WHITE SCILLASWHITE SCILLAS
WHITE SCILLAS
When some growth is made, they may either be removed to a frame with a moderate bottom heat, or taken into the place where they are to bloom. In a sunny window they may be brought nicely into flower as well as in a greenhouse. They like air, however, when possible. It is essential that they should have plenty of water while in growth. A temperature of about fifty-five degrees is suitable for blooming them in. After flowering, water should be gradually withheld; and when the foliage becomes yellow, the pots with their contents should be thoroughly roasted in the sun. Before repotting, it is desirable to sort them according to size. Some grow Freesias from seed, but they are so cheap, and make offsets so freely, that it is hardly worth the trouble to do so. The seeds are sown when ripe, and gradually grown on until they attain to flowering size. The best of the Freesias is F. refracta alba, but F. refracta, white and yellow, and F. refracta Leichtlini, with creamy-yellow flowers, are also grown.
Gloxinias
Gloxinias are so beautiful in their colourings, and are so ornamental, that it is no matter for surprise to find them in most gardens of importance. Nowadays, however, they are principally grown from seed instead of cultivating the old bulbs for successive seasons as was formerly practised. They are easily raised in this way, and the plants produced are more vigorous and floriferous than those produced by old bulbs, or by cuttings or leaves. They can be flowered in about six months from the time of sowing.
Fibrous loam or leaf-soil, mixed with sand and peat, will answer for the seed pans and for the after compost. Seed sown in January or February will give a succession of flower, and later sowings may be made for winter bloom. The seed should be thinly sown and covered with a sprinkling of fine soil. The pans ought then to be placed in a temperature of about 70 degrees, and shaded from strong sun. The young seedlings are very liable to damp off, and must be pricked out into other pans or pots as soon as possible. They will grow quickly in a moist warm house, and, when a fair size, may be repotted, giving a forty-eight size pot for the final shift. They can have then a temperature of sixty to sixty-five degrees. A little manure water is beneficial at intervals, but this, and a moist atmosphere, are prejudicial when the plants are in bloom.
Cuttings of the young shoots taken off when the old bulbs are started are easily struck in a propagating frame, and are afterwards potted and treated like young seedlings. When the leaves are firm, they may either be inserted in fine soil like cuttings with a portion of the petiole or footstalk, or by cutting through the midribs at several places and pegging down the leaves on cocoa fibre or sand in a close frame.
Old tubers of Gloxinias should be carefully stored in winter beyond the reach of frost, and started into growth in February in small pots in a temperature of about sixty-five degrees. Until they have fairly begun to grow they should have little water. Similar treatment is suitable for some of the other Gesneraceous plants, such as the Gesnerias.
Hæmanthuses
The Hæmanthus is a handsome and distinct-looking plant, but it is seldom that one meets with it in private gardens. Its usefulness is lessened by its handsome leaves appearing at a different time from the flowers, but this fault may be partly concealed by an arrangement of other plants about the pots containing the Hæmanthi. A few of the species can be grown in a cool greenhouse, but the greater number ought to be cultivated in a higher temperature. H. sanguineus is one of the easiest to grow and the writer has grown and flowered it yearly in a house from which frost was only excluded and where the temperature fell to near freezing point. For the greater number, however, a temperature of from fifty to sixty degrees in the growing season is best. After flowering they should have a short period of rest.
There are a number of very handsome species, among the best being abyssinicus, scarlet; cinnabarinus, red; incarnatus, flesh; insignis, orange-scarlet; Kalbreyeri, crimson; Katherinæ, deep red; natalensis, green, bracts, purple; puniceus, scarlet; and sanguineus, scarlet. Albo-maculatus, hirsutus, and virescens albiflos are the best whites.
Hippeastrums
Under their popular name of "Amaryllises," the Hippeastrums have for years been increasingly grown by those who desire to make their glass structures gay with bulbous plants which are distinct from the ordinary forcing bulbs of winter and spring. Their deserved popularity has been increased by the wonderful improvements which have been in progress for years among these plants which are naturally beautiful and have such brilliant colouring. Some of the original species are very handsome, but the seedling varieties and hybrids are superior to these. It is generally accepted that these improved Hippeastrums are largely due to the hybridisation of some of these species, but there is considerable doubt regarding the parentage of some of these reputed hybrids. However this may be, there can be no two opinions regarding the value and beauty of the plants themselves, with which greenhouses and stoves may be made gay for months at a time.
The greater number of the Hippeastrums are easily grown in a temperature of at least sixty degrees, although some even suggest five degrees less. They can, however, take more heat with advantage. This heat is required during the growing season, from February to September, after which they should be kept cooler, and only moist enough to keep the roots alive. During the growing period full supplies of water are required. They like a rather heavy loam, with some charcoal and crushed bones. They should be disturbed as little as possible, so as to avoid injury to their fleshy roots, and to prevent the necessity of re-potting, established bulbs may be top-dressed when being started into growth. Some manure water is beneficial, but not when the blooms show colour. Hippeastrums are increased by offsets taken off carefully when the plants are at rest, and also by seeds, which are sown in pots or pans in a temperature of about sixty-five degrees, the seeds having only a slight covering of the sandy soil which should form the compost. When old enough to handle, the seedlings can be placed singly in small pots and grown on in the heat suitable for the larger bulbs. As the newer Hippeastrums are very high priced where of good quality, this method of raising from seed is recommended. Plants have been flowered in about two years from seed. There are a good many species and it is only worth while to name such as Ackermanni, crimson; Equestre, orange; and vittata, all of which have given some fine varieties. With regard to the named varieties, we would recommend intending purchasers to consult the catalogues of the leading bulb-dealers, where there may be found varieties at all prices. Unnamed varieties may be obtained at a lower price, but it must be remembered that the newest and best named sorts are necessarily very expensive. Habranthuses are now included with the Hippeastrums and Zephyranthes.
Lachenalias — Nerines and Lycorises — Pancratiums and Hymenocallises — Richardias — Sprekelias — Tuberoses — Vallotas — Watsonias — Zephyranthes
Lachenalias
Were the beauty and usefulness of the Lachenalias better known, they would soon become very popular plants for the amateur's greenhouse and window. They may be said to lie on the border-line between greenhouse and frame plants, as only sufficient heat is needed to keep out frost. The popular name of "Cape Cowslips" gives some indication of the appearance of the spikes of drooping flowers, but hardly expresses the singularly pretty colouring, which lies in the yellow or white grounds and the shadings of green, red, or purple, which make such pretty combinations. The Lachenalia, which can be had in bloom from February to May, requires a period of rest, and after flowering the pots should either be placed on a sunny shelf or other dry place, and water gradually withheld as the leaves become yellow. Pot in August in loam, leaf-soil, or peat, and a little manure and sand. Some grow Lachenalias in hanging baskets lined with moss and filled with soil. A good selection may be made from the following, but the newer varieties are well worth having also, although a little more expensive. A selection:—fragrans, lilacina, Nelsoni (hybrid), pendula, tricolor, tricolor lutea (syn. L. aurea). New varieties are Aldborough Beauty, Cawston Gem, and Rector of Cawston.
Nerines and Lycorises
The best known of the Nerines is N. sarniensis, the Guernsey Lily, which is imported in great numbers in autumn with the flower buds set, and is potted at once to bloom almost immediately. It has been grown by some as a hardy or half-hardy bulb, but its true place in most gardens is in a greenhouse in pots. This is advisable so that it may perfect its foliage. It likes a rich, yet light, soil and careful watering.
It is unfortunate that some of the other Nerines are not more grown, as their brilliant flowers possess all the beauty of the better known sarniensis. The handsome scarlet curvifolia, with its even finer form, known as Fothergilli major, are worth more than the room and care they need. Then the rose-coloured flexuosa; the rosy carmine humilis splendens; the white and red pudica; the rosy-purple undulata; and the hybrid or seedling forms, amabilis, carmine rose; the charming roseo-crispa, pink; and excellens, bright rose, are all of much beauty. These should have little water from May to August. The Lycorises should be cultivated in a similar manner.
Pancratiums and Hymenocallises
These closely allied plants require similar treatment, and may be suitably mentioned together. The connection is so close indeed that several of the species of either bear in gardens the generic name of the other. The stove species should always be kept moist, while the plants which do with greenhouse temperature need to be kept dry while at rest in winter. The pots must be large and filled with good loam and leaf-mould, with a dash of silver sand. The bulbs should be just below the surface. A few, which have been also known as Ismenes, are understood to be hardy in favoured places. Ordinary stove heat will suit the following:—Hymenocallises:—andreana, Choretis, expansa, lacera, ovata, macrostephana, maculata, speciosa; and Pancratiums verecundum and zeylanicum. For the greenhouse there are:—H. Amancaes, calathina, harrisiana, littoralis (syn. adnata), macleana (the hardiest), tenuifolia. In looking over catalogues to order these, Pancratium, Hymenocallis, and Ismene should all be referred to on account of the uncertainty about the nursery names.
Richardias
These are best known because of the popular R. africana, often called Calla æthiopica, the Arum Lily, or Lily of the Nile. All the species like a very rich soil, and a plentiful supply of water while growing. R. africana can be grown as a hardy aquatic in some warm districts in these islands if the crowns are well below the depth to which the water is frozen. It is, however, most grown as a greenhouse or window plant, especially when white flowers are wanted early. After flowering, it may either be planted out in trenches in the garden, or dried off and started in the same pots. Potting may be done about September, and the plants grown in ordinary greenhouse temperature. Albo-maculata, hastata, and melanoleuca are less beautiful. Adlami, elliotiana, Pentlandi, and Rehmanni are all newer and of much beauty, the second and third having yellowish flowers.
Sprekelias
Although Sprekelia formosissima, known also as Amaryllis formosissima, the "Jacobea Lily," is sometimes recommended as a half-hardy bulb, this is of doubtful expediency, and it is better to treat it as a cool greenhouse bulb and to grow it in pots. It is sometimes planted out on a sunny border below a wall in April and lifted in September, but we recommend planting it in turfy loam, well-decayed manure and a little sand, in pots, and treating it like the Hippeastrum, but in a rather lower temperature. It grows about two feet high, and has crimson or white flowers about June. There is another named S. Cybister, which has red flowers about April.
Tuberoses
The botanical name of the Tuberose—Polianthes Tuberosa—is so little used by those who grow it that it will be more convenient to speak of this most fragrant flower under its popular title. It is everywhere prized, especially when its pure white flowers are produced in winter, when few of similar character for buttonholes and bouquets are readily procurable. Although a plant which can be flowered in the open border if the bulbs are started and grown on for some time under glass, it requires a considerable amount of heat to flower it properly at other seasons. The bulbs should be potted three together in a five or six inch pot in a soil composed of loam and manure or some leaf-soil. The soil should be slightly moist, so as to obviate the necessity of watering before the bulbs begin to make growth. Some plunge in a cold frame until growth begins, but a preferable plan is to plunge in a bottom heat of from sixty to seventy degrees if early bloom is required. Plenty of water should be given when growth has fairly begun, and it can hardly be too strongly emphasised that this and a temperature such as that named for the bottom heat should be maintained for winter-blooming. Potting may begin in November, and may be continued at intervals for two or three months. Old bulbs are not worth keeping. The double form is the more appreciated, and the double African, American, and Italian grown bulbs are all good. The Pearl is dwarf in habit.
Vallotas
The Vallota, or Scarborough Lily (V. purpurea), is a general favourite for its brightly coloured flowers in autumn, and because of the ease with which it can be grown in a greenhouse or window. It is hardy in a few favoured places, and in some is grown as a frame bulb, but for the greater number of British gardens it is best when grown in a house from which frost is excluded in winter. It should be repotted as seldom as possible, and then the roots should be little disturbed and the plants transferred to a larger pot with the ball attached, only removing some of the soil on the surface to allow of top dressing. The offsets may be removed with a stick. It likes a rich, light soil, and may be potted towards the end of spring. The roots should never become dry. Some give a little liquid manure during summer, and when well grown few plants look more ornamental, with its heads of deep scarlet flowers. There is a larger-flowered variety named major.
Watsonias
Although the Watsonias will do if planted out on a warm south border in favoured places in this country, and treated as half-hardy bulbs, intending growers are advised to grow them in pots as greenhouse plants. They have fine branching stems of a height of from two to three feet, and pretty blooms somewhat resembling those of the Freesia in form. The corms should be planted in spring, and treated like Gladioli in pots. After flowering, water should be gradually reduced when the leaves begin to turn yellow, and the corms either kept dry in the pots or taken out and stored like those of the Gladiolus. The most appreciated of the Watsonias are the varieties of W. Meriana, the type form having rose-red flowers. The white varieties of this, such as alba, Ardernei, and O'Brieni are all much admired, that called Ardernei, which some consider the same as O'Brieni, being a special favourite. W. M. iridifolia and W. M. roseo-alba are also good varieties. Other desirable species procurable are:—aletroides, scarlet or pink; angusta, scarlet; coccinea, crimson; humilis, rose-red; and rosea, rose-red.
Zephyranthes
All the Zephyranthes mentioned in the chapters regarding hardy and half-hardy bulbs can be grown in the greenhouse, and there are also a few which ought to have a little additional heat, such as that of a stove. Citrina, yellow, about six inches high, and blooming in August, is one. Others are concolor, sulphur-yellow and blooming in April on stems a foot high; pumila, also known as Habranthus pumilus, blooming about September, and having rose coloured flowers; robusta (syn. Habranthus robustus), about ten inches high and blooming in June; sessilis, white and red, with its flowers in April; striata is a striped variety of this; tubispatha likes stove heat. They grow best in turfy loam, with the addition of some decayed manure or peat and sand.
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Transcriber's Note:Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.
Transcriber's Note:
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.