JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Cptember  18,  1902. 
266 
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Trumpet  Daffodil,  Peter  Barr 
Crocuses  for  Spring  Time. 
Ami  at  their  feet  the  Croons  brake  like  fire. — Tenny  on. 
None  cf  us  who  love  our  flowers  can  think  of  the  Crocus  or 
hear  the  sound  of  its  name  without  a  suise  of  exhilaration. 
Especially  is  this  so  at  a  season  when  we  are  feeling  the  coining 
of  winter  and  are  thinking  of  its  long  and  almost  flowerless  days 
in  the  garden.  It  only  needs  the  mention  of  the  name  to  trans¬ 
port  us,  in  thought  at  least,  to  the  spring  days  when  the  Crocus 
opens  to  the  sun  and  glows  with  that  brilliancy  no  other  flower 
can  give  so  freely.  And  now  when  we  are  committing  to  the  soil 
these  little  fleshy  corms  which  enshrine  the  life  of  the  flower  we 
feel  a  double  share  of  this  spirit  of  joy  ;  for  are  we  not  sowing  in 
hope  to  reap  in  joy  the  reward  of  our  forethought  ?  We  think 
almost  exultingly  of  the  spirelets  of  colour  which  shall  by-and-by 
appear  through  the  grass  on  the  dark  earth,  and  which,  at  the 
magic  call  of  sunshine,  shall  open  into  a  brilliant  display, 
whether  in  disorderly  array,  in  formal  lines  or  beds,  or  simply  in 
clumps  in  the  border’s  space.  In  “cohorts  of  purple  and  gold,” 
in  masses  of  almost  purest  white,  in  sheets  cf  more  ornate  striped 
flowers,  the  Crocus  comes  as  a  welcome  sight  to  all  whenever  it 
blooms. 
Though  not  invariably  a  flower  of  spring — for  we  have  the 
Crocus  with  us  as  a  rule  from  September’s  beginning — it  is  vet 
indissolubly  associated  in  our  minds  with  that  gladsome  season, 
when  we  feel  the  truth  of  Lord  Lvtton’s  w  ords: — 
it  has  delighted  we  know  not,  but  Gerarde  speaks  of  it 
as  having  “  floures  of  a  most  perfect  shining  yellow 
colour,  seeming  afar  off  to  be  a  hot  glowing  coal  of  fire,” 
and  as  having  been  sent  to  him  by  “  Robinus,  of  Paris,  that 
painful  and  most  curious  searcher  of  simples.”  Since 
Gerard’s  day  this  Yellow  Crocus  has  been  a  prized  flower 
wherever  spring  flowers  are  grown.  The  earliest  of  the 
Crocuses  generally  grown,  it  is  also  an  indispensable  one, 
though  often  past  its  best  before  the  purple  and  other 
coloured  varieties  we  desire  to  associate  with  it  are  in  full 
bloom. 
Next  to  it  come  the  varieties  of  Crocus  vermis,  and 
these  it  is  almost  impossible,  and  absolutely  needless,  to 
detail.  Whether  we  take  the  purple,  the  white,  or  the 
parti-coloured  varieties  we  can  hardly  go  wrong  among 
them,  and  the  connoisseur  will  desire  to  possess  them  all. 
Some  cf  the  whites  are  not  so  pure  as  one  would  like,  and 
hardly  anv  are  free  from  at  least  faint  lines  of  colour  in  the 
interior  of  the  flower,  but  all  are  lovely.  Of  the  whites  I 
prefer  Mont  Blanc,  Snow  Queen,  and  one  of  the  newest 
named  Honorine  Joubert — a  decided  acquisition  to  this 
class.  Of  purples,  perhaps  the  deepest  coloured  is  Queen 
cf  Purples,  but  David  Rizzio  and  King  of  the  Blues  are 
also  good  varieties,  while  the  nearest  to  an  azure  blue  is 
given  by  Bleu  Celeste.  L’l  nique  has  small  purple  flowers, 
It  is  not  so  easy  to  choose  among  the  striped  flowers,  but 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  Madame  Mina,  Pride  of  Albion,  and  the 
new  Harlequin,  which,  however,  is  variable,  are  all  worth 
growing.  Ne  Plus  -Ultra,  which  has  purple  blossoms  tipped 
with  white,  is  indispensable,  and  Margot  is  a  lovely  flower 
with  the  inside  of  the  segments  coloured  a  soft  lavender, 
and  the  outer  petals  shaded  with  white. 
All  of  these  should  be  planted  in  generous  masses,  and 
are  lovely  when  seen  in  irregular  masses  in  the  grass.  A 
wealthy  man  who  would  plant  some  millions  on  a  sunny 
hillside  would  deserve  well  of  all  flower  lovers  if  the  place 
could  be  seen  by  all  passers.  Such  a  sight  would  be  worth 
going  many  miles  to  see. 
But  these  Dutch  varieties  of  C.  vernus  do  not  nearly 
exhaust  the  Crocuses  of  spring  time,  and  there  are  too 
many  other  species  and  their  varieties  for  me  to  detail  in 
the  space  tho  editor  has  placed  at  my  command.  An  arbi¬ 
trary  division  places  among  the  winter  bloomers  some 
which  may  well  be  permitted  a  place  among  our  flowers  of 
the  winsome  season.  There  is  the  lovely  C.  Imperati,  one 
of  the  earliest  and  most  charming  with  its  violet-purple 
flowers,  fawn  coloured  outside,  and  generally  feathered  with  black 
on  this  ground.  There  are  many  varieties  of  C.  biflorus,  which, 
with  its& best-known  forms,  argenteus,  pusillus,  estriatus,  and 
Weldeni,  ought  to  be  in  every  garden  for  the  sake  of  their  charm¬ 
ing  odorous  flowers. 
Then  there  is  the  quaint  old  Susianus,  the  Cloth  of  Gold 
Crocus,  striped  brown  outside  and  opening  out  starlike  to  show 
its  golden  internal  colouring.  The  delightful  early  Sieben  gives 
be  tunes  its  bright  purple  flowers,  and  the  finical  aureus  with  its 
rather  numerous  varieties  is  beautiful  early  in  spring  as  well. 
With  it  may  be  grown  C.  stellaris,  as  starry  as  Susianus,  and 
orange  with  purple-brown  featherings;  while  in  the  charming 
little^  C.  Tommassinianus  we  have  a  free-flowering  and  hardy 
little  Crocus,  pale  lavender  in  type,  but  variable  in  its  varieties. 
Then  the  prolific  C.  vernus  has  given  us  such  flowers  for  the  elec: 
Crocus  lover  as  George  Maw,  Leeclsi,  Ira  Aldridge,  the  pretty 
leucorliynchus — the  Pheasant’s  Feather— and  several  more.  Space 
fails  to  tell  of  the  lovely  candidus,  reticulatu*,  versicolor,  gar- 
garicus,  Banaticus,  Malyi,  and  a  number  more  which  are  welcomed 
annually  with  delight  when  they  in  the  garden  do  appear. 
As  for  their  culture  it  is  cf  the  easiest.  Some  recommend 
just  covering  with  soil,  but  I  prefer  to  plant  about  2in  deep. 
Whenever  grown,  plant  them  closely  together  if  immediate 
effect  is  desired,  and  with  liberal  numbers  there  will,  in  their 
season,  be  full  enjoyment  of  the  “  Crocuses  cf  the  spring  time.  ’ 
S.  Arnott. 
And  the  Crocus  upturned  its  flame,  and  burned 
Here  and  there. 
“The  summer,”  she  srid,  “corneth  blithe  and  bold, 
And  the  Crocus  is  lit  lor  her  welcoming.” 
It  is  then  that  we  enjoy  it  the  most,  for  it  is  then  that  we 
have  the  greatest  variety  of  its  kind,  and  it  is  in  the  glad  spring 
time  that  we  have  it  in  its  most  gorgeous  forms  as  seen  in  the 
Golden  Yellow  Crocus  and  the  many  lovely  garden  varieties  of 
C.  vernus.  These  are  the  most  gorgeous  of  the  race,  and  they 
generally  possess,  besides  the  signs  of  art  and  choice  of  the 
florist  in  the  development  and  form  of  the  flowers  and  in  their 
varied  colours  and  markings.  Thus,  although  not  the  earliest  in 
time  of  blooming,  we  may  take  these  first  in  order. 
The  most  welcome  of  all  the  Crocuses  of  the  spring  is  the 
Golden  Yellow,  apparently  derived  from  Crocus  aureus,  hut  of 
unknown  origin,  and  easily  distinguished  from  all  other  known 
varieties  of  C.  aureus  by  the  grey  lines  on  the  exterior  of  the 
petals.  How  many  generations  of  gardeners,  in  other  countries 
TRUMPET  DAFFODIL,  PETER  BARR. 
Undoubtedly  this  is  the  finest  white  Daffodil  or  Narcissus 
at  present  in  commerce,  having  a  pale,  sulphury  trumpet  and 
ivory-white  perianth.  It  is  long;r  in  the  crown  than  Madame  de 
Graaff,  and  rather  less  revolute  at  the  brim.  It  is  large  and  bold 
in  appearance.  When  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society’s  meeting  on  the  8th  of  April  last,  by  Messrs.  Barr  and 
Sons,  it  received  a  First  Class  Cei'tificate.  .  ,.  _  _  ... 
