Beautiful Bulbous Plants Part 7

_Browni_, 2 to 4 feet high, with bell-shaped flowers, pure white with a central purple line.

_Concolor_, grows 1 to 3 feet high, and has bright scarlet flowers.

There are several varieties, such as _Buschianum_ and the dwarf _pulch.e.l.lum_, scarlet, spotted with black; _Coridion_, bright yellow, spotted with red; _Partheneion_, orange-yellow, faintly spotted; and _luteum_, yellow, spotted with purple-red.

_Elegans_ (or _Thunbergianum_), 1 to 2 feet high, with erect cup-shaped scarlet flowers, slightly spotted with purple at the base.

_Giganteum_, a gigantic Himalayan Lily, with stems from 6 to 10, and sometimes 14 feet high, furnished with large heart-shaped oval leaves.

The flower stem is 1 to 2 feet long and has drooping funnel-shaped blossoms of a greenish-white, suffused with violet-purple in the throat.

Unlike other Liliums, the large conical bulbs of this species are not buried deeply in the soil. They are sunk in the soil about one-third of their depth, and are usually planted in April or May. In the event of spring frosts, the bulbs should be protected with dry leaves or litter.

_Hansoni_, 3 to 4 feet high, flowers drooping, bright orange yellow, and heavily spotted with dark purple-brown (see Plate 25, fig. 93).

_Humboldti_ (or _Bloomerianum_), 4 to 8 feet high, flowers orange-yellow, drooping, spotted with purple at the base; more conspicuous in the variety _ocellatum_, the yellow blossoms of which are tipped with crimson or purple.

_j.a.ponic.u.m_, 1 to 3 feet high, with sweet-scented pure white flowers faintly tinged with purple outside.

_Kewense_, a beautiful hybrid between _Henryi_ and a variety of _Browni_; it grows about 6 feet high, and has buff-coloured flowers about 8 inches across, fading off to creamy white at the tips.

_Krameri_ is like _j.a.ponic.u.m_, but taller, and with pink flowers.

_Leichtlini_, 3 to 4 feet high, with drooping citron-yellow flowers heavily spotted with purple.

_Longiflorum_, a very handsome Lily, 2 to 3 feet high, with large tubular pure white flowers. There are many so-called varieties of this species, including _Harrisi_, _eximium_, and _Takesima_--all very popular for forcing in pots for greenhouses (see Plate 25, fig. 94).

_Martagon_, the "Turk's Cap," Lily, 2 to 3 feet high, with many tiers of drooping purple-red or violet-rose flowers, spotted with carmine, but white in the tall growing variety _alb.u.m_ (see Plate 26, fig. 95).

_Monadelphum_ (or _Loddigesianum_) is a vigorous Lily, 3 to 5 feet high, with soft bright yellow flowers, which in the variety _Szovitsianum_ (or _colchic.u.m_) are spotted with blackish-purple (see Plate 26, fig. 98).

_Pardalinum_, known as the "Leopard Lily," grows 3 to 8 feet high, and has drooping orange-red flowers spotted with dark purple at the base.

There are several varieties, some being more highly coloured and spotted than others.

_Roezli_, 2 to 3 feet high, with dark blotched orange-red flowers.

_Speciosum_, also well-known as _lancifolium_, grows 2 to 3 feet high, and has white flowers suffused with rose, the lower portion of the segments being deeper in colour, and covered with papillae. There are many varieties such as _alb.u.m_, white; _Kratzeri_, white tinged with green down the centre; _Melpomene_, deep crimson-purple, &c.

_Tenuifolium_, so called from its gra.s.s-like leaves, grows 1 to 2 feet high, and has small drooping scarlet blossoms (see Plate 25, fig. 92).

_Tigrinum_, the "Tiger Lily," with woolly stems 2 to 4 feet high, and deep orange-red flowers heavily spotted with blackish-purple. (See Plate 24, fig. 90.)

III. LILIES THAT FLOURISH IN VERY MOIST BUT WELL-DRAINED SANDY LOAM, PEAT, AND LEAF-SOIL. THEY ARE EXCELLENT FOR PLANTING IN SHADY BORDERS, UNDER NORTH WALLS, OR BY THE SIDE OF PONDS, &c.

_Burbanki_, a fine hybrid between _pardalinum_ and _Parryi_. Flowers, pale orange-yellow, spotted with chocolate and flushed with crimson at the tips. A single stem often has as many as twenty or thirty blooms upon it.

_Canadense_, a rhizomatous "Turk's Cap" Lily, 2 to 4 feet high, with drooping funnel-shaped flowers varying in colour from bright orange-red to pale red, the upper portion of the segments being heavily spotted with purple-brown. (See Plate 23, figs. 88 and 89.) There are several forms such as _rubrum_, _flavum_, _parvum_, &c.

_Catesbaei_, an elegant species, 1 to 2 feet high, having erect bell-shaped flowers of a bright orange-red heavily spotted with purple.

_Cordifolium_, a very distinct-looking Lily, 3 to 4 feet high, having broadly heart-shaped ovate leaves, and tubular white flowers with violet-brown spots at the base.

_Grayi_ is closely related to _canadense_, but has deep crimson flowers heavily blotched with purple at the yellowish base.

_Maritimum_ is a pretty Lily, 3 to 5 feet high, with small deep red bell-shaped flowers spotted with dark purple.

_Parryi_ is another rhizomatous Lily, 2 to 6 feet high. The more or less drooping flowers are citron-yellow, spotted with purple-brown, and are sweetly fragrant.

_Superb.u.m_ is known as the "Swamp Lily" of North America. It has creeping rhizomes which produce bulbs at intervals, and the violet-purple stems grow 4 to 10 feet high. The drooping orange-red flowers, sometimes as many as twenty to forty on a stem, are heavily spotted with violet-purple. The variety _carolinianum_ (also known as _autumnale_ and _Michauxianum_) has flowers like those of the type, but the plants only grow about 2 feet high.

PLATE 25. LILIUM TENUIFOLIUM (92) LILIUM HANSONI (93) LILIUM LONGIFLORUM (94)

Most of the Lilies described in these three sections may be grown in beds by themselves on the gra.s.s, or they may be planted in clumps in borders or shrubberies where they will have plenty of s.p.a.ce and enough suns.h.i.+ne to enable them to develop fully. The peat-loving kinds--those in the second and third sections--are excellent for planting amongst such plants as Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Kalmias, and other peat-loving shrubs.

=LYCORIS squamigera.=--This distinct j.a.panese plant is closely related to the Belladonna Lily (see p. 51). It has rather long-necked roundish bulbs, 2 to 3 inches in diameter, and strap-shaped leaves about a foot long. From July to September, after the leaves have withered, the large sweet-scented rosy-lilac flowers (see Plate 32, fig. 116) are borne on a stout stalk 2 to 3 feet high. This plant may be grown out of doors in the milder parts of the kingdom in warm sheltered spots, such as against a well on a south border. It likes rich well-drained sandy loam and leaf-soil, but grows freely in ordinary good garden soil. There are other species that may probably succeed in the open air in the same way, such as _aurea_, golden-yellow; _straminea_, pale yellow with a pink central line and red dots; and _radiata_, bright red.

=MERENDERA Bulbocodium.=--A pretty Pyrenean plant closely related to _Bulbocodium vernum_. It grows only 3 or 4 inches high, and produces its rosy-lilac funnel-shaped flowers in autumn at the same time as some of the true Colchic.u.ms. The narrow sickle-shaped leaves appear after the flowers are over and remain fresh and green till spring. There are a few other species, but they are practically unknown in gardens. The Merendera may be grown exactly in the same way as the Colchic.u.ms, in the border, rock-garden, or best of all in the gra.s.s. The stock may be increased by offsets and seeds.

=MILLA biflora.=--There is now only one Milla, the plants formerly known under that name being now included in the genus Brodiaea (see p. 56). _M.

biflora_ has rather small bulbs with fleshy roots and narrow, gra.s.s-like, blue-green leaves. The pretty pure white salver-shaped blossoms appear in August and September usually two to four on stems about 6 inches high. Being a native of Mexico, _M. biflora_ should be grown in warm sheltered spots in the rock-garden or border, in a rich sandy loam, the bulbs being planted about 4 inches deep. Increased by offsets.

=MUSCARI= (_Grape Hyacinth_).--A charming cla.s.s of plants with roundish bulbs about 1 inch in diameter, narrow leaves, and conical cl.u.s.ters of urn-shaped or tubular blossoms drooping from stems 3 to 6 inches high.

Although the Grape Hyacinths may be easily grown in patches or edgings in the ordinary flower border, there is no place that shows off their sheets of brilliant blue blossoms so well as a gra.s.sy bank, or a nook in the rockery, where they should be planted in large numbers. They naturally like a rich and well drained soil with plenty of grit or sand in it, and some leaf-soil. The bulbs should be planted about 3 inches deep in September and October, and when naturalised in the gra.s.s may be left for several seasons without being disturbed. Most of the kinds blossom in March, April, and May, and are easily increased by offsets.

Seeds may also be sown (see p. 36).

The following is a selection of the best kinds. The flowers are blue in all cases, except where otherwise mentioned, and the general appearance of the blossoms is as shown by _M. conic.u.m_ in Plate 12, fig.

48:--_Armeniac.u.m_; _botryoides_, with a white-flowered variety _alb.u.m_; _comosum_, the monstrous form of which, with twisted and wavy bluish-violet filaments, is known as the Ostrich Feather Hyacinth; _conic.u.m_ (see Plate 12, fig. 48), of which there is a beautiful brilliant blue variety called "Heavenly Blue." _Heldreichi_, like _botryoides_, but larger; _Maweanum_; _neglectum_; _racemosum_; _amphibolus_ porcelain blue; and _Szovitsianum_.

There are other colours besides blue among the Grape Hyacinths. Thus the "Musk Hyacinth" (_M. moschatum_) has sweet-scented blossoms which change from purple at first to greenish-yellow tinged with violet. It has a yellow flowered variety called _flavum_ or _macrocarpum_. Some forms of _neglectum_ are salmon-pink, while the blossoms of _M. paradoxum_ might be described almost as black.

=NARCISSUS= (_Daffodil_).--What so charming in the spring-time as "a host of Golden Daffodils"? The varieties are now almost legion, and they are still being added to by enthusiastic hybridists in various parts of the kingdom. The crossing of one section with another may possibly worry the botanist, but there is no fear that the gardener will not welcome any new variety that may be raised. Although thousands of the older Daffodils may be bought for a few s.h.i.+llings, the rarer varieties still command a respectably high price, and will naturally continue to do so until the stock has been considerably increased.

There is scarcely a nook in the garden, large or small, where Daffodils cannot be grown. And yet it is astonis.h.i.+ng to note their general absence from suburban gardens, where they would not only grow freely, but also make a cheerful picture in the spring-time.

PLATE 26. LILIUM MARTAGON ALb.u.m (95) WATSONIA ARDERNEI (96) LILIUM RUBELLUM (97) LILIUM COLCHIc.u.m (98)

Daffodils--with the exception, perhaps, of a very few varieties--require as little attention, and even less than Snowdrops or Crocuses. Once planted they may be left undisturbed for years, and as each season comes round they gaily shoot their blue-green strap-shaped leaves and creamy or golden blossoms through the ground.

They grow in almost any soil, but prefer a rather stiff and well-drained loam. They are appropriate in any situation in the flower border or rockery. But their natural position is undoubtedly in the gra.s.s, or--

"Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze,"

As Wordsworth has it.