I 
September S. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
411 I 
Trichonema column.e. —A nice lilacy-purple flower, 
said to be a cross-bred plant raised in Italy. It is quite 
b ardy. 
Trichonema ccelestium. —This is all but lost, if not 
lost altogether. It was the rarest bulb we had at 
Altyre, near Forres, in 1827, and T have not seen it 
since. It comes early in the spring, along with the 
Crocuses, and, like them, flowers before the leaves. It is 
a bright sky-blue flower, and lasts a long while; is per¬ 
fectly hardy, and ought to be re-introduced. It is a 
native of South Carolina, growing there with the 
Ataraascolily ( Zephyrantliea Atnvuisco ), and anybody 
might send it over if there was a call for it. There are 
several more of them natives of the Cape, but I think 
they are out of cultivation. I had a nice batch of 
Column# from Mr. Sims, nurseryman, at Foot’s Cray, in 
Kent, the spring before last, and I think he has all the 
hardy ones, at least. 
WACHENDORFIA. 
If anybody doubted that some of the little Cape bulbs 
would prefer sandy loam to peat, let them try any of this 
genus, and they will find they will grow very freely in 
loam that is rather less sandy than is generally used; 
but they arc not true bulbs, although they always come 
home as such. Their flower scapes branch out into 
strong panicles of showy flowers, very unlike the way 
most other bulbous aud tuberous-rooted plants show 
their flowers. 
Waohendorfia paniculata. —Although this may be 
had in every bulb shop, and is all but hardy, and as 
gay and beautiful as any flower can be, no one asks for 
it out of a hundred, merely because the plant is not 
generally known. It is one of the deciduous ones, and 
requires rest after flowering, like Ixias, and to be potted 
in October, like them. , It blooms in great abundance 
in July, or earlier; and the flowers look at a distance' 
like some gay Wallflowers. 
Wachendori-ta Hibbertt, not Herberti, as it is often 
called.—This is also deciduous, and is related to the 
preceding. It has pale yellow flowers on close lateral 
racemes—panicled, in fact. The leaves are very long 
for this genus. It requires the same treatment as 
the last. 
Wachendorfia brevifolia. —This is an evergreen, 
and requires to be kept watered all the year round, and 
for not knowing this many lose it the first year. It has 
a large panicle of curious dingy-coloured flowers, but is 
well worth having, nevertheless. 
Wachendorfia hirsuta. —Hairy all over. A deci¬ 
duous plant, with flowers not unlike those of paniculata, 
but fewer, and not quite so gay. 
There are many other species, but they are not so 
common, or so suitable for placing along with a col¬ 
lection of bulbs. 
WATSONIA. 
All the species of this genus are gay-looking things. 
Some of them are as tall, or taller, than common 
Gladioli, and all of them are as hardy as the new 
Gladioli. They are better fitted for growing out in 
open borders, in front of walls, or houses. Formerly, 
and before the Gladioli became so general, these Wat¬ 
sonias took their places, but now we see less of them; 
still, they are sent home in all collections from the 
Cape. They are the most uniform in form aud colour 
of all the Cape genera, the flowers being some tinge of 
pink or flesh colour, with a little white, in some few 
species. They will grow in peat borders, but they do 
not require any peat, as a general rule : good, rich, light 
loam, or the samo compost of loam, leaf mould, or very 
rotten dung, with a little peat and sand, as they mix for 
the Gladioli, will do very well for them. The different 
1 species flower from May to October, and generally keep 
j ou their strong, stiff leaves till killed by the frost. 
Watson r a fui.gida. —One of the most stately of the 
genus, rising three or four feet, and producing long 
spikes of bright reddish-pink blossoms, which hold on 
a long time. This, and also the tall ones, are very 
thirsty, aud require large doses of water in summer, 
unless the bed is rich enough for Cauliflowers. 
Watsonia marginata. —This is the next tallest of 
them, and there is a variety of it called minor equally 
tall, but with the flowers not quite so large. The 
flowers are of great substance, light pink, and bloom on 
to the end of the season if the bed is kept moist. 
Watsonia Mariana. —A very common one in the 
shops, with thin, broad, Gladiolus-like leaves, and flesh- 
coloured flowers. 
Watsonia rosea.— Much like the last-named, but 
redder in the flower. 
Watsonia humilis. —There is no humility about it, 
save that it is the most tractable for a pot. The flowers j 
are very pale red. 
Watsonia sptcata. —A very rare bulb, even at the 
Cape. It is the humilis of the whole family, if dwarf¬ 
ness was meant by that name. It is a nice pot plant, 
flowering with the Ixias under the same treatment. 
There are many more of this genus, but there is such 
a family likeness among them all that the above will 
give a fair insight into them, besides being the best and 
the easiest to be got from the Cape dealers. 
ANTIIOLYZA AND ANISANTHUS. 
Antiiolyza aEthiopica and Montana come very near 
to the Watsonias in leaf and colour of the flowers, and 
so do Anisantiius splendens and cunonia. These all 
run in the manner of Gladioli, and always are sent 
home in collections from the Cape. They are also to be 
had in bulb shops. 
I think that some members of the three genera would 
cross and produce self-coloured seedlings that would 
vie with the very best of the new Gladioli. There is a 
great mystery in many of the Irid genera, aud some are 
founded on such trifling distinctions that it is hard to 
bolieve them real marks of family separation. Synnotia 
broke down under the pollen test, and lapsed into Gla¬ 
diolus ; and there is a much greater looking difference 
between Watsonias, Antholyzas, and Anisanths. The 
whole race want revising by a patient cross breeder. I 
would no more trust a botanist with this work than I 
would a lawyer to revise the conditions of a lease for a 
framing ground. 
MO IDEA. 
These do not often now come from the Cape; are not 
much cultivated; and it is very difficult to make out 
some of the kinds one from another. They generally 
run with light blue flowers, like Sisyrinchiums, or yellow 
flowers with Sisyrinchium-like leaves and growth. The 
same treatment as Watsonias will best suit them in an 
outside border. 
YIEUSSEUXIA. 
Some of these are sent over in every box of Capo 
bulbs. The bulbs are small in comparison to the long, 
slender shoots they throw up. Were it not for the very 
short time the flowers keep open this family would be 
in much repute. The “ Peacock Iris,” a favourite with 
every one who ever saw it, is one of them, being V. 
pavonia. 
YYeusseuxia glaucopsis is the next greatest favourite. 
These two are kept in the bulb-shops, and are always 
grown with Ixias ; but with the peat for Ixias they 
soon dwindle away and die. A very light, sandy loam 
suits them much better, and very little water serves 
them at all times. 
Vieusseuxia vilt.osa, lurida, and triciispis, are the 
next best of them. The rest are numerous, ill-defined, and j 
little known in this country. Indeed, Morceas, Visits* j 
