THE MANUAL OP GARDENING. 89 
the third or fourth year: they must, therefore, not be mixed with 
full-grown bulbs in their beds. 
Ims.-There are many varieties of the Iris, all very pretty, 
and generally hardy. The xiphioides is coming much into cul- 
tivation as a florist’s flower. It will grow in almost any soil, and 
the roots should remain two years in the ground, when it will 
throw off off-sets. The Persian Iris is a little bulbous plant, of 
great delicacy, about seven or eight inches high, producing a 
very sweet-scented and regularly-formed flower in March and 
April. It is generally raised in pots, into which it should be put 
about October, the pots being filled with a mixture of sand and 
fine rich mould. There are several other sorts, all hardy, and 
propagated by dividing the roots in autumn, but not too frequently. 
The lusitanica is common in our gardens, flowering abundantly 
in June, having varieties of blue and of white flowers. This is 
the Fleur de lis of the French arms. I. chalcedonica is very 
curiously mottled, black and white. They all like good garden 
soil, and increase fast. 
Lathyrus latifolius, the everlasting Pea , — is a perennial 
plant, originally from Provence. It grows four or five feet high, 
and very luxuriant, requires support. It produces abundance of 
pinkish blossoms in July and August. 
Lilium, the Lily. — Of this well-known bulb, there are many 
kinds which admit of out-door culture; we will only enumerate 
a few: the Martagon, or Turks’ Cap; Pennsylvanicum, Phila- 
delphicum , double and single white, tigrinum and bulbiferum. 
They are easily managed, thrive best in light rich loam, and only 
require to be removed, from time to time, when the clusters of 
roots become too large to flower freely. 
Lychnis. — The chalcedonica, floscuculi and viscaria are pretty 
herbaceous plants, and well calculated to adorn the open border. 
They do not rise over twelve or eighteen inches in height, and 
make a pretty show early in the season; very little care is re- 
quired in their culture. To increase them, divide the clumps, 
which will induce free growth and abundant bloom. 
Mirabilis, Marvel of Peru. — A tuberous-rooted plant, which, 
when grown in a soil it likes, will attain to three or four feet 
high. It produces a pretty single flower of red, yellow, purplish- 
white, and frequently striped with red and yellow, &c. It is 
propagated by seed, or by dividing the root, like the Dahlia; its 
management and habits are similar to those of the Dahlia, which 
see for its cultivation. The roots are not so difficult to keep as 
those of the Dahlia, and may be laid by, in any dry place, safely till 
the early spring, when they may be placed in pots till frost is over. 
Narcissus. — There are several kinds of this flower, all bul- 
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