March 3, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
167 
selected first. After the planting I always make it a rule to insert 
stakes and tie up the leaves until they show signs of decay. When 
they are taken away a dressing of soot is applied and some of the 
soil placed on from the sides of the trench. Soon they will 
commence to make new growth, when another application of 
manure from a spent Mushroom bed is given as a top-dressing, 
and should the season prove to be a dry one, copious waterings 
should be given. Where space is no object care should bo taken 
not to crowd them in planting. Not later than the first week in 
August they are again lifted and potted. Give plenty of drainage ; 
a mixture of soil, the rougher the better, so as to keep open 
during the winter months. Tie up the leaves. Choose a some¬ 
what shady aspect. Water and syringe them a few times until 
they are established in their pots. As soon as there is any danger 
of frost remove them to a cool house, and when required for 
flowering introduce the plants into a temperature of 60° by day 
and 50° by night, watering frequently with liquid manure provided 
the drainage is good. Admit a good circulation of air on all 
favourable occasions. Those remaining in the same pots year 
after year may be plunged in a bed of ashes during the summer 
months, and supplied with weak liquid manure during their process 
of making new growth. Top-dress with soil before housing for 
the winter. These plants are worthy of a house to themselves, if 
possible, whilst they are flowering, as by being intermixed with 
other flowering plants they are apt to he drawn up weakly, and 
often ruined by aphides, which must be checked as soon as it 
appears.—A. E. 
AMARYLLISES ALL THE YEAR ROUND. 
When the richly coloured blooms of the Amaryllis are 
observed giving warmth to glass structures in the cold and cheerless 
days of winter they naturally arrest attention. It is possible that 
there are many persons to whom the existence of a section of these 
plants amenable to treatment for an all the year round display, and 
which are, moreover, evergreen, is even yet unknown, although up¬ 
wards of ten years have elapsed since the first of the race was honoured 
with a first class certificate by the Royal Horticultural Society. In 
few gardens, at all events, are any of the varieties found. Though 
the pioneer was admittedly beautiful and possessed of valuable 
distinctive characters, and although it was quickly followed by 
others of even greater charm, widespread attention was never won 
by the new group. It is probable enough that the lukewarmness of 
their welcome was largely a result of their being put into direct but 
unfair comparison with the magnificent hybrids of the Leopoldi 
race, and also, but in a minor measure, to the fact that duo con¬ 
sideration was not accorded to their period and duration of 
flowering. The comparison with the larger section was unfair ; 
firstly, because the first fruits of a new departure were contrasted 
with the choicest products of a long course of hybridisation and 
cross-breeding ; secondly, and chiefly, because the character and uses 
of the smaller group were widely dissimilar to the older and more 
important ones. It is in every way desirable that the true position 
of a very beautiful and valuable class of flowers should be clearly 
recognised, and then it may be expected that they will at length 
enter on the career of usefulness and popularity which they so 
richly merit. 
In Messrs. B. S. Williams & Son’s nursery at Holloway there 
are no more beautiful objects at the present time than plants of 
the evergreen hybrid Amaryllis, Mrs. William Lee, bearing four 
to six beautiful rosy-pink flowers, supported by a vigorous stem 
rising from handsome striped foliage. The flowers, though some¬ 
what smaller than the finest of the spring-flowering hybrids, are 
equal to the majority of the small and medium-sized forms in size, 
and the delicacy of colour, heightened by the soft reticulation, 
gives the bloom an appearance of singular charm. It would not 
be easy to over-estimate the value of a good stock of this noble 
variety in any garden, and it has associates equally attractive. For 
conspicuous positions in winter arrangements of plants, for reliev¬ 
ing the sombre effect of flowerless occupants of conservatories and 
greenhouses during the dull season, for table and furnishing pur¬ 
poses, it and its co-varieties would be equally serviceable, imparting 
their unique features of rich yet well-modulated colouring and 
stately beauty. All that Amaryllises are in spring these may be 
in autumn and winter, and in saying this the necessity for further 
recapitulation of the various modes in which the plants would 
prove acceptable is obviated. 
Mrs. William Lee was not the first arrival. The forerunner of 
the race was Mrs. Garfield, first exhibited in 1881. This variety 
marked ihe realisation of an object long striven for—namely, the 
production of hybrids in which the beautiful leaf-marking and 
evergreen character of Amaryllis reticulata were combined with 
the large flowers and brilliant colours of the other forms. The 
variety was the result of a cross between A. reticulata and 
A. Defiance. The certificate which it received was well deserved ; 
the neglect into which it relapsed was not. The growth was sturdy 
and vigorous, the habit good, the flowers were freely borne, and 
the colour was eminently pleasing. It consisted of a delicate rose 
veining on a pure white ground, and the size of the blooms was 
a great advance upon A. reticulata. 
Encouraged to further efforts, Messrs. Williams continued their 
work, and three years later Mrs. William Lee was distributed. In 
1885 this was followed by another beautiful variety named Comte 
de Germiny, remarkable for great richness of colour, large size, 
and vigorous growth. The flowers are very freely produced, and 
in colour may be described as rosy carmine veined with crimson, a 
white bar passing down the centre of each segment. The foliage, 
like the others, is reticulated and evergreen. This magnificent 
variety marked a great advance, and also received a first-class certi¬ 
ficate. Subsequently they added to the list G. Firth and J. R. 
Pitcher. The former is distinguished by a broad stripe of white 
along the centre of each leaf, and by its bright reddish-crimson 
flowers. This is a markedly autumn-blooming variety, and is a 
vigorous grower of good habit. J. R. Pitcher has been recently 
brought out. It has rich crimson-carmine flowers, very distinct 
and beautiful. It is a strong grower and very floriferous, so that 
it may be expected to share an honoured place when the section 
to which it belongs receives due recognition. In addition to these 
varieties there are several other lovely seedlings at Holloway, while 
several beautiful varieties have been raised by Messrs. Veitch and 
Sons, and others on the Continent. 
It is perhaps as a foliage plant that Amaryllis reticulata has 
been most prized, and certainly few are more remarkable for 
beauty of leafage. Its flowers, though most pleasing in colour, are 
too small to compare with those of the ennobled hybrids that are 
now so numerous. In the newer group, however, it is important 
to bear in mind that with the improvement in the flowers there is 
retained much attractiveness of foliage. In this there are clear 
traces of the reticulata parentage, and even when the plants are 
not in bloom they are by no means devoid of beauty, a point that 
is emphasised by their ever green and ever variegated character, for 
this feature at least they retain all the year round. Moreover, when 
a number of plants are grown flowers may be had practically during 
the whole of the year. In late spring, when the majority of their 
relatives are in bloom, special value cannot be claimed for them ; 
but in autumn and winter a ditferent tale may be told. There 
are few who would not appreciate well-flowered Amaryllis at 
Christmas, and both before and after that time they may be had 
in beauty. In them we are provided with a new evergreen for 
the festive season. 
These Amaryllises are not, of course, dried off, like the spring 
bloomers, at any period of the year. The latter lose their foliage 
as winter approaches, and from that time until they come into 
flower are the reverse of beautiful objects, gorgeous though they 
are when in full bloom. The evergreens are best grown in a stove 
or warm structure throughout the year, and never totally deprived 
of water, although the supply should be diminished when the 
flowering is over. Practically they are in growth from January to 
December, and when in full vigour must have abundant supplies of 
water. They produce a mass of fleshy roots, which constitute a 
legion of thirsty throats, impatient of any approach to dryness. 
It is difficult to supply too much water when the pots are well 
filled with roots, and fertilisers or liquid manure in a weak state 
may be given with advantage when the growth is being matured 
prior to blooming. It is a very easy matter to insure a succession 
of flowers, being almost entirely a question of heat. Where 
several or many plants are grown some may be forwarded and 
others kept back, and in due course they may be thus got into a 
regular way of flowering at different periods. They will bloom 
when the growth is matured, which will be at different seasons 
under the treatment indicated, and thus may be had in bloom all 
the year round. 
The plants may be repotted in spring, not necessarily every 
season, but in this case special care must be taken to supply them 
with a rich store of food. Sound turfy loam, with a sixth of 
decayed manure and a good dash of sand will suit them well; or 
their wants would be equally, perhaps better, met, by substituting 
a sprinkling of half-inch bones and crushed charcoal for the 
manure, and using these in association with the loam. Good 
drainage is necessary, and a few lumps of charcoal may he placed 
over a thin layer of crocks to provide it. 
Amateurs whose glass conveniences are limited could practise a 
simpler method of culture by placing the plants in a warm position 
out of doors during the summer, shading the pots from the fierce 
heat of the sun and giving abundance of water, two or three times 
a day if necessary, as drought would be ruinous. The plants could 
be brought in again in autumn, and provided they had made satis¬ 
factory progress as a result of unremitting attention, they would 
