The Book of Bulbs. Arnott Samuel
are flavum, and the straw-coloured stramineum. Good tall species, some having ornamental foliage, are karataviense, giganteum, sphærocephalum, nigrum, Suworowi, and nobile. The great drawback of the Alliums is their odour, which is, however, not always perceptible except when the flowers are cut.
There are few finer or more useful garden flowers than the Alstrœmerias, whose brilliant colours and uncommon forms are great attractions. As cut flowers they are highly prized. They like a free root run, and a rather light, rich soil. The tubers should be planted in spring, nearly a foot deep, but they are easily raised from seeds sown in gentle heat in spring. Several of the species are too tender for outdoor cultivation everywhere, the hardiest being A. aurantiaca, which has yellow flowers of varying shades. Chilensis and peruviana, or versicolor, and psittacina of gardens (syn. pulchella), are all fairly hardy, psittacina possessing a singular combination of crimson and green colouring. A. pelegrina and its variety alba are exceedingly beautiful, but require frame treatment except in the south. Diazii, Ligtu, and hæmantha (syn. Simsii) are very beautiful and more or less hardy according to the climate and soil. Some lime rubbish is often useful mixed with the soil, together with a little peat or leaf-mould.
The tuberous-rooted Anemones, which alone come under the scope of this work, form a section which embraces flowers of surpassing beauty. Generally dwarf in stature, these Windflowers give us much variety of colouring, from the pure white of A. nemorosa to the deep scarlet of A. fulgens, with the blues, purples, and other tints of A. coronaria, and the bright yellow of A. ranunculoides. Usually of easy cultivation, they are among the choicest ornaments of our gardens.
A. apennina, the Apennine Windflower, is a delightful little plant, growing about six inches high and having pretty blue flowers. There are white and rose-coloured varieties. It likes a peaty soil, and prefers shade. It is a charming plant to naturalise in the woods, where it flowers in March and April.
A. baldensis, the Mount Baldo Windflower, is of erect but dwarf habit, and grows about six inches high. It has little white flowers tinged with blue or red, and does well on a rockery in half-shade in sand and peat.
A. blanda, the Fair, or Greek Windflower, is one of the earliest of our flowers in sunny gardens, and frequently opens soon after New Year's Day. It needs a well-drained, warm position, but flowers better on a stiffish soil.
There are several forms of this very beautiful Windflower. That called cypriana has flowers which vary from white to lilac and pale blue, and the variety taurica has blooms which embrace an even deeper blue among its shades. The variety scythinica is one of the choicest. The exterior of the flower is blue, while the inside is pure white. The seeds of A. blanda should be sown as soon as ripe.
A. caroliniana, a North American Anemone, now referred to heterophylla, grows about nine inches high, and has finely cut leaves and white or purplish flowers in May. It likes a shady place and peaty soil.
A. coronaria is the well-known Poppy or Crown Anemone, which is so wonderfully varied in its form and colouring. We have no more effective flower than this in beds or lines in May. For cutting, its blooms are most useful. This Anemone is best propagated from seed annually. It likes a rich, light soil, and cow manure is the best to apply to it. The "St Brigid" strain is a charming one, and the flowers it produces are of great beauty. Tubers of A. coronaria of excellent quality can be purchased at a very low price, and should be planted in a sunny position about three inches deep in October or November. Seeds should be sown in March or April, and should be mixed with dry soil or sand to separate them. The double Crown Anemones are very beautiful, although not so much grown as when they were favourite florists' flowers. They are of almost every colour but yellow. A good white is named "The Bride."
A. fischeriana, a Siberian plant, grows about six inches high, and has white flowers. A. intermedia is a new Anemone with yellowish flowers, and seems allied to nemorosa.
A. nemorosa, our native Windflower, gives us several lovely forms. The double form, A. n. flore-pleno, is very beautiful, and there are a few large-flowered forms, besides the pretty bracteata, which has ruff-like green bracts round the flower. The variety rosea and its double form have rosy flowers, and cærulea has pretty blue blooms, but is surpassed by the charming robinsoniana of a brighter blue. Alleni is even larger and better coloured than the last-named. All these like shade and peaty soil.
A. palmata is a lovely little plant, which grows from six to nine inches high, and has yellow flowers. There is a white variety, and a very rare double one. It likes a moist, peaty soil.
A. ranunculoides is a pretty little native species of the nemorosa type, but with smaller yellow flowers. The variety pallida, with pale yellow blooms, is very pretty.
A. stellata, or hortensis, is a pretty southern Anemone which is not so good in cold districts as A. coronaria, although pretty and varied in its colouring. It likes a warm soil and sunny position. There are pretty "Chrysanthemum-flowered" double varieties, and a double red, different from fulgens fl. pl., which blooms pretty well, even where the other forms do not succeed. All of these may be grown from seed or by division of the tuber before planting.
A. fulgens is a popular Anemone, because of the beauty of its brilliant scarlet flowers. It is, however, difficult to induce to flower after the first year, and it ought to have a warm place, where the tubers will get well ripened after they flower. There is a double form, and a recent re-introduction, bicolor, has its blooms scarlet and white in stripes. Aldboroensis and græca are good forms.
CHAPTER III
HARDY BULBS
The only really hardy Amaryllis is A. Belladonna, the Belladonna Lily, which is a very effective plant with silvery rose flowers in late summer or early autumn. The leaves appear in spring, and as the flowers come after these have withered, the Belladonna Lily should have some carpeting plant above the bulbs. It is quite hardy if planted in a warm, sunny position, near a wall, and the tops of the bulbs at least six inches below the surface. It is safer to put some dry leaves or other light material over the bulbs in severe winters, removing this when the leaves come through. It also makes a good pot plant. The form major is even finer.
Some of the hardy plants cultivated in gardens as Anthericums are now included by botanists in other genera, but they will be more conveniently dealt with together under their popular names in gardens. Several of these are very ornamental plants, with handsome spikes of beautiful flowers. They grow well in common soil, not too dry, and are best planted in autumn or spring, at which times they may be divided when desired. Liliago, St Bernard's Lily, grows about one and a half foot high, and has pretty white flowers from May. There is a larger form, called major. A. Liliastrum, St Bruno's Lily, now Paradisea Liliastrum, and also named Czackia Liliastrum, is a still prettier plant, with larger fragrant flowers in the beginning of summer. It is taller than the foregoing. There is a fine variety called major. Ramosum (syn. graminifolium), is pretty also, though the flowers are smaller than those of A. Liliago. It flowers in June, and has white blooms on stems about two feet high, and narrow leaves. Hookeri, whose proper name is Bulbinella Hookeri, is a good plant for a moist border, and has nice yellow flowers in summer.
Antholyzas are effective plants allied to the Gladiolus and Crocosma, and look very striking in the border. Several are hardy in the greater portion of the United Kingdom if planted about three inches deep and covered the first winter with about two inches of cocoa-nut fibre. One of the best is Antholyza paniculata, which has scarlet and yellow flowers and blooms in autumn. It has handsome leaves, and grows about three feet high, Æthiopica, Cunonia, and spicata are all effective, but paniculata seems the hardiest of all. There is a variety known as major. They can also be grown in pots for the conservatory.
The only plant of the genus in cultivation is A. tuberosa, the Ground Nut, a hardy North American plant of climbing habit, with sweet-scented purple flowers in August. It is hardy in a sunny, sheltered position, and should be planted three inches deep in rich soil in late autumn or spring.
These