April 30, 1891. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
837 
A pril is now drawing to a close, but so far this fickle month 
has been unmindful of its reputation for smiles and tears. The 
•smiles have been few, and the tears, so much desired, fewer still. 
Despite the want of rain and the low temperature which has pre¬ 
vailed, the garden of hardy flowers from day to day unfolds some 
fresh beauty to our eager eyes, and gives its owner fresh cause to 
T-regard with gratitude the happy inspiration which led him to the 
'Culture of flowers like these. 
There is now the beauty of foliage and flower. Here the 
bright yellow leafage of Valeriana Phu aurea shines like a sheet of 
rgold in the border ; there a clump of Hemerocallis fulva presents 
•another shade of yellow, clumps of Tradescantias shine with a 
•brilliant deep purple, and the greys and the greens of the Saxifrages 
■ and many other plants touch us with their beauty. 
Sheets of Arabis albida—beloved of the bees—are like belated 
^masses of snow which have lingered too long with us this season ; 
but if one did believe the illusion it would be dispelled by the 
humming of the industrious little insects as they hover over the 
flowers or draw from their honey-bearing recesses the nectar they 
bear cheerily to their stores. Had we but seasonable weather 
’^here would be no lack of supplies for the bees. But I am afraid 
2 am trespassing upon the preserves of my fellow countryman who 
fs so great an authority upon the subject, and must turn to other 
’things. 
The sight of Primulas cashmeriana and denticulata growing 
'near each other reminds me of the late Primula election, where 
tfhese two species occupied very different positions at the poll. 
I must contest the decision which would place cashmeriana far 
'below denticulata. For some years I have accounted the former the 
superior species, but this year for the first time I feel undecided. 
P. denticulata has, I think, been finer than I have ever seen it. The 
<5olonr is not so deep as cashmeriana, but it is more refined. I am 
here speaking of the superior form of denticulata, that known as 
P. d. purpurea. Primula nivea is very fine at present. I believe I am 
•correct in giving this name to this beautiful little white flower. It is 
generally known as nivalis, which I understand is erroneous. Nivea 
•also expresses better the snowy whiteness of the flowers. The 
Muscaris are very attractive at present. I have only made the 
^acquaintance for the first time of M. Heldreicbi, a Greek species, 
which is, to my mind, one of the finest of the Grape Hyacinths. 
It is much taller than the ordinary M. botryoides, and is of a 
■beautiful sky blue colour with a white mouth. I have noted it 
from the time it commenced to open, and my admiration has 
increased daily. It seems to be perfectly hardy. It recalls to 
one’s mind what Ruskin says of one or other of the genus :—“ The 
•Grape Hyacinth, which is in South France as if a cluster of Grapes 
:and a hive of honey had been distilled and pressed together into 
■one small boss of celled and beaded blue ” (Queen of the Air.) 
There are many notices of flowers in the works of this master of 
the English language which flower lovers would do well to study. 
I know of nothing finer in its way than his description of the 
■“ zone of blue ” formed by a mass of one of the Gentians. I came 
upon this in “ Frondes Agrestes,” and the memory of the delight 
experienced on reading this passage for the first time is as fresh 
with me as ever. It is to be regretted that the Muscaris are not in 
more ' general cultivation.-- M.‘botryoides is, it is true, like a 
No. 556.—VoL. XXIL, Third Series. 
weed for increase, but it will'grow anywhere, and the fine tone of 
its blue flowers is very welcome in the garden ; very desirable, too, 
are its white, pearl-blue, and flesh coloured varieties. Of the first 
there are two forms, one of which, known as album grandiflorum 
or maximum, is much superior to the other. My variety is the, 
small form, which has small close bells, and although good in its 
way is inferior to the larger variety. Several other Grape 
Hyacinths, such as M. atlanticum and M. armeniacum, are worthy 
of notice, and I hope in time to give the genus more careful study 
than hitherto. 
The Narcissuses are coming rapidly forward. Whatever the 
weather may be the Daffodil never fails us. As Swinburne says : — 
“ For all the storm saith, still 
Stout stands the Daffodil. 
* ♦ # * 
Erect, a fighting flower. 
It breasts the breeziest hour 
That ever blew.” 
And looking through my small collection of some fifty kinds one 
is almost disposed to say that N. obvallaris comes as near as may 
be to the “ fighting flower ” of the poet. Although it is com¬ 
paratively cheap it can also hold its own as regards beauty with 
any of its compeers. It lacks the massive proportions of Emperor 
or Sir Watkin, but it is of exquisite form and colour. The chaste 
little N. moschatus (true), is also in flower on the rockwork. I 
have grown this for the last two years, and find it perfectly hardy 
here. Alongside N. cyclamineus and N. triandrus albus have 
perished, but it holds its own and increases. It is a little flower 
which, for purity of colour and modest beauty, can hardly be 
excelled. One would think that the author of “ The Rose Garden 
of Persia ” had this drooping beauty in view when penning the 
lines:— 
“ The fair Narcissus, humble still, 
Reflecting on her lowly birth, 
And feeling Nature prone to ill, 
Inclines her soft eyes to the earth.” 
But one must leave the Daffodils for the present, although there 
is constantly at this season much of interest in a small but typical 
collection. 
Many alpines are coming rapidly forward. Anemone blanda 
and its white variety A. blanda alba are past for some 
time. Both are very desirable, although the former is, I think, 
more pleasing in every way. I have not yet seen the rose- 
coloured form, which will probably be an acquisition. One of the 
choicest alpines I have met with for some time was Synthyris 
reniformi-s, which was in flower a short time ago in the collection 
of Mr. James Davidson of Summerville, Dumfries. It is a perfect 
gem in its way, growing about 6 inches in height, with thick, 
fleshy, glossy stems and leaves. The leaves are alternate, reni- 
form, and elegantly notched. The flowers are produced in a large 
head, and are of a beautiful light, blue with projecting deep blue 
anthers. This Synthyris is said to be (julte hardy, and if it should 
prove so it will bo a most desirable plant. It is a native of North 
America, and belongs to the natural'order Scrophulariaceae. 
Cardamine trifolia, syn. C. trifoliata, a pretty little cruciferous 
plant, is now in flower, and although it prefers a moist shady posi¬ 
tion is doing well with me in dry .soil with partial exposure to the 
sun. It is not by any means a showy plant ; but this objection may 
be taken to many of our alpine flowers. C. trifolia, which is the name 
given to the plant by Linnaeus, is so called from its pleasant dark green 
Trefoil-like leaves, which form compact tufts. The flowers are 
numerously produced on stems which seldom rise above 6 inches in 
height. These flowers are white with waved edges. This three¬ 
leaved Bitter Gress or Ladies’ Smock . is, as may be .understood, a 
relative'of the common Ladies’ Smock,. C. pratenais, which orna¬ 
ments many of our meadows and roadsides with its pretty white or 
No. 2222.—Yol. LXXXIV., Old SERiEa. 
