November 29, 1894 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
489 
necessary to have means to keep the varieties separate, and to 
identify them either on the beds, or when taken up. The simple 
plan is to have all one variety growing together, and to have as 
many stout paper bags as varieties with the names written on, and 
to plant them from the bags, and at taking up time to replace them in 
the bags to be dried and stored away. But this plan by no means 
suits the enthusiast, he must have his Tulip cabinet and his Tulip 
book ; he arranges his bulbs in his cabinet so as to produce, when 
the bed is in bloom, the finest possible effect, and spares no pains to 
ensure it. 
The Tulip cabinet is a chest of shallow drawers which are 
divided into numerous small compartments. A very suitable 
arrangement is for each drawer to be divided into seventy of 
these, in ten rows of seven compartments each, across the drawer ; 
each row, as it is called, has then seven compartments, and there 
being ten rows, there are of course places for seventy varieties in 
each drawer. The rows are numbered in the first drawer 1 to 10, 
and so on all through the drawers. A cabinet generally contains 
100 rows. The arrangement followed in the case of the cabinet is 
carried out on the bed. There are always seven places, or “ holes,” 
as they are technically called, across a Tulip bed to form a row, 
and therefore a drawer such as that described represents storage 
for the bulbs in ten rows of the bed. The bulbs are usually 
arranged in such a manner that the tallest-growing varieties are 
in the middle hole of each row ; the next tallest are placed on 
each side of it in the third and fifth, lower-growing kinds in the 
second and sixth, and the most dwarf of all on the outsides of the 
bed in numbers 1 and 7. It adds also to the attractiveness 
of the display if the varieties are arranged so that no two flowers 
of the same class are grown together, in some such fashion as 
indicated below, “ biz.” and “ byb.” being abbreviations commonly 
used for bizarre and bybloemen respectively. 
Bo7o 1. Bow 2 Boio 3. 
1 Rose Byb. Biz. 
2 Byb. B'z. Rose 
3 Biz. Rose Byb. 
4 Rose Byb. Biz. 
5 Biz. Rose Byb. 
6 Byb. Biz. Rose 
7 Rose Byb, Biz. 
Row 4 would be a repetition of row 1, and so on all through the 
drawers of the cabinet and on the bed. 
(To be continued.') 
HARDY FLOWER NOTES. 
Very striking this autumn have been the Kniphofias, for so 
should the Torch Lilies be now called instead of Tritomas, a name 
which it must be said sounds more euphonious than the correct 
one. Most brilliant are they with their fine spikes of fiery red or 
yellow flowers on long stout stems. The Kniphofia is a flower 
which never shows to advantage in a stand of blooms, and I never 
see it exhibited in the ordinary way without regret. Thus shown 
with shortened stem and without the fine leaves which so enhance 
its beauty, the Torch Lily looks clumsy and far from attractive. 
Instead of towering above many of its companion flowers it is 
crippled by being shortened, and seems as if ashamed of its 
position. The Kniphofia should be seen in the garden to realise 
its brilliant beauty. With a background of some dark-coloured 
foliage, a mass of Torch Lilies, their tall stems surmounted by 
their flame-like flowers rising from their arching leaves, cannot fail 
to impress those who see them. It is when grown thus that these 
flowers are most valuable, and as I have previously pointed out, 
this can be secured at a moderate cost by raising seedlings. But not 
everyone can be troubled with seedlings, and there is considerable 
variation among the plants raised from seed, so that many persons 
would prefer to purchase flowering plants. 
There are now so many named seedling varieties and hybrids 
that it is not easy to make a choice. This is all the more difficult, 
as some partake of the delicacy of K. Leichtlini, a very beautiful 
species, but unfortunately not to be depended on in our climate. 
Some of the Baden-Baden hybrids are, however, most beautiful 
and hardy, and seem of rapid increase, as the price has fallen very 
quickly. A number of others have been raised in Italy, but these 
do not seem to have been much grown in this country, and I have 
not seen the flowers of any of the Italian forms. A very fine 
yellow-coloured variety from Herr Max Leichtlin’s garden at Baden- 
Baden is K. Lachesis, with deep yellow flowers, which can now be 
had in this country at a moderate price. K. Diana, yellow, 
with scarlet anthers, is also very fine, and likewise inexpensive. 
K. Obelisque, a most beautiful variety of a fine pure, but deep 
yellow, is well worth growing, but is higher in price, as also is Star 
of Baden-Baden, which has bronze-yellow flowers. I have a liking 
for the scarlets, and among these is a very fine variety named 
Leda, with flowers which may be termed orange scarlet. This is, 
unfortunately, not so cheap as some. K. Uvaria nobilis is, perhaps, 
the finest of the forms of that species, the most beautiful. 
K. corallina, said to be a hybrid, is unfortunately tender in most 
gardens. I prefer spring planting for the Kniphofias, and find they 
do not thrive well in too dry a soil. My front garden is very dry, 
and being inconvenient for the water supply, suffers somewhat in 
times of drought. Here I do not find the Kniphofias will live, 
while they thrive well in the garden behind the house, where they 
receive more rain and can be watered more frequently. The Torch 
Lilies should be planted with the crowns a little below the surface, 
and it will be found safer to protect with some litter during hard 
weather. 
Though the Meadow Saffrons come with the shortening days, 
and seem to speak of a sadder season close at hand, their beauty 
makes their coming a welcome one. Better known are they by 
the name of “Autumn Crocuses” than of “ Meadow Saffrons,” 
either of which names is better appreciated by the general public 
than the proper name of Colchicums, which has at least the merit 
of leading to less confusion than any of the others. Of the two, 
that of Meadow Saffron is preferable now that we have so 
many autumn-flowering Crocuses. It is true that the name of 
Meadow Saffron may lead some of the unwary to think that one 
means Crocus sativus, the Saffron Crocus ; but we have few alterna¬ 
tive popular names. That of “ Mart au chien^' current in some 
parts of France, and derived from the poisonous properties of the 
plants, will hardly commend itself, and one would therefore put in 
a plea for the name of “ Meadow Saffron,” or the scientific one of 
Colchicum. My first article in the pages of the Journal 
of Horticulture was one on Colchicums, and I have sometimes 
thought of returning to the subject at greater length than can be 
done in these notes. There are, however, some questions of 
nomenclature requiring clearing up, and I should like to have this 
troublesome task completed before treating of the genus again. 
It is, however, a seasonable time to call attention to one of the 
finest of the Meadow Saffrons, with conspicuously chequered, 
flowers. 
As will be seen upon careful examination, most of the Colchi¬ 
cums are more or less chequered. Some are conspicuously so, and 
C. Sibthorpi, the one under notice, is not only beautifully marked, 
but is of large size, and with better formed flowers than many of 
the others. The flowers are of a light purple and white, and a 
clump of about half a dozen flowers at the base of one of my 
rockeries has been very beautiful. It is said to be synonymous 
with C. latifolium, but I have grave doubts as to this. Near 
C. Sibthorpi is the newer C. Bornmulleri, which is said to be the 
largest of the genus. My plant has not been long enough estab¬ 
lished for me to speak confidently, but, so far as I can judge from 
this season’s flowers, it can hardly be said to be superior to 
C. Sibthorpi or C. speciosum rubrum. 
If the Colchicums tell of the dying season the first of the true 
autumn Crocuses seem to uplift the banner of hope, which is apt 
to droop a little towards the close of the autumn months. To me, 
at least, their beauty is most welcome, for their enchanting shades 
and markings, delight-giving in themselves, always lead me to 
think of the time when masses of the spring flowering Crocuses 
shall glitter in the sunlight and fill the garden with brightness. 
But “ it is a far cry to Loch Awe,” and this is not the time to 
speak of these visions of the future, and even at the risk of repe¬ 
tition I should urge upon the lovers of hardy flowers to make 
room if possible for the charming C. speciosus, the equally beau¬ 
tiful C. pulchellus, and C. zonatus if no others of the autumn 
flowering section can be grown. In gardens where it will flower 
Sternbergia (Amaryllis) lutea might be associated with C. speciosus, 
and the blue flowers of the Crocus massed beside the yellow of the 
Sternbergia would form a delightful picture. 
The Phloxes are among the most beautiful of our autumn 
border flowers, and the rare sight of any of the typical species 
from which our garden forms have been derived makes one almost 
marvel at the advance which has been made not only in size and 
form of the flowers, but also in colouring. Personally I do not 
care for a blue Phlox ; but tastes differ, and in looking over a fine 
collection of plants of the most modern type I was struck with 
the colour of one named P. Iris. It is the nearest to a blue of any 
I have seen, and in some lights this colour was particularly notice¬ 
able. It is of French origin, and belongs to the dwarf section. 
The flowers are large and of good form, and this variety may be 
recommended to those who care for such a colour in Phloxes. 
On page 264 mention was made of a new variety of Chrysan¬ 
themum maximum, and as C. latifolium flowers later it may be 
mentioned that a large flowered variety of this species is now 
obtainable under the name of C. latifolium maximum. This name 
