The Carden Magazine, September, 1923 
29 
similar in general effect in the gar¬ 
den but give a good succession of 
bloom. After them come Rose 
Oueen, a pretty rose pink; Rosa¬ 
lind, a very late delicious shell pink; 
rubra, a short-stemmed dark pink 
which is very late; and alba, a 
prolific white. They are all good. 
Scilla nutans closely resembles the 
campanulata varieties, but the 
flower heads droop a little more, 
the stems of each bell are more 
curved, and the plant, too, is gen¬ 
erally shorter in the stem. 1 have 
S. nutans, the wild English Hare¬ 
bell; alba, a charming white; alba 
major, larger and slow to establish, 
but a “grand doer’’ after it gets 
going; and delicata, a soft ethereal 
pale blue. Besides these there is a 
very late miniature variety, quite 
turquoise blue, with each little 
stalk like a tiny oriental Hyacinth. 
This is Hyacinthus amethystinus. 
In enumerating the Scillas I 
have covered the season and must 
go back to the Grape-hyacinths (Muscari) which begin to 
bloom with the first Narcissus. Hyacinthus azureus is a tur¬ 
quoise blue gem about four inches high and looks exquisite in 
front of a small white trumpet Daffodil such as W. P. Milner 
or a low growing larger one like Loveliness, and is the earliest to 
bloom. Then comes Muscari botryoides, the ordinary blue one, 
a little later M. botryoides Heavenly Blue, which is a much 
clearer blue, grows taller, and is altogether handsomer as it does 
not have that reddish cast so disliked by some people. Then 
opens Muscari paradoxum, one of my favorites, tall and very 
dark purple-blue, almost black. People complain of its gloomy 
color, but try it, please, with a pale yellow Primrose such as the 
common wild English one, Primula vulgaris, and see the effect! 
1 guarantee it to be a success! At the same time blooms M. 
botryoides album, a tiny white duplicate of its blue namesake, 
charming at the edge of a bed near a walk and combined with 
Forget-me-nots. 1 have a variety of this called carneum, but it 
is such a pale pink that it is barely distinguishable from the 
white one and also it increases too slowly for any one but the 
determined collector. Then there is a plumy kind just like a 
lavender fluff appropriately called M. plumosum. This is 
rather a poor doer too. Of later kinds M. polvanthum is one 
SCILLAS AND TULIPS IN MRS. PECKHAM'S GARDEN 
Backed by Wisteria and Tulips, making a charmingly colorful corner at 
“ Langthwaite,” Mrs. Peckham’s home at Davenport Neck, New Rochelle, N. Y. 
1 am particularly fond of. The flower spike is long and narrow, 
the color a bright, clear blue, the leaves long and strap-like. It 
is most floriferous and comes after Heavenly Blue, making a 
good succession. Then there is M. lingulatum Freynianus. 
This is one of the last to bloom, is low growing, a good blue, 
has strap-shaped leaves, and is a fine doer especially in semi¬ 
shade. When Hyacinthus amethystinus and the late Scillas 
of the campanulata tribe are in flower, M. argaei and M. lingu¬ 
latum Freynianus are in full force. 
Snowflakes that Lead the Procession 
I MUST jump back again to earliest springtime to tell you 
about the Snowflakes (Leucojum)of which 1 have four sorts. 
They resemble Snowdrops to a certain extent and people are 
always asking me what my “queer Snowdrops” are. When the 
Bulbocodium vernum is fading come the Snowflakes, before 
Crocus or Snowdrops. After the very early Leucojum vernum 
comes F. vernum carpathicum, a prettier and better sort in 
every way. The flowers are larger and there are certainly more 
of them to a bulb; the spots on the tips of the petals are of a 
bright yellow-green and are more noticeable than the darker 
ones on vernum. These charming 
little plants grow about six to eight 
inches high and after they are well 
established have a very strong, 
glossy, dark green foliage. All of 
them remained dormant a year 
after 1 planted them the first time! 
Then they came up rather sparsely, 
but the next year had multiplied 
considerably. Now, 1 have a bor¬ 
der below some grape vines that 
is a joy soon after the snow melts 
—indeed, they begin to come up 
under the melting snow. 1 im¬ 
agine those bulbs had been kept 
CAM ASS I AS ALONG THE GARDEN 
WALK 
“Several varieties of Camass come along 
with the late Scillas and Tulips. The 
prettiest of them is Camassia Cusickii, quite 
pale gray-blue and a sturdy grower.” In 
Mrs. Peckham’s garden at New Rochelle 
