Sepember 4, 189?. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
II 
Muscari conicum on the gpass. 
ENGLISH AMATEUR TULIPS. 
The above epithet is applied to the 
Tulips of the florist in order to distin¬ 
guish them from the Continental strains 
which are not quite the same. For 
the purpose of classification they are 
divided into three sections, Damely, 
bizarre, bybloemen and rose. The 
varieties belonging to the first are dis¬ 
tinguished by their yellow base. 
A bybloemen has a purple body 
colour aod a white base. A rose is 
of some shade of rose, red or scarlet 
with a white base. Now, each of 
these is again divided into three groups. 
Early Flowering Gladioli. 
duced from time to time and furnished with names. 
Within the last twenty years several distinct forms 
have been introduced from high altitudes with small 
flowers, to which specific names have been given by 
some botanists. The larger flowered forms are how¬ 
ever, the more handsome, and besides the yellow 
ones, there are two charming forms that should be in 
every garden. We refer to N. B. citrinus and N. B. 
monophyllus, the latter often being named Corbu- 
laria monophylla. Its flowers are pure white and 
very handsome for pot work in the greenhouse dur¬ 
ing winter aDd early spring, say from December to 
February. The accompanying illustration, supplied 
by Messrs. Barr & Sons, represents N. B. citrinus or 
the sulphur Hoop Petticoat Daffodil, very much 
reduced. The large yellow, sulphur, and white forms 
are really very choice. The sulphur variety has been 
the most common in England for some years past, 
and cultivators most often succeed in growing it in 
the open. We have seen the typical yellow form 
growing upon a rockery consisting of ordinary garden 
soil and red sandstone blocks as far north as Aber¬ 
deenshire. It flowered regularly every year without 
any attention whatever beyond pulling up the weeds. 
■ ■»» 
GRAPE HYACINTHS. 
Of all bulbs the Grape Hyacinths (Muscari) are 
most closely allied to the true Hyacinth (Hyacin- 
thus), the chief distinction being that the mouth of 
the flower of the latter is open, while that of Muscari 
is contracted. A species often grown under the name 
of M. azureum is really Hyacinthus azureus, a 
small flowered but early and very pretty bulbous 
plmt. Something like forty species of Grape Hya¬ 
cinths are admitted by botanists, but in gardens the 
names of forms have been much more multiplied. 
In practice very few are extensively cultivated in 
gardens, and M. botryoides is by far the most com¬ 
mon, though not the finest. There is a pretty white 
form of it, namely, M. b. album. This species is 
often found as an escape from gardens, so easy is it 
to grow ; and M. racemosum is a British plant often 
cultivated. We must not overlook the Feather 
Hyacinth (M. comosum monstrosum), which forms a 
bright blue batch with its feathery or plumy flower 
heads. 
We consider M. conicum (see figure), the finest of 
all for producing a brilliant blue mass when planted 
in beds or on the grass. Small beds planted with a 
standard Rose or Rhododendron might be carpeted 
with the species, the long conical spikes of which 
produce a splendid effect in spring, whether viewed 
from a distance or close at hand. It grows and 
blooms with increased vigour year after year until 
the bulbs get crowded, and when more generally 
known will be more extensively planted. We speak 
from personal observation. To Messrs. Barr & 
Sons, Kiog Street, Covent Garden, we owe the pic¬ 
ture. To those interested we may say that Muscari 
comes from the Greek moschos or Latin muscus, mean¬ 
ing musk, in allusion to the smell. 
EARLY FLOWERING GLADIOLI. 
These are of mixed pedigree, belonging to several 
species, such as G. cardinalis, G. ramosus, G. sagit- 
talis, G. Colvillei, &c. They all agree in flowering 
early compared with the G. gandavensis, G. 
Lemoinei and G. nancieanus types, and in having 
much smaller but charming flowers gracefully 
poised on slender stems. On the Continent they are 
planted 4 in. deep in autumn, and covered with 3 
in. of some protecting material. In this country 
their cultivation is mostly confined to pots aod used 
for conservatory decoration. The corms should be 
planted rather thickly in 48-or 32-size pots in light, 
rich, sandy soil. When allowed to come on slowly 
with the natural heat of the sun they bloom in June 
and July ; but if gently forced in a night temperature 
of 55 0 they bloom in April and May, thus affording 
a succession. 
G. Colvillei has rosy-purple flowers, but G. Col¬ 
villei alba, better known as The Bride, has pure 
white flowers. We have seen a fine plantation of 
this in the open ground in Middlesex, but a much 
more extensive one in Guernsey, where it proves per¬ 
fectly hardy. It is invaluable for cut flowers, and the 
others are more or less employed for the same pur¬ 
pose. A great number of varieties belonging to 
other species have received special names, and a 
large proportion of them have pale flowers with a 
beautiful almond-shaped blotch on the three lower 
segments. Very often the blotch is edged with 
another colour, the groundwork forming a third hue. 
A charming novelty for last year was Queen Wil- 
helmina, named in honour of the young Queen of the 
Netherlands. The segments are delicate rosy-pink, 
with a yellow blotch on the three lower segments, 
surrounded by a rosy-carmine band. Very choice 
also is G. delicatissima, with white flowers and a 
rosy-crimson blotch on the lower petals. More 
highly coloured are G. cardinalis, bright scarlet; 
Duke of Albany, purplish-scarlet, with rosy-purple 
blotches ; Alfred Tennyson, rosy-salmon ; Formosis- 
sima, salmon ; Ardens or Fire King, red; Blushing 
Bride, white, with rosy-crimson blotches on the 
lower petals; and Non Plus Ultra, red, flaked white. 
The accompanying illustrations of G. Colvillei alba, 
and early-flowering varieties were furnished by 
Messrs. Wm. Cutbush & Sons, High- 
gate, London. 
Gladiolus Colvillei albus. 
If the flower is all of one colour (disregarding the 
base for the moment) the flower is termed a breeder 
(see illustration p. 10, uppermost flower) After a 
number of years these breeders usually break, or be¬ 
come rectified, as the florists term it. If a broad, 
jagged band of colour gees along the centre, with or 
without a dark margin the sport is termed flamed 
(seethe middle flower of illustration). If the dark 
colour is confined to the margin the flower is said to 
be feathered (see lowest flower). The ground colour 
is the same as the base in all cases in rectified flowers. 
These terms apply to all of the sections. Thus we 
have bizarre breeders, bizarre flamed, and bizarre 
feathered, and so on with bybloemen and rose. Those 
who do not care to remember these terms might say 
bizarre breeder for the seifs, and bizarre rectified for 
the other two types. Anyone having a small collec¬ 
tion of all the types, which could be represented by 
nine varieties, could get up to these terms while his 
Tulips are in bloom in May ; for the florist’s Tulip 
is amoDgst the latest to flower. 
The variations of colour are endlessly diversified 
in this old and beautiful race of Tulips. The under¬ 
mentioned notes were made from a small collection 
in a suburban garden. Several of the bizarres were 
extremely handsome. The flamed form of Dr. Hardy 
is glowing-scarlet on an orange-yellow ground, and 
is one of the finest in cultivation. Next to this, per¬ 
haps, we would place Sir Joseph Paxton, flamed with 
maroon on a yellow ground. Colbert is heavily 
flamed with chocolate on a golden yellow ground, 
and is a charming Tulip of dwarf habit. The bloom 
is small, but we do not regard that as any blemish. 
George Hayward is flamed with crimson-maroon on 
•isSS 
Galtonia candicans. 
