February  3,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
97 
before  long  Erica  mediterranea  will  be  in  bloom  as  a  rival  in  our 
affections.  The  pink  Hepaticas  are  beginning  to  flower,  too,  and  with 
the  crimson  blossoms  of  Cyclamen  Coum  give  us  some  brighter  hues 
than  we  get  among  the  Crocuses  or  the  Snowdrops.  Yet  even  without 
these  there  are  bright  colours  given  by  the  Primroses  and  the  Poly¬ 
anthuses,  which  all  winter,  so  far  as  it  has  gone,  have  never  ceased  to 
bloom. 
Now,  too,  is  there  more  variety  among  the  Crocuses.  Here  and 
there  among  the  clumps,  of  the  Dutch  varieties  some  precocious  or 
presuming  flower  has  lifted  its  head  above  its  neighbours  and  is  ready 
to  open.  Crocus  Imperati,  too,  which  quickly  responds  to  the  glances 
of  the  sun,  has  been  only  awaiting  a  favourable  time  to  open  its 
purple  flowers  to  lure  the  bet  s  to  enter  their  cups.  To-day  the 
welcome  sunshine  has  come.  No  prettier  Crocus  have  we  in  January 
than  this,  and  many  would  be  wise  were  they  to  purchase  it  at  the 
proper  season— early  autumn — and  to  plant  in  generous  clumps.  It  is 
comparatively  a  cheap  Crocus,  and  thus  within  the  reach  of  nearly  all 
who  iPve  a  garden.  It  seeds  freely  in  my  garden,  and  seedlings  are 
becoming  numerous.  These  give  some  interest  when  they  flower  for  the 
first  time,  giving  always  the  hope  of  something  distinct  from,  or  better 
than,  the  old.  This  Crocus  varies  more  than  many  are  aware  of  in 
size  of  flower  and  depth  of  colouring,  as  well  as  in  time  of  coming  into 
bloom.  The  variation  in  the  outer  colouring  is  also  considerable,  some 
being  entirely  free  from  markings  on  the  fawn-coloured  exterior  of  the 
segments. 
Pretty  also,  and  early  flowering,  are  the  varieties  of  Crocus 
chrysanthus.  Two  of  those  I  have  were  kindly  sent  me  from  Trinity 
College  Gardens  in  Dublin.  As  they  open  early  in  the  year  and,  though 
small,  are  bright  withal,  they  are  admired  for  their  merits  alone ;  the 
pleasure  increased,  too,  by  the  thought  of  whence  and  from  v/hom 
they  came.  These  varieties  are  C.  c.  fusco-tinctus  and  C.  c.  fusco- 
lineatus.  fl'he  former  is,  as  the  name  indicates,  tinted  or,  perhaps 
better,  “clouded  ”  with  brown  on  a  yellow  ground  on  the  outside  of 
the  exterior  segments.  The  latter  is  similar,  but  lined  with  brown 
instead  of  being  clouded.  For  the  first  time  with  me  another  variety, 
named  C.  chrysanthus  albidus,  has  come  into  bloom.  Like  the  fore¬ 
going,  it  is  small  in  size,  but  its  colouring  is  quite  different.  It  is  a 
creamy  white  outside  with  a  purple  base,  the  interior  being  white 
with  a  yellow  zone.  It  is  a  pretty  little  variety  worthy  of  a  place  in 
the  collection  of  choice  hardy  bulbous  plants. 
_  Near  by  is  a  good  clump  of  the  favourite  little  Crocus  Sieberi,  As 
this  is  written  it  has  not  yet  opened  for  the  season,  but  its  closed 
flowers  are  gay  with  their  bright  purple  points,  and  when  the  sun 
comes  again  will  be  very  beautiful,  covering  the  corner  with  a  little 
mass  of  small,  gay  purple  flowers.  There  are  many  other  Crocus 
species  and  their  varieties  beginning  to  show  colour,  and  soon  there 
will  be  a  number  in  bloom.  Would  that  more  knew  their  beauty  ! 
A  garden  which  possesses  them  is  a  veritable  “  casquet  of  gems  ” — ■ 
a  casquet  of  precious  things  more  pleasure-giving  than  any  diamond 
or  ruby  could  be. 
The  Snowflake,  too,  which,  as  we  have  said,  has  come  to  contest 
the  place  of  the  Snowdrop,  merits  more  than  a  passing  word,  inasmuch 
as  a  sentence  or  two  may  lead  to  its  being  added  to  the  favourites  of 
some  garden  lover.  It  is  not  the  ordinary  Leucoium  vernum,  which 
comes  into  bloom  later,  but  the  one  known  to  some  bulb  dealers 
as  L.  carpathicum.  If  Mr.  Baker  is  right,  it  is  a  yellow  spotted 
Snow'flake,  and  I  am  content  to  accept  his  view,  althougli  it  has 
been  contested.  However  this  may  be,  the  principal  use  of  the  name 
to  many  will  be  by  its  means  to  be  certain  of  securing  the  plant 
desired. 
The  yellow  spotted  Snowflake  is  very  beautiful  as  well,  but  it 
comes  later  than  the  one  now  referred  to.  Tliis  has  large  flowers,  pure 
white,  with  a  dark  but  bright  green  spot  on  the  exterior  of  each  i)etal, 
and  two  or  more  blooms  are  produced  on  one  stem.  It  appears  to  be 
L,  vernum  var.  Yagneri,  of  Mr.  Baker’s  handbook  of  the  genus.  The 
flowers  of  the  Spring  Snowflake,  if  less  graceful  and  elegant  than 
those  of  the  Snowdrop,  are  very  beautiful  indeed.  Of  the  Snowdrops 
one  may  say  a  word  as  well.  They  have  come  on  very  quickly,  and 
now  many  varieties  are  in  bloom.  Among  those  in  flower  there  is 
the  very  beautiful  Galanthus  Imperati  var.  Atkinsi,  which  should  be 
sought  after  by  those  who  wish  to  have  one  of  the  finest  of  the  Snow¬ 
drops.  Robust  in  growth,  with  large  and  beautifully  formed  flowers, 
it  is  one  likely  to  please  the  most  fastidious. 
Among  the  earliest  has  also  been  Mr.  James  Allen’s  “  Aurora,”  a 
flower  of  perfect  form  and  purity  of  colour.  G.  Elwesi  var.  unguicu- 
latus  is  also  a  comparatively  early  one,  and  some  of  the  clumps  are 
now  well  in  flower.  G.  flavescens — the  more  robust  and  more  deeply 
coloured  of  the  “yellow”  Snowdrops — is  also  in  bloom,  and  is 
generally  well  observed,  though  the  “yellow”  is  confined  to  the 
ovary  and  the  markings,  generally  green  in  the  flower.  It  is  brighter 
and  more  pleasing  than  those  who  have  not  seen  it  may  think. 
If  we  look  at  the  base  of  one  of  the  rockeries  we  shall  find  the 
little  azure  Hyacinth  known  now  as  H.  ciliatus,  but  more  familiar  to 
us  as  H.  azureus  or  Muscari  azureum.  It  is  botanically  a  Hyacinth, 
but  to  the  gardener  it  is  a  Muscari,  resembling  the  latter  in  its  dense 
spike  of  flowers.  It  is  a  trifle  delicate  in  some  garden.^,  but  suffers  in 
my  garden  more  than  anything  else  from  water  lodging  at  the  base  of 
the  flower  stem  during  rains  in  January  and  from  subsequent  frost 
injuring  the  stem.  Protection  from  slugs  needs  also  to  be  attended 
to.  It  is  a  pretty  little  plant  with  its  azure  blue  flowers  and  its  fresh 
green  leaves.  There  are  one  or  two  varieties  of  this,  but  none  of  these 
has  as  yet  come  into  bloom. 
Anemone  blan  la  is  open.  It  has  been  in  bud  for  some  time, 
but  has  at  last  ventured  to  spread  its  flowers  to  the  wind.  Had  the 
sun  not  delayed  so  long  we  might  have  had  it  earlier;  nay,  even 
these  Poppy  Windflowers,  which  are  now  in  bud,  might  have  favoured 
us  with  a  peep  at  their  bright  flowers.  All  around  are  Daffodils 
springing  into  life.  Two  days  ago  it  seemed  a  moot  question  whether 
the  quaint  little  Narcissus  minimus,  N.  pallidus  prsecox,  N.  Henry 
Irving,  or  the  Saragossa  Daffodil  would  be  the  first  to  bloom. 
To-day  one  can  almost  say  w  th  confidence  that  the  tiny  minimus 
will  be  the  herald  of  the  Daffodil  host.  AYelcome  will  be  its  pigmy 
flowers ;  welcome  in  themselves,  but  thrice  welcome  as  the  forerunners 
of  the  train  of  beauties  yet  to  come. — S.  Arnott. 
EARLY  AND  SUCCESSIONAL  CAULIFLOWERS. 
Compact  heads  of  Cauliflower  are  largely  in  demand  in  nearly  all 
private  gardens  throughout  the  summer  and  early  autumn  months. 
From  the  time  they  are  in  season  till  Broccoli  are  ready  to  succeed 
them  it  is  never  safe  to  let  the  supply  run  short ;  when,  however, 
such  a  calamity  does  hajipen  to  occur  the  best  course  seems  to  be  to 
prevent  the  autocrat  of  the  kitchen  from  knowing  the  real  state  of 
affairs.  A  little  innocent  deception  of  this  kind  is  often  the  means  of 
helping  “ life’s  waters”  to  run  smoothly  on  instead  of  being  ruffled 
by  stormy  waves. 
To  be  able  to  cut  nice  heads  of  Cauliflower  during  the  last  week  in 
May  or  early  in  June  a  considerable  amount  of  attention  is  necessary, 
and  after  the  plants  are  set  in  their  permanent  positions,  if  they  are 
left  unprotected  in  severe  weather,  a  serious  check,  if  not  total 
destruction,  is  the  result ;  but  as  the  crop  is  always  a  welcome  one  it 
is  worth  taking  a  few  risks  to  secure.  The  old  adage  about  the 
unwisdom  of  placing  “all  our  eggs  in  one  basket”  is  particularly 
applicable  in  this  case.  The  sate  plan  to  adopt  is  to  have  many 
successional  batches.  Now  let  us  suppose  we  have  a  good  stock  of 
plants,  raised  from  seed  sown  in  August  last,  and  kept  in  rough  pits 
up  to  the  present  time,  shutters  or  other  means  of  protection  having 
been  given  during  the  few  frosty  nights  we  have  experienced  during 
the  autumn  aud  winter.  Such  plants  are  this  year  wonderfully 
forward,  as  a  steady  growth  has  been  made  tliroughout  the  winter. 
The  consequence  is  they  require  thinning  out  at  a  much  earlier  date 
than  usual  to  prevent  their  receiving  a  check,  which  we  all  know  must 
be  avoided  if  good  results  are  to  follow. 
lu  warm  districts  some  of  these  should  be  planted  out  in  sheltered 
positions  as  early  as  the  second  week  in  February  if  the  soil  is  in  the 
right  condition  and  the  weather  favourable.  They  ought  not,  however, 
to  be  left  entirely  unprotected.  If  a  few  Spruce  branches  are  stuck  in 
the  ground  so  as  to  shelter  each  plant  on  the  north  and  east  sides,  and 
left  there  for  a  few  weeks,  the  crop  will  often  come  through  safely,  and 
prove  of  great  service.  The  plants  left  in  the  frames  will  then  in  the 
meantime  benefit  by  the  extra  room,  and  early  in  March  an  additional 
quaiter  can  be  planted  with  them,  still  reserving  a  few  for  a  third 
planting  a  few  weeks  later.  When  one  has  a  stock  of  autumn-sown 
plants  to  depend  upon,  the  beginning  of  February  is  quite  soon  enough 
to  sow  the  small  early  varieties.  The  seeds  come  up  quickly  then, 
are  sturdy,  and  grow  steadily  on  as  the  sun  gains  power.  I  like  to 
sow  in  gentle  heat  about  that  time,  and  as  soon  as  the  plants  can  be 
easily  handled  prick  them  out  in  boxes. 
The  advice,  “don’t  sow  thickly,”  is  certainly  somewhat  hackneyed, 
but  is  just  as  necessary  as  ever  it  was,  for  millions  of  plants  are 
annually  ruined  through  the  non-observance  of  this  well  known  point. 
AVhen  the  young  seedlings  touch  each  other  as  they  come  through 
the  soil  the  stems  are  always  weakened  and  drawn  before  the  plants  can 
be  transplanted.  In  February  the  majority  of  gardens  are  well  supplied 
with  pits  and  frames  filled  with  fermenting  materials;  these  are  just 
the'  places  in  which  to  stand  boxes  containing-  newly  pricked  out 
Cauliflower  plants.  After  a  few  weeks’  sojourn  in  such  positions  they 
are  ready  for  hardening  off  preparatory  to  being  set  in  their  permanent 
positions  on  a  warm  border.  In  severe  weather,  however,  it  is  some¬ 
times  necessary  to  form  rough  pits  with  a  few  boards  to  keep  the 
young  plants  in  till  warmer  weather  prevails.  A  couple  of  weeks 
after  the  sowing  has  been  made  in  heat,  if  the  weather  is  favourable, 
it  is  advisable  to  make  another  sowing  in  a  warm  border  in  the  open 
air ;  plants  resulting  therefrom  come  on  steadily  in  favourable  seasons 
and  form  a  good  succession. 
For  these  early  sowings  there  are  two  varieties  which  stand  out 
