April 8. 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Notes on the Illustrations in this Issue. 
Saxifraga Salomoni. 
For some years past a. very beautiful Saxifrage lias been 
making its appearance in gardens and collections of alpine 
I plants under the above name. It is not a wild plant, but the 
result of crossing S. rocheliana with burseriana. The last 
named is a well-known species from Eastern Europe, but S. 
rocheliana from the same part of the Continent is by no means 
well known in gardens generally, although we have seen it in 
a few botanical collections for many years past. It is a. small 
form of a crustaceous Saxifrage with rosettes usually about 
! in. in diameter, or larger in the case of the flowering one-, 
and these rosettes are arranged in flat tufts or patches. 
The hybrid, while intermediate between the two parents, has 
the tiny rosettes of S. burseriana, and the flowers also strongly 
recall those of S. scardica, a species from Macedonia. The 
leaves are awl-shaped, three-edged, with cartilaginous edges, 
and of a decided glaucous hue, as met with in some of the 
varieties of S. burseriana. These tiny rosettes of leaves are 
again arranged in larger masses, so that the hybrid is really 
one of the tufted Saxifrages. The stems are only l i in. long 
and covered with leaves that are more or less red and glandular 
on the lower part. Each stem carries one to 
three flowers, the middle one of which opens 
first, and the rest form a. succession. The flowers 
measure about | in. across, possibly more when 
grown under favourable conditions, and are pure 
white. 
This plant should be grown in the same way 
as S. burseriana, either in pots for the cool or 
alpine house, or for frames, or planted out on 
the rockery. Coming as they do- from high 
mountains, the parents are perfectly hardy, so 
that the hybrid should be equally so. The skil¬ 
ful cultivator will select a position for it on the 
rockery where the roots are not likely to be 
dried up in the summer, for that is really the 
chief difficulty in all the drier parts of England 
at least. In a. state of nature the high moun¬ 
tains are usually more or less in a continual 
state of drip, owing to the moisture deposited 
by clouds, even when not raining. 
While an attempt is made to secure a cool 
situation for the plant, it must at the same time 
be fully exposed to' light and air, which harden 
the tissues of the foliage, which have to maintain 
the vitality of the plant- through the winter. It 
is necessary to top-dress the plants now and 
again, to see that the roots and lower portions 
of the stems are not being laid bare by the fre¬ 
quent watering necessary in the warmer parts of 
England. Plants of this character continually 
renew themselves by throwing out roots from that portion of 
the stem immediately below the live leaves, and for that reason 
the cultivator should see that the soil is always kept close up 
ito the foliage so as to encourage the development of young 
roots. That is really the cause of success in cultivating these 
hardy alpines. Our illustration of S. Salomoni was taken in 
the nursery of Messrs. T. S. Ware, Limited, Felt-ham, Middle¬ 
sex. 
drocns biflorus Pestalozzae. 
The ordinary C. biflorus has been in cultivation in this 
country probably even before it is recorded as having been 
introduced. The Dutch-cultivated conns of this produce what 
is known as Cloth of Silver or the Scotch Crocus. This never 
produces seed. There are, however, several wild forms con¬ 
siderably different from the fonn which has been cultivated by 
the Dutch for so many years', and though they are usually or 
requently smaller than the type, yet they are certainly very 
beautiful. 
The variety which we illustrate on this occasion has smaller 
lowers than the type, with very slender tubes, and under the 
influence of sunshine th< - jments spread out nearly flat as 
,na y he seen by reference to tin ill 
slender and graceful character of the flower tin v ( e , 
effective in a hardy plant house or in the open air, hut only 
1111 who have been enthusiastic enough to collect and gro- 
Hie smaller wild varieties of ( n cus can und< i 
beauty. (. biflorus Pestalozzae has white flo 
yellow throat and neck (outside), and washed with pale blue 
cr lavender on the hack of the segments. 
Crocus Sieberi. 
Eew of the Crocuses are really of any decided blue shade, 
hut the wild Crocus Sieberi- which we illustrate on this occa¬ 
sion may be described a- varying from oft lavender-1 lue to 
purple-blue, with five slender darker veins on the back of the 
outer segments. The throat is bright yellow, and when the 
flowers are fully expanded, this contrast of colours is very 
effective. Crocuses generally may he described as ornamental 
v hetliei in the closed or expanded state. The former position 
of the bloom is assumed and retained at night and even all day 
during dull, wet weather. Sunshine, or at least a high tem- 
peiature, is nece-ssary -to make the blooms expand us shown in 
the illustration. L nder both conditions this is a very effective 
Crocus, whether protected under glass or grown in the open air. 
Crocus biflorus Pestalozzae ^lowers white shaded lavender. 
Both this and the previously described variety were photo¬ 
graphed in the Alpine House at Kew. 
C. Sieberi is a native of the mountains of Greece, as well as 
several of the islands. in the near neighbourhood of that 
country. It is found at various altitudes ascending up to 
7,000 ft., and at that elevation blooms as late as May. In this 
country, however, even in the open air, about London it com¬ 
mences to bloom some time in February, and continues orna¬ 
mental more or less during March. Needless to say, it is per¬ 
fectly hardy, and the only chance of the flowers being damaged 
in this country would be if a mild spell of weather were to he 
succeeded by a fall of snow after the plants had come into 
bloom. When the weather is open, however, a bed or mass of 
these Crocuses has a brightening and cheerful effect. 
Primula margixata.— Meal or paste is a characteristic of 
the flcwers of P. Auricula, and which has becorn. more highly 
developed by the florist under cultivation. In the smaller 
species under notice the meal is highly developed on the margin 
of the leaves, thus suggesting the specific name, 
