1880 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
233 
California Fritillarias. 
Those who know the stately Crown Imperial, 
with its corona of inverted flowers as large as tu¬ 
lips, lifted 3 feet or more upon a sturdy, leafy stalk, 
would hardly recognize in the delicate flower here 
figured any close relationship, much less suspect it 
of being an own brother. We are aware that some 
botanists do not regard Crown Imperial as belong¬ 
ing to FHtittaria, but whatever they may do with 
it, the relationship will remain as close as ever. 
California is rich in plants of the Lily Family, there 
being a large number of charming species, though 
they are as yet rarely seen in cultivation. Of Frit¬ 
illarias, the excellent recent monograph of the 
Family, by Mr. Watson, shows California to have 
nine species, of .which the one here shown, if not 
the largest, is by far the most showy. The bulb, 
about an inch in diameter, has many short and 
thick scales, and is in appearance unlike the exotic 
species. In this plant the stem is from 12 to 18 
inches high, and bears whorls of narrow, pointed 
leaves, like those in the engraving, and at the top 
one to three, usually, but sometimes as many as 
seven, flowers, about an inch long, of an elongated 
bell-shape. It will be noticed that the tips of the 
petals are strongly bent backwards, which is not 
the case with the other species, and on this account 
it was called FritiUaria recurva. The color of the 
flowers is usually a bright orange scarlet, but some¬ 
times crimson, which makes them decidedly showy. 
The plant was originally discovered near Sacramen¬ 
to, and is found in various parts of the Sierra Ne¬ 
vada. A few years ago it was sent to us from Sier¬ 
ra Co., as the “ California Tulip,” a name also given 
to more than one other plant. Another species 
which we have (April 26) just coming into bloom, 
is FriiOlaria pudica ; this has bright lemon-yellow 
flowers, which are much larger and broader bell¬ 
shaped than this. Besides these with red and yel¬ 
low flowers, FritiUaria lanceolata, with its blotched 
and marked blackish-purple petals, like the old 
“Guinea-Hen Flower” (F. Meleagris), presents a 
marked contrast in colors. Nearly all the species 
are desirable, and will no doubt be popular when 
we learn to treat them properly. The bulbs we 
planted last fall flowered freely this spring ; what 
will be the effect upon the bulbs of our w r et au¬ 
tumns after a dry summer, remains to be seen. In 
California, rains coming after a long season of rest 
through dryness, announce the beginning of spring; 
with us, it is the beginning of winter. Should au- 
Colchortus, and related bulbous plants, the flowers 
of which, though not as a general thing very large 
and showy, are often of such quiet beauty, that we 
would not abandon their culture, if any amount 
of pains-taking, and observance of their peculiar 
wants will allow us to obtain success with them. 
Alpine or Rock-Work Plants. 
Nothing about modern gardening is more apt to 
be misunderstood than rock-work. Most plants 
that will grow in flower pots can be made to grow 
can all this be done, but it is done, and it is a rock- 
work indeed, for there is nothing in the thing, its 
place, or the plants with which it is filled, that is 
not thoroughly artificial, while the only reason for 
having a rock-work at all is, that 
it introduces a bit of natural 
scenery where it did not before 
exist, and allows us to bring 
variety into the grounds. Unless 
there is some nook or corner 
about the place where rocks 
might naturally occur—and if 
they did so occur on the lawn 
they should be blasted out—it is 
better to leave the rock-work to 
those who have a proper place 
for it. But our object is not just 
now so much the rock-work it¬ 
self, as the plants proper to grow 
upon it. Begonias, Geraniums, 
and bedding plants generally are 
entirely out of place on the rock- 
work, as they, for the most part, 
do much better in beds or in 
pots, and their whole port and 
bearing is a protest against plant¬ 
ing them there. It is on the high 
mountains that natural rock- 
work is seen in its greatest per¬ 
fection, and there we find plants, 
usually of low stature, spreading 
themselves over the surface of 
the rock6 and blooming freely, 
while their long and fine roots are 
far down in the cool soil that fills 
the crevices. But as rocks are 
not confined to the high eleva¬ 
tions, so the plants suited to the 
rock-work need not of necessity 
be those naturally alpine. In¬ 
deed, in gardening works the 
term “ alpine ” is applied to many 
plants that never get above the 
general level. In the high regions 
of terrific storms and on the edges of perpetual snow, 
the only plants that can live are those of a low stature; 
only such as are found here are properly alpine, but 
in a garden classification other plants of low stature 
and similar compact habit are included also. The 
term rock-plants or rock-work plants is coming 
into use in place of “ alpine,” and is preferable, as 
it is equally definite and much more accurate. We 
the Balearic sand-wort (Arenaria Balearica). the hock lychnis (hychnis Sagasca). 
tnmn start the bulb6 into growth, that will be the 
end of them. It will then be necessary to take up 
the bulbs when the leaves die off, and keep them 
out of the ground as late as possible before planting. 
Not only the Fritillarias, but the various species of 
in pockets of earth in a pile of rocks. This pile of 
rocks can be placed in the middle of a lawn, and 
as the rocks are apt to be of different colors, 
they can be made to look all alike by a coat of 
cement, or still worse, of whitewash. Not only 
not long ago, at an exhibition, heard a plant spoken 
of as “ a lovely little alpine,” that never knew a 
higher station than the pine-barrens of New Jersey, 
but it was a “ lovely little ” rock-plant. In saying 
that the rock-work should not rise as an irruption 
