Part 15

T. crocosmiaeflora, better known as Montbretia, is a graceful and popular garden plant, really a hybrid between Crocosma aurea (see p. 67) and T. Pottsi. It grows 2 to 2-1/2 feet high, and resembles a small Gladiolus in foliage. The brilliant orange-red blossoms appear in great profusion from July onwards to October or November, and are always attractive when grown in bold masses. There are numerous varieties of it--one, Etoile de Feu--being shown on Plate 27, fig. 102; others being Germania, Globe d'or, &c.

T. Pottsi, also better known perhaps as a Montbretia, grows 3 to 4 feet high, having narrow tapering sword-like leaves, and bright yellow funnel-shaped flowers suffused with red. They are borne in gracefully nodding spikes from August onwards, and exhibit great variation in colour and markings according to the many varieties that are now in commerce. The plant known as Tritonia aurea is described in this work as Crocosma (see p. 67).

PLATE 30. CRINUM MOOREI (109) TIGRIDIA LILACEA (110)

=TULBAGHIA violacea.=--A pretty little South African plant with narrow leaves and slender spikes of violet-purple flowers, as shown in Plate 32, fig. 113. This species seems to be hardy in the Thames Valley and milder parts, but must be grown in large quantities to produce anything like an effect. It grows well in ordinary well-drained garden soil.

=TULIPA= (Tulip).--Although the days of the ridiculous Tulip craze of the seventeenth century have happily passed away, the love of Tulips has increased by leaps and bounds, and thousands are now cultivated where formerly dozens or hundreds were tolerated. Whether grown in lines or circles in formal beds, in irregular clumps in the flower border or rock-garden, or naturalised on grassy banks, Tulips constitute one of the most pleasing and brilliant features in the garden during the spring and early summer months. Indeed, one can hardly imagine what the garden would be like at this period of the year without the beauteous forms and glorious tints of the Tulip. The well-known brown-coated bulbs, 1 to 2 inches in diameter, are now so cheap that they come within the reach of the most modest purse, and there is no reason why Tulips should not be found in every cottage garden in the kingdom.

The culture of the Tulip is quite as easy as that of the common Daffodil. There is one important difference, however, between the Tulip and the Daffodil. While the latter likes partial shade, the Tulip enjoys plenty of sunshine, and shelter from bleak winds. Any good garden soil that has been deeply dug, and enriched with well-decayed manure some time previous to planting will produce fine blossoms. In the open air the bulbs should be planted about 4 inches deep, and not more than 6, even in bleak localities, as a safeguard against frost. The best time for planting is from the beginning of September to the end of October, and care should be taken when planting formal beds to see that the lines are perfectly straight, and the bulbs buried at a similar depth throughout. To secure the latter result a blunt dibber may be used, marked at the required depth with a cross-piece nailed on, or a piece of hoop iron that can be slid up or down to any particular depth. In this way, and by planting each bed with the same variety, uniformity in height, colour, and period of flowering will be secured. In vacant spaces in the flower border and rock-garden, such formality would be out of place, and in such positions mixed Tulips produce a more natural effect.

Although effective in themselves, the beauty of Tulips is greatly enhanced by planting them in beds that are already carefully arranged with such plants as Wallflowers, Polyanthuses, Primroses, Pansies, or Violas, Dwarf Saxifrages, Double White Arabis, (A. albida flore pleno), Yellow Alyssum (A. saxatile), Forget-me-Nots, Aubrietias, and such like plants that blossom about the same period and make an effective screen to hide the ground between the blue-green leaves of the Tulips. In arranging combinations, it is as well to have the Tulips and carpet plants arranged so that the colour of the one shall be quite distinct and in lively contrast with that of the others.

Thus White Tulips may have Yellow Arabis, Primroses, Polyanthuses, &c., beneath them. On the other hand, red Tulips should not be mixed with red Wallflowers, although they look remarkably effective with yellow ones. And so on, more or less in accordance with the principles laid down at p. 38.

For the benefit of those who take up their Tulip bulbs each year (when the flowers have withered being usually the earliest period for this operation) it may be as well to mention, that the bulb that is lifted about midsummer, is not the same as that planted in autumn. Indeed it is quite a new bulb altogether, and, as a rule, contains all the elements necessary for the production of leaves and blossoms the following season. The Tulip bulb planted in autumn is used up in the formation of leaves and flowers, that are produced in early summer. Whence then comes the bulb that is taken out of the soil when the flowering period is over? It has been made out of the raw material that has been assimilated by the leaves under the influence of sunlight. Very often there is more than sufficient food for the formation of a large flowering bulb, in which case the surplus food is converted into offsets at the base of the large bulb. These offsets, if planted and grown on for two or three seasons in specially prepared beds of light soil, will develop into flowering bulbs. They should, therefore, never be thrown away as useless.

=Seedling Tulips.=--Besides offsets (some of which drop several inches below the parent bulb, and are called "droppers.") Tulips may also be raised from seeds if one has the requisite patience and convenience. When seeds are required, the old plants must of course be left in the soil until the seed capsules have thoroughly ripened. The seeds should be sown very sparsely in drills, in carefully-prepared beds of light soil, and may be left undisturbed for about five or seven years, until the first flowers appear. Of course weeds must be kept down regularly, and to facilitate this operation, the seed beds should not be more than 4 or 5 feet wide, and the drills quite a foot apart.

The first flowers of a seedling Tulip are called "Breeders" or "Mother Tulips" and are of one colour throughout, although the seeds may have been saved from beautifully pencilled or flaked blossoms. When a "breeder" Tulip develops markings of a different colour, it is said to "break" or "rectify." Such rectified flowers are then divided into two groups, (a) those with a pure white centre, base, or ground, and (b) those with a pure yellow centre.

The white centred flowers (a) are again divided into (i) Roses, the flowers of which are various shades of pink, rose, scarlet, crimson, cerise, &c., and (ii) Bybloemens, the flowers of which display various shades of lilac, lavender, violet, purple, brown, purple-black, &c.

The yellow-centred flowers (b) are called Bizarres, with various shades of orange, scarlet, crimson, purple-black, brown, &c. These various classes of "rectified" Tulips have the petals either "feathered" or "flamed." A "feathered" Tulip has the petals beautifully pencilled and feathered round the edges only; while a "flamed" Tulip differs in having bright streaks, bands, or flames of a distinct colour shooting up the centre of each petal from the base, and forking out towards the pencilled and feathered margins.

Only specialists in what are called the "florist's Tulip," however, take a keen delight in drawing these distinctions.

There are some hundreds of varieties of Tulips enumerated in nurserymen's catalogues, but it is unnecessary to grow many of them to make an effective display. The following--arranged according to the predominating colour--may be regarded as a good selection for planting in the open ground in autumn:--

=Single Varieties for Planting Out.=--Red, Scarlet, Crimson, and Pink.--Artus, Bacchus, Belle Alliance, Couleur de Cardinal, Crimson King, Duc Van Thol, Pottebakker, Proserpine, Rose Luisante, Rose Gris de Lin. Orange, Brownish, and Terra Cotta.--Cardinal's Hat, Duc Van Thol, Leonardo da Vinci, Prince of Austria, and Thomas Moore. Yellow.--Bouton d'Or (Plate 9, fig. 37), Canary Bird, Chrysolora, Gold Finch, Golden Crown, Mon Tresor, Pottebakker, and Yellow Prince. White or Blush.--Albion (or White Hawk), Jacht van Delft, White Swan, Grand Duchess, Joost von Vondel, La Reine, Immaculee, and Pottebakker. Purple and Violet.--Moliere, Purple Crown, President Lincoln. Red, Pink, Rose, or Violet, with White.--Bride of Haarlem, Cottage Maid, Couleur ponceau, Standard Royal, Wapen van Leiden, Picotee (Plate 9, fig. 36). Red and Yellow combined.--Brutus, Duchesse de Parma, Keizerskroon.

=Double flowered Tulips.=--Scarlet and Crimson combined.--Imperator Rubrorum, Rex Rubrorum, Rubra maxima. Pink and Rose.--Couronne des Roses, Murillo, Raphael, Rose d'Amour, Salvator Rosa. White.--Alba maxima, Grand Vainqueur, La Candeur, Rose blanche. Red and Yellow combined.--Duc Van Thol, Gloria Solis, Tournesol, Princess Alexandra. Orange or Yellow.--Tournesol, Yellow Rose, Miroir.

=Parrot or Dragon Tulips.=--These remarkable looking flowers are supposed to be descended from the curious green and yellow-striped T. viridiflora. The petals are cut and jagged into all kinds of peculiar shapes, while the colours are chiefly a mixture of reds, crimsons, greens, and yellows.

PLATE 31. BELLADONNA LILY (111) DIERAMA PULCHERRIMA (112)

=Darwin Tulips.=--These are a very popular class of self-coloured Tulips derived from T. Gesneriana. They are in fact "breeder" Tulips referred to on p. 134. The individual blossoms are large and cup-shaped, and are borne on stalks 1-1/2 to 2 feet high. There are numerous named varieties (for which a catalogue should be consulted), but a mixed collection will give a grand display, the colours being shades of apricot, yellow, carmine, rose, pink, crimson, maroon, and white.

With the Darwin Tulips may be associated what are known as the "Cottage" or "May Flowering" Tulips--vigorous kinds with tall stems and fine large flowers, that are admirably adapted for the decoration of the garden. For vases, bowls, &c., they are also excellent.

=Natural Species or Wild Tulips.=--Apart from the almost innumerable florists' varieties of Tulips, keen interest has been taken of late years in the cultivation of the natural species of Tulip which are found growing wild in various parts of South Europe, Asia Minor, Turkestan, &c. There are quite a large number of these natural species now to be had, but the cream of them may be said to be Gesneriana, Greigi, macropsila, and Oculus Solis, all with scarlet or crimson blossoms and black blotches at the base. Other useful kinds for bedding out or for naturalising with Daffodils, Bluebells, &c., are Eichleri, fulgens, Hageri, macrostyla, maculata, Didieri, Ostrowskyana, planifolia, lurida, undulatifolia, suaveolens, all with bright red or deep crimson blossoms except suaveolens which is bordered with yellow. Yellow flowered kinds are australis (Plate 10, fig. 40), Batalini, flava, Billietiana, galatica, neglecta, retroflexa, sylvestris, strangulata (speckled and streaked with red), viridiflora (with broad green band down the centre), Sprengeri (petals tipped with red), and Kolpakowskyana.

Apart from their value in the garden, Tulips are also popular as cut flowers. As most of them produce their blossoms on sturdy stems 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 feet high, they are easily picked, and when bunched in vases with foliage, or grasses, or even by themselves, they add a luxurious appearance to any apartment.

The great mistake many make in picking Tulip flowers is that they gather them often in the middle of the day when the petals are wide open, especially if there is strong sunshine. In the expanded state the blossoms do not last very long. They should therefore be picked either early in the morning or late in the evening, when the petals are closed in over the stamens and ovary in the centre. There is no need to actually cut the stems. By holding them close to the ground and giving a staccato pull upwards, they come away easily from the bulb, and possess the advantage of being a few inches longer than those cut with a knife or scissors.

=WATSONIA.=--Although popularly called "Bugle Lilies" the Watsonias really belong to the Iris family. They have fibrous-coated corms, stiffish, ribbed, sword-like leaves, and more or less funnel-shaped flowers. They are indigenous to South Africa, and may be grown in the open air under much the same conditions as Ixias, viz., warm, sheltered spots, and in light sandy soil. In the mildest parts of the kingdom the corms may be left in the ground during the winter, if necessary, but they should be protected in severe weather with litter, &c. In less favoured spots, it is safer to lift the corms in autumn when the leaves have withered, and store them in dry soil or sand until the spring.

The varieties depicted on Plate 27, figs. 99 to 101, show some of the most graceful kinds. W. Meriana, fig. 99 (also known as Antholyza) has several varieties including a scarlet one (coccinea), a white one (fig. 100), and a pink and white one (rosea-alba), which bear their blossoms during the summer months on stems 2 to 3 feet high. W. rosea resembles a Gladiolus in appearance, and indeed was once known as G. pyramidatus. It has several forms, including angusta, shown in the plate (fig. 101). Perhaps the most charming variety of all, however, is the beautiful Ardernei, the large pure white blossoms of which always attract attention owing to their purity and delicacy (Plate 26, fig. 96).

As a pot plant for conservatory decoration, W. Ardernei is very valuable, owing to its graceful appearance. In the open air it requires warm, sheltered, and sunny positions, and a rich sandy soil.

=ZEPHYRANTHES= (Zephyr Flower).--Beautiful plants with small brown-coated bulbs about an inch in diameter, from which spring narrow leaves and rather large funnel-shaped flowers, only one, however, on each stem. There are only a few species that may be grown in the open air in the mildest parts of the kingdom. The soil cannot be too well drained, and should consist of a rich sandy loam, while the position should be the warmest and most sheltered in the garden. The kinds most likely to succeed are Atamasco, a native of the damp woods and fields of Virginia. The flowers shown on Plate 29, fig. 106, are at first pure white, but become tinted with pink or purple. Z. candida, the "Swamp Lily" of La Plata, has pure white blossoms, as shown on Plate 32, fig. 114, as have also Treatiae and tubispatha, while carinata and rosea both have rose-coloured flowers. The average height of these kinds is about a foot, and they may be increased from offsets or from seeds. At one time the Zephyr Flowers were grown in warm greenhouses, but experience has proved that they are much hardier than was at first supposed.