April 12, 1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
275 
beautiful. Finer still is the large-flowered S. bifolia taurica, which 
has good flowers, and has red anthers, the large flowered one from 
Olympus having these of a blue colour. Very pretty and also 
very distinct is S. bifolia Whittalli, with bronzy looking leaves and 
neat flowers. Another good variety is one sent me as S. bifolia 
hybrida, and which appears to be a hybrid between S. bifolia and 
S. sibirica. This has large flowers well exposed to view, and of a 
good colour. To associate with these, and to give a welcome con¬ 
trast, we have S. bifolia rubra, S. b. carnea, and S. b. alba. The 
first of these is very pretty, being of a pink colour, and having 
also the merit of greater rarity. It is one I have coveted for 
several years, but, like some other wished-for plants, for several 
years had to be sacrificed on that altar of economy which demands 
so many sacrifices from all lovers of flowers. Through the kind¬ 
ness of a generous correspondent I now possess it, and it is needless 
to say it is highly prized. Pretty too, but perhaps wanting in 
distinctness, is S. b. carnea, of a pale flesh colour, but with so little 
colour that it is perhaps deceptive to name it carnea. Very beau¬ 
tiful is the white variety S. bifolia alba, with flowers which I 
should describe as of an ivory whiteness. Other varieties there 
are which I have not met with ; but enough has been said to give 
an idea of the variety offered by this species alone. This Squill 
seems to like a stronger soil than mine, as flowers sent me from 
some other gardens are of larger size. It thrives well here, but 
the blooms are smaller. 
The Siberian Squill, S. sibirica, is so well known that it need 
hardly be spoken of at length. The white variety S. s. alba is, 
however, comparatively speaking, new, and is woithy of at least a 
brief notice, not only as a novelty, but on account of its beauty. 
It appears to have been included in Messrs. Barr & Son’s exhibit at 
the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on March 13th. 
So far as I am aware it has never received special recognition from 
the Society ; but I feel assured that it will be generally appreciated 
when better known. The form in commerce seems to have 
originated in Holland, having, it is said, come from the nursery of 
the late firm of Messrs. A. C. Van Eeden & Co. of Haarlem. The 
flowers are pure white slightly tinged with green on a portion of 
the back of the petals when the blooms first open. It was offered 
at a high price in 1892, but last year it was considerably reduced, 
and I could not resist the temptation of securing it. It is not 
always that one does not regret being tempted by new flowers ; but 
in this case the feeling is one of gratification rather than regret. I 
am aware of at least one private garden in which a white variety of 
Sciila sibirica has appeared from seed, and other varieties of the 
Siberian Squill as well as of Sciila bifolia are in existence and will 
in time be distributed from the garden of an amateur who has 
already given us many charming bulbous flowers. 
On a sunny rockery facing west, but sheltered from the west 
winds by the house, is the charming little Synthyris reniformis, a 
North-West American plant. Very pleasing is it with its thickish 
rather heart or kidney shaped leaves and compact spikes of blue 
flowers with projecting stamens. It only grows about 6 inches in 
height in my garden, and is one of the neatest of our rock plants 
and of perfect hardiness, although preferring in this garden at least 
a sunny position. It is growing in a free sandy soil, and is never 
long out of flower. According to the “Dictionary of Gardening ” 
it was introduced in 1885 and is said to be the only species in 
cultivation. While this may have been the case when the supple¬ 
ment to that work was issued in 1888, there is in cultivation at 
least one other of the six species of which the genus is said to 
consist. This is S. lobatus which I have seen, but not in flower. 
I understand, however, that it is inferior to S. reniformis, and it 
does not appear to be so easily grown. It is unfortunate that we 
do not seem to have an English name for this attractive little 
plant, the botanical name being unlikely to commend it to many. 
There are few plants prettier than Saxifraga oppositifolia and 
the allied S. pyrenaica as they hang over the stones of the rockery, 
covering them with their beautiful flowers. A great favourite of 
mine is S. oppositifolia alba, which is at present covering one of 
the upper ledges of one of my rockeries with a flat carpet of leaves 
closely spangled with its small white flowers. It is facing almost 
due west, an exposure which appears to suit these Saxifragas better 
in my garden than any other. The typical oppositifolia with 
purplish-red flowers and S o. splendens with large and brighter 
blooms are grown on a rockery facing south, and are not nearly so 
full of flower. Extremely fine also is S. pyrenaica superba, which 
has larger flowers of a bright crimson purple. This is growing 
on another rockery with a western exposure, and is thriving 
admirably. 
With very different claims for notice—claims, too, which may 
be rejected by many, Cardamine rotundifolia presents itself upon 
a rather shady border. Until 1 grew it myself, and while I was 
only acquainted with it from a passing glance in visiting another 
garden every spring, it used to strike me with surprise that the 
owner of such a choice collection of plants as grown in his garden 
should include this among its treasures. It was sent to me about 
two years ago by a friend at a distance, who desired to know its 
name, and being unwilling to name it without seeing the flower, 
this Cardamine was planted in an out-of-the-way place. On 
examining it when in flower this once-despised plant revenged itself 
for past neglect, as although not a flower of the first rank, it has 
several qualities which impressed themselves upon one. It blooms 
early, opening in the north about the beginning of March, has 
flowers of the purest white, and is bright and cheery looking in all 
weather. True, it is one of the Crucifers, and the flowers are 
individually small, but its roundish leaves are bright green, and its 
spikes of pure white blossoms stand well above the foliage. As may 
be gathered from what has already been said, it is not a plant which 
will be appreciated by the visitor to the garden, but is one which 
must be seen day after day before its merits will be recognised. 
We have now few months in the year in which some of the 
Irises are not in flower, and one comparatively seldom seen is 
worthy of mention. This is Iris orchioides, which has stood the 
FIG. 45.— DENDEOBIUM SUPERBUM HUTTONl. {See page 282.) 
frosts of the last two winters in the open border without any pro¬ 
tection and without receiving the slightest injury. It flowered 
this season on March 8th, and although yellow flowers are plentiful 
in the Daffodil month a plant with the elegantly formed blossoms 
of the Fleur de Lis is always received with gladness. The flowers 
are bright yellow, and the falls in my plant are blotched with a 
dull purple, but this is not invariably present. I. orchioides belongs 
to the sub-genus Juno, and is closely related to I. caucasica. My 
plant grows to about 12 inches in height, but Mr. Baker in his 
“ Handbook of the Irideae ” gives the height as from 12 to 15 inches, 
and Professor Michael Foster in his “ Monograph of the Bulbous 
Irises,” published by the Royal Horticultural Society, says it often 
attains a height of 2 feet. The foliage is broad and striking, and 
the whole plant of good appearance. It was figured in the 
“ Botanical Magazine,” t. 7111, and is said to have been introduced 
into cultivation from Turkestan by Dr. Regel. Yet other flowers 
would claim attention, but one must leave their beauty untold, and 
only mention briefly the nodding Fritillarias, golden Drabas, 
snowy Arabis, Aubrietias of various shades, the charming little 
Iberis stylosa, which with other flowers attract us to their side to 
admire the beauty they display.—S. Arnott. 
TOOL HOUSES AS TELL-TALES. 
The tool house is not the place in which a man’s character is usually 
sought for, but a peep into it reveals a good deal not discernible in 
letters setting forth honesty, sobriety, and other virtues. Where this 
useful department is conducted on the hugger-mugger system it is not 
easy to detect the smart and tidy workman from the sloven—a system, 
or rather non-system, in which all tools are used indiscriminately, and 
as indiscriminately tossed into a corner, at “ the knell of departing day.” 
This is, of course, the worst aspect of the case ; from it there are degrees 
of excellence leading up to that point where “order—Heaven’s first 
law ”—is scrupulously maintained. Of the difficulty in attaining this 
happy state in the tool house many head gardeners are only too painfully 
conscious. If this was a matter for no further thought, and could be 
confined to this part of the garden, the door might be shut, and like 
