild garden, or in grassy slopes. In small gardens, where 
space is limited, it is difficult perhaps to avoid growing crocuses 
in lines as edgings. But in large gardens there is no excuse 
for such formality, as ample room would exist for massing 
them in borders or in the turf of the lawn. When grown in 
borders it is always advisable to carpet the patches with some 
low growing plant like saxifrages, then the blooms will show 
to better advantage, and the patches not have a bare 
appearance in summer and winter. Both the spring and the 
autumn-flowering species will do best in the nooks of the 
rockery, each kind being grown by itself. As regards growing 
them in grass, the best way is to scatter the corms about the 
surface in patches here and them, just as you see primroses 
growing on a bank, and then to plant them where they lie 
about 2in. deep. For planting bulbs of all kinds properly and 
expeditiously Barr’s bulb planter should be used. This cuts 
out a circular bit of turf just large enough to take the corm, 
and the piece removed is available for refilling the hole. An 
ordinary “dibber” may be used, but it is necessary in this 
case to use soil to fill up the holes. Crocuses may be planted 
in a similar way on grassy banks, round the margins of coni- 
ferous trees and under the shade of tall trees. Once planted 
they will multiply year after year, and provide a glorious sheet 
of colour in early spring. Where crocuses are grown the grass 
should be cut till the foliage withers. In the case of crocuses 
grown in beds the corms may be lifted directly after flowering 
and replanted close together in shallow drills in a spare corner 
to finish their growth, when lift, dry and store away till 
replanting time. The best time to plant the autumn-flowering 
species is in August, and the spring-flowering ones in October 
and November. The corms should be planted 2 to 3in. deep 
and the same distance apart. It will not be necessary to lift 
the autumn-flowering or the spring-blooming kinds, with the 
exception of those grown in beds. Crocuses may be reared 
from seeds sown when ripe in sandy soil in a cold frame, but 
the seedlings will not flower for several years. They are 
readily increased by offsets in autumn. Natives of Europe and 
Asia Minor. 
