476 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 1, 1S92. 
Trees should now be procured. If in pots, give them a larger 
size if they require it, disentangling the roots at the sides with 
a tine of an old fork, clear away the drainage and loose surface 
soil, and cut back any straggling or thick roots. Provide good 
drainage, use some rough compost over it, and ram the new 
soil as firmly as the old. Trees in pots as large as desired need 
only have the drainage rectified and be surface dressed, or the 
old drainage may be removed—cut clean off a few inches 
from the base, placing in fresh drainage and soil so that the 
base rests hard upon it, removing the loose surface soil and 
supplying rich material. For potting add a fourth of decayed 
manure to the loam, that is, 3 bushels of loam, 1 bushel of 
decayed manure, a 10-inch potful of half-inch bones crushed, 
and a similar quantity of charcoal about as large as a Filbert, 
a quart of Thomas’s phosphate powder, and 2 quarts of wood 
ashes, mixing all well together. If the trees are not in pots 
the best shaped and cleanest growing pyramids or bushes 
should be lifted. Large trees can be treated in that way if they 
have been prepared by annual lifting, and they will fruit at 
once ; but, as a rule, sturdy young trees with clear bark and 
well furnished with branches are the best, such as may after 
trimming in the roots a little, be placed in 10-inch pots. Allow 
them to grow a year and become well established before forcing 
them. Stand the pots on a base impervious to worms, yet such 
as will allow the water to pass away freely, the situation being 
sunny, surrounding the pots with ashes to the rim, and place 
some protective material over them in severe weather. Afford 
a good watering after potting or interfering with the roots of 
trees. None of the trees need be placed under glass before the 
time arrives for starting them, as they never suffer from frost 
unless the wood is sappy and unripe, and such trees are best 
burned, for gum is sure to claim them, and gummed trees are 
worse than none.—G. A. 
HARDY FLOWER NOTES. 
Crocuses in November. 
There is something pathetic in the fate of some of the hardy 
flowers which in November seek to light up our borders and 
rockeries. This dull month is truly, as the poet says, “ that sad 
season,” 
“ When woolly mists the chillier landscape wrap, 
And beggared Autumn, with a silent tear, 
Empties her gold leaves into Winter’s lap.” 
And in this November of 1892 some flowers which should have 
bloomed earlier have lingered long, and now seem to mourn the 
cold and cheerless season. Here (in Kirkcudbrightshire) at least 
everything is later than has been the case for many years, with 
-some curious exceptions. 
Claiming our attention first of all are the Crocuses. Few people 
can realise that our gardens might in the dull seasons of the year 
be made brighter by the possession of some of these autumn species, 
now becoming more numerous as a demand has arisen for them. 
We cannot expect to have them as plentiful as the spring flowering 
species, nor can we expect them to glow with the brightness of 
these. Our autumns are all too dull and sunless for this. These 
flowers open delightfully to the sun, and they close quickly when 
the cheering rays are withdrawn or clouded over. They are too 
short a time with us now, and the glory of the flower is hardly 
revealed to us ere it closes again, and in lieu of the expanded cup 
presents a cone or cylinder of colour. And yet there is a com¬ 
pensation for the short period of fullest beauty in each day, for if 
protected from the furious winds and the falling rain, the Crocus 
will last longer in cloudy weather than when the sun has fuller and 
longer power. 
First in the procession of autumn Crocuses (for the plural 
Croci, although grammatically correct, will not hold its own in 
popular phraseology) comes the bright and beautiful C. speciosus, 
which has never pleased me so well as this season, as it has been in 
flower for such a length of time. A good many of my corms are 
seedlings from a packet of purchased seed, and whether these have 
varied in time of flowering, as seedlings may do, or whether it has 
been the season, I cannot tell, but I have had a constant succession 
of flowers for a much longer time than usual. Few there are to 
equal, and, I think, none to surpass, this “ blue ” Crocus, with its 
exquisitively veined and feathered blue-purple flowers and fine rich 
orange-coloured stigmas. I do not think Bieberstein, to whom the 
specific name is due, h.:s been happy in his choice. Speciosus or 
“ showy” seems rather inappropriate to such a delicately beautiful 
flower, although as a term of comparison with the other autumn 
flowering species it is quite applicable. Dean Herbert described 
three varieties and the “ Cottage Gardeners’ Dictionary ” named 
four—viz., the type C. s. caucasicus, C. s. laxior, and C. s. 
transylvanicus. I have some bulbs under the latter name, and it 
seems of a dwarfer and more free-flowering habit and to produce 
flowers of rather better form. I bought this as having a darker 
flower than the typical species, but can see little difference. I have 
never managed to seed any of the autumnal Crocuses, so have been 
unable to see what variation there might be ; but there is some 
slight difference of habit among the seedlings from purchased seed. 
C. speciosus is a native of the Caucasus and Transylvania and of 
the east of Europe. The date of its introduction does not appear 
in the ordinary books of reference. Figures and descriptions of 
three varieties are given in the “ Botanical Magazine,” vol. lxvii., 
and a good illustration of the type is given in Wooster’s “ Alpine 
Plants,” first series, plate 25. 
Less beautiful, but withal very pretty too, is C. nudiflorus, 
with its reddish purple flowers and deeply cut orange coloured 
stigmas. The leaves are not produced until spring, and are slender, 
appearing very early in the season. The Naked-flowered Crocus, 
as this species is commonly called, is a native of south-west Europe, 
but has been naturalised in various localities of central England. 
It is said to be particular.y plentiful around Nottingham. Very 
pretty at present is C. Clusi, Clusius’ Crocus, which does not seem 
to be common. It is very beautiful, with its good sized bright purple 
flowers becoming almost black towards the base. Like several 
others it flowers without the leaves, which are just beginning to 
appear. This species is a native of Portugal, and was introduced 
in 1835. It is also found under the name of Clusianus, which is 
probably more correct than the name under which I have it. 
Another species at present in flower is C. longiflorus, known also 
as odorus, which has pretty soft rose-lilac flowers, and w«s intro¬ 
duced from Naples in 1830. There is another C. longiflorus, 
flowering in spring. A pretty species with purple-lilac flowers, 
which is just coming into flower, is C. asturicus. This is a native 
of Asturia, and was introduced in 1842. One of my especial 
favourites is C. zonatus, which I always consider one of the most 
beautiful of all, with its pretty rose-lilac flowers, each having a 
charming orange coloured zone at the base. This is one which 
should be secured and increased as much as possible. No record of 
this Crocus appears in Paxton’s “ Botanical Dictionary,” the 
“ Cottage Gardeners’ Dictionary,” nor Nicholson’s “ Dictionary of 
Gardening,” and I regret that I am not so fortunate as to possess 
Mr. Maw’s Monograph. 
I have several other lilac or purple autumn flowering species ; but 
these by no means exhaust the list of those in my garden, and the 
length of my notes remind me that I have left but little space for 
some of the most charming and least plentiful of all. There are 
some beautiful white or whitish coloured species now in flower or 
coming into bloom which would require the pen of a Ruskin or a 
Jefferies to do justice to their chaste and delicate beauty. These 
tiny cups, in most cases surrounded by a fringe of narrow leaves, 
well reward a little care to prevent them being despoiled by the 
season’s inclemency. Among the most charming of all of these is 
C. Boryi or Boryanus of Gay, and which has a popular name too 
long for such a pretty plant—M. Bory de St. Yincent’s Crocus. 
This is a little gem, growing from 3 to 4 inches in height, with 
creamy white flowers with a jellow throat, and the base ©f the 
segments marked on the outside with purple lines, the leaves being 
produced shortly before the flowers. The anthers are white and 
the stigmas orange scarlet. It is figured in the “Botanical Register” 
for 1847, and also in Wooster’s “Alpine Plants.” The illustration 
in the latter shows much brighter purple on the outer segments 
than in any I have seen, and this purple marking is also carried 
further up the flower. The illustration also fails to show the milk- 
white anthers. C. Boryanus is a native of the Morea and the 
Greek Islands, and was introduced about 1844. Very beautiful is 
the almost pure white C. hadriaticus, which is, with me, rather later 
than C. Boryanus, and has not yet fully opened. It seems a little 
more tender than some of the other autumn species. Its native 
habitat is indicated by the specific name. The leaves of 
C. hadriaticus appear shortly before the flowers. 
A very pretty species which I have lost, but must replace at 
the first opportunity, is C. cc'broleucus, with creamy-white flowers 
with an orange coloured base. It is a native of the Anti-libanus 
and was introduced in 1862. C. cancellatus is just coming into 
flower here also, and is a very desirable little Crocus with fine 
white flowers with a purple base. One of the finest of the white 
or whitish species is, however, C. hyemalis, which is now in flower 
