August 25. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
399 
keep them iu frames till February or March, then plant, 
them out in the halls to flower in the south borders; and 
that is a sale way for gardeners, but a most dangerous 
plan for amateurs, who may not understand if they are 
lit to be turned out at a particular time, or how to 
[ manage them iu bad weather afterwards; therefore, upon 
whatever plan such people begin with them, that same 
plan ought tube followed out that season. Half-an-inch 
ot soil is enough to cover them in pots, but in a border 
they ought to be at least four inches deep in the ground. 
Then, if a couple of inches of tan, leaf mould, or sifted 
ashes, is put over the whole as a security from frost, the 
depth is as much as they will safely endure. 
I .v ia amcexa. —This is less showy than most of the 
species, therefore is not much cultivated. 
lxIA aristata. —A very pretty little flower, of a palo 
pink colour, streaked with dark purple. 
Tata aulica. —A very handsome and desirable sort, 
with large rose-coloured flowers, and a strong habit. 
• -iv capii.lari s.—A botanical plant, with greyish 
streaked flowers, called also morpltexia. 
Jxia capitata. —There are many sorts under this 
name, all of them from cross seedlings; they grow taller 
than the generality of the family except Jiexuosa, indeed, 
there are two distinct sections of Ixia, but I regret my 
inability to make a clear, useful synopsis of them. 
Capitata and flexuosa, with their allies, grow much like 
oats, having long wiry stalks to support the flowers, and 
all such ought to staud in the back row in a border. 
The true capitata has white flowers, in a cluster, on the 
top of the long stalk. 
Ixia colu.mkli.aius. —A pretty variegated flower, with 
a distinct ring in the centre; a dwarf species. 
Ixia conica. —A very pretty, tall sort, with bright 
orange flowers inside, and crimson on the outside. 
When this flower is in bud, or closed, in dull weather, 
it forms a little crimson cone—hence the name. 
Ixia crateroidf.s. —Another beauty, with light crim¬ 
son flowers of the largest size for the genus. 
Ixia crispa and Ixia dubia and krecta, botanical 
flowers, allied to scillaris. 
Ixia flexuosa. —There are several varieties of this ; 
they are all beautiful, and range from white to rose and 
purple, in dense racemes along the top of a long flexible 
stalk. 
Ixia hybbida. —One of the varieties of flexuosa, and a 
good one. 
Ixia incarnata. —A very handsome species, with large 
pink flowers, sometimes strongly veined. 
Ixia linearis. —A slender botanical plant. 
Ixia lilacina. —This is a shop name for some of the 
varieties of Jiexuosa, which are very pretty. 
Ixia maculata. —A very handsome sort ; light grey 
colour, with green spots at the base of the segments, or 
divisions of the flower, not much unlike viridiflora. 
Ixia ochroleuca. —A beautiful creamy-white flower, 
with a dark eye on long spikes. 
Ixia mona Delphi a. —A very beautiful, early kind, 
with flowers that vary much in colour, from light blue 
to orange, but all of them marked with a ring in the 
! centre; the stamens grow into a column, or mona- 
delphous —hence the name. 
Ixia odorata. —A fine, bright yellow, sweet-scented 
flower. 
Ixia patens. —One of the very best of them, with 
large, bright crimson flowers; it comes in early, and 
lasts a long time. 
Ixia scillaris. —A small, pink, botanical flower. 
Ixia virijhflora. —This is the most beautiful flower 
in all the Irids, or, at least, the most unique ; it belongs 
to the tall jiexuosa section. 1 have seen it above twenty 
inches high ; it is a rare shade of green all over. It is 
the only one of the genus I ever attempted to cross and 
failed; but, under good management, I think the whole | 
family ought to be as much improved as the Sparaxis 
have been in Jersey. Olacina, and other varieties of 
Jiexuosa, ought, certainly, to cross with viridiflora. 
TRITONIA. 
This name means weather-cock, in allusion to the | 
versatile anthers, which swing about anyway; but the ! 
bottom of the stamens being fixed inside of the tube ! 
is the great characteristic of the Tritonias, which, in all 
other respects, are nothing else but Ixias; but, in the 
absence of facts brought out by crossing, I must leave 
them as I find them; they are too numerous, and too 
near each other, in every respect, for me to occupy space 
with a short description of each, therefore I shall only 
make a selection from them. 
Tritonia crocata.— This is the most common of all 
the Ixia tribe, because there is hardly such a tiling as 
killing it, and it is nearly as hardy as a Crocus, and, 
liko the Crocus, would make a nice dwarf edging to a 
border ot Irids. If there was a good demand for it, 
they could grow it so as to be able to sell flowering- 
roots at a farthing each, and still realise .£200 on an 
acre of them, after paying a good rent. It is the old 
Ixia crocata, with large, orange-coloured flowers, and a 
transparent tube. 
Tritonia squaltda— The most inappropriate name 
in the whole Dictionary for so handsome a flower. It 
is large, deep-red in the centre, and whitish near the 
margin, also beautifully veined with pink, and bavin" 
a s-weet smell. D 
Tritonia deusta. —A handsome flower, of a deeper 
colour than crocata, with a “ black rock,” or protu¬ 
berance, at the bottom of every other segment; it is, 
likewise, as hardy as crocata. 
Tritonia fenestrata.— A handsome kind, as hardy 
as crocata, with orange-red flowers, of a glossy cast all 
over, but more particularly over the windows (fenes¬ 
trata), or thin transparent blotch on the segments, from 
which the name is taken. 
Iritonia fucata. —Another beautiful, long flower, 
scarlet and orange, but more shy to bloom than the 
others. 
Tritonia rosea.— A handsome, but rather delicate 
plant, with long, tubular, pink flowers, with broad 
limbs, veined with pink, and some yellow spots. 
Tritonia lineata. —A delicate-looking flower; straw 
colour, tinged with orange, and veined with dark lines. 
Such is the cream skimmed off a score or more of them. 
SPARAXIS. 
From a few wild roots, this section has been mul¬ 
tiplied, by crossing, to such an extent, as that nobody 
knows where they begin or end. I once ordered 
twenty-four kinds of them from a. shop, and I flowered 
twenty-one out ot the lot, but I could not describe 
one-half of them. They were exceedingly beautiful, 
and not a bad flower in the whole, but I found most 
of them to be very impatient of water in pots, and 
I never tried any of these very dwarf things in an 
out border; but in Jersey, where they cross them, or 
let them cross themselves, they grow, and flower, and 
seed, out in the open garden, as freely as Crocuses; and 
I think the Dutch growers look them up, and send them 
over with the Hyacinths. The best way to begin them 
is to order six or a dozen of the most distinct sorts from 
your London nurseryman, and leave the choice to his 
better skill; but, first of all, ask what he will charge 
lor them, as, if he sends very scarce ones, he can make 
you pay highly. 
Sparaxis bicolor, tricolor, versicolor, and grandi- I 
flora, the foundations of the recent tribes, aro to be 
had in every shop as cheap as old Ixias. They also are 
beautiful large flowers, on dwarf plants, rich purple, ! 
with streaks and shades of lighter hues. The whole of I 
