Beautiful Bulbous Plants.

by John Weathers.

PREFACE.

Although many articles have appeared from time to time in the horticultural newspapers and periodicals dealing with various aspects of the subject, it cannot be said that Bulbous Plants have hitherto received the attention they deserve in gardening literature. This volume therefore appears at an opportune moment to meet a recognised want, and in fulfilment of the promise made in the preface to "BEAUTIFUL GARDEN FLOWERS."

While Bulbous Plants as a cla.s.s have been somewhat neglected, it may be noted that one or two families have been dealt with specially in years gone by. In this connection mention may be made of the magnificent "Monograph of the Genus Lilium," by Mr. H. J. Elwes; the "Narcissus, its History and Culture," by Mr. F. W. Burbidge, M.A., and Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S.; a "History of the Genus Crocus," by the Hon. and Rev. Dean Herbert, whose original drawings and MS. notes are preserved in the Lindley Library. Mr. Geo. Maw has also dealt specially with the "Crocus"; and more recently the Rev. Eugene Bourne with the "Daffodil"; Miss Jekyle and Mr. Goldring with "Lilies," &c.

A glance at the coloured plates will perhaps be sufficient to give the reader a good idea as to the numerous kinds of Bulbous Plants now grown in gardens, and of the marvellous range of colour to be found in their blossoms. It has not been considered advisable to include in this volume such hothouse bulbous plants as Eucharis, Crinum, Hymenocallis, Pancratium, but only those kinds that are most likely to give general, if not universal, satisfaction when grown in the open air according to the cultural instructions to be found under the heads of the various genera.

In the preparation of this work I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to the Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, through whose kindness I have had opportunities for examining the bulbs or corms of the rarer plants referred to in the letterpress.

I also owe my best thanks for the specimens kindly supplied to ill.u.s.trate the work by A. Worsley, Esq., of Isleworth; Messrs. Barr and Son, of Covent Garden; Messrs. Wallace and Company, of Colchester; Messrs. Ware, of Feltham; and Mr. Perry, of Winchmore Hill.

JOHN WEATHERS.

BEAUTIFUL BULBOUS PLANTS.

INTRODUCTION.

The cultivation of Bulbous Plants has reached a point of popularity at the present day that it has never before attained. And there is every reason to believe that this popularity is increasing from year to year as more people become better acquainted with these plants, and the ease with which the great majority of them may be grown in almost any garden.

Indeed there are now so many kinds of bulbous plants that there is no difficulty in making a selection to suit the smallest garden or the most modest purse.

Of course, some kinds, such as Tulips, Daffodils and Narcissi, Hyacinths, Crocuses, Snowdrops, Scillas, Bluebells, Chionodoxas, Grape Hyacinths, Lilies, Colchic.u.ms, Gladioli, and Montbretias, will be always probably amongst the first favourites with garden lovers. But there is no reason why the Mariposa Lilies and Star Tulips, the Brodiaeas and Millas, the Sternbergias and Fritillarias, and many others should not in the course of time become almost equally popular when they become better known.

Some kinds of bulbous plants have been known in British Gardens--and no doubt in continental ones also--ever since such a thing as gardening proper came to be distinguished from mere agriculture. Our native or naturalised bulbs--such as the Snake's Head Fritillary (_Fritillaria Meleagris_), the Yellow Star of Bethlehem (_Gagea lutea_), as well as the white ones (_Ornithogalum nutans_, _pyrenaic.u.m_, and _umbellatum_), the Autumn Crocus (_Colchic.u.m autumnale_), the Lent Lily or Daffodil (_Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus_), the Snowdrop (_Galanthus nivalis_), the Snowflake (_Leucojum vernum_), the Grape Hyacinth (_Muscari racemosum_), the Squill (_Scilla verna_), and the Bluebell (_S. festalis_), the Martagon Lily (_Lilium Martagon_), and the Wild Tulip (_Tulipa sylvestris_) have been grown as garden plants for 400 years or more.

The great monastic establishments were the seats of gardening as of learning, and it is in connection with them we find the first traces of bulbous or any other plants being intelligently cultivated. Besides the plants mentioned, our earliest garden records show that such bulbous plants as the Dog's Tooth Violet (_Erythronium Dens-Canis_), the Crown Imperial (_Fritillaria imperialis_), _Gladiolus communis_, the Garden Hyacinth (_Hyacinthus orientalis_), the Madonna Lily (_Lilium candidum_), the Poet's Narcissus and the Jonquil (_N. poeticus_ and _N.

Jonquilla_), the Star Hyacinth (_Scilla amoena_), the Lily of the Field (_Sternbergia lutea_), and Gesner's Tulip (_T. Gesneriana_), were among the first kinds cultivated from the beginning of the 16th century, and they are all more popular to-day than ever. Following these we find such Tulips as _suaveolens_ and _Clusiana_, the yellow-flowered Onion (_Allium Moly_), the Cloth of Gold Crocus (_C. Susia.n.u.s_), the Byzantine Gladiolus (_G. byzantinus_), and others in the 17th century. The beginning of the 18th century saw the introduction to our gardens of the Belladonna Lily (_Amaryllis Belladonna_), and later on the Babianas, Ixias, and other Gladioli like _blandus_, _cuspidatus_, and _cardinalis_.

It is to the 19th century, however, that we owe not only many introductions of new kinds, but also the development of the great enterprise that has been shown in their extensive cultivation, and the natural methods of using them in the garden.

To this period, and especially to the latter half of it, belong most of our fine Lilies, Bulbous Irises, Mariposa Lilies and Star Tulips, Brodiaeas, Chionodoxas, Scillas, and American Dog's Tooth Violets. It has also been the age when the florist's varieties of Gladiolus, Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths, and Crocuses have been brought almost, if not quite, to the acme of perfection by intelligent cultivation and careful selection.

All this has led to the growth of many kinds of bulbous plants having become a huge industry. Dutch bulbs have for many generations been famous, and many kinds will, no doubt, continue to retain their hold upon the public owing to the undoubted advantage of the climate under which they are grown. But experience has proved that such bulbous plants as Tulips and Daffodils at least can be grown equally well in some parts of the British Islands, notably in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, the Scilly Isles, and parts of Ireland. It has been stated that over five hundred millions of bulbs are used for decorative purposes in Great Britain alone every year, and that the value of imported bulbs ranges from 5,000,000 to 8,000,000 annually.

The growth of Daffodils and Narcissi alone in the Scilly Isles within the past forty years has been nothing less than phenomenal. Mr. T. A.

Dorrien-Smith, of Tresco Abbey, has stated that the first lot of flowers was sent to Covent Garden Market about 1865, and realised 1. It was not, however, until about 1880 that Daffodil growing in these Islands became at all remunerative, and some idea of their growth since then may be gained from the fact (vouched for by the same authority) that 65 tons of flowers were exported from the Scilly Isles in 1885, 85 tons in 1886, 100 tons in 1887, 188 tons in 1888, and 198 tons in 1889; and on one day alone--the 25th February, 1896--30-1/2 tons of Narcissi, comprising 3,258,000 blooms in 4,849 boxes, were shipped to Penzance for market.

Cultivation on such an extensive scale, of course, means a considerable reduction in price, and, from a commercial point of view, ordinary Daffodil growing may be said to have reached bedrock prices a long time ago.

However, of late years, our American cousins have taken a keen interest in the importation of bulbs from Europe, and as gardening is a comparatively new industry in that extensive country, we may expect that it will afford a good market for many years to come. Not many years ago certain kinds of Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinths, &c., were a drug in the English markets, and could be had at a very low price. Since, however, the Americans have become fond of bulb-growing, these particular kinds have advanced considerably in price, in some cases 100 to 150 per cent., because it so happened they were just the sorts that were liked on the other side of the Atlantic.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.

It is curious to note in this respect that almost every part of the temperate and sub-tropical regions of the globe have contributed some cla.s.s of bulbous plants now to be found in cultivation. Central and Southern Europe and Northern Africa have supplied us with various Daffodils and Narcissi, Tulips, &c. From Asia Minor and Turkestan, the Chionodoxas, and many bulbous Irises and Fritillarias have been introduced. California and other parts of North America have produced the Mariposa Lilies, all the Dog's Tooth Violets, except the common British one, the Brodiaeas, &c., while South Africa has given us the Gladiolus, Montbretias, and Tritonias, Crocosma, and other beautiful plants. And the Lilies, which form a large group in themselves, are to be found in almost every temperate clime north of the equator (see page 95).

When these facts are borne in mind, the reader will readily understand the necessity of trying to imitate, as far as possible, in our own climate the various natural conditions under which these plants are found.

PLATE 2. SCILLA SIBIRICA MULTIFLORA (7) GALANTHUS NIVALIS (8) CHIONODOXA LUCILIae (9) HYACINTHUS AZUREUS (10)

SOMETHING ABOUT BULBS AND CORMS.

There is so much confusion of thought as to what a "bulbous" plant really is, that it may be as well at the beginning of this volume to endeavour to clear up the haziness that exists in regard to the matter.

It seems to be taken for granted that any plant with a swollen or thickened stem or rootstock is a "bulbous" one. And this impression is no doubt confirmed when one consults the bulb catalogues issued by nurserymen. In these publications--chiefly, no doubt, for the sake of convenience and to avoid unnecessary extra expense in printing--a large number of plants are enumerated as if they were really bulbous. It is, therefore, not at all unnatural that the amateur should come to the conclusion that everything mentioned between the covers of a bulb catalogue should be truly bulbous in nature. Even some publications on bulbous plants have adopted the same loose nomenclature. Thus we find such non-bulbous plants as Aconites, Anemones, Dahlias, Dicentras, Day-Lilies, Hepaticas, Solomon's Seal, Astilbe j.a.ponica, Tropaeolums, Lily of the Valley, Corydalis, Torch Lilies, Paeonies, Christmas Roses, and many others described as "bulbous" plants, while some that are really so, and worthy of cultivation, are not even mentioned.

Some of the plants referred to above have thickened stems or roots, and will be found described in their proper places in the companion volume to this--"BEAUTIFUL GARDEN FLOWERS." They belong to several different families of plants. True bulbous plants, however (with which we may include those having "corms"), are confined to very few families.

Indeed, they are restricted to one of the two large groups of flowering plants, viz., that in which the leaves usually have parallel veins, and the flowers have their parts in circles of three or six. This group of plants is known to botanists as "monocotyledons," and is still further distinguished by having only _one_ seed-leaf, as may be seen when the seeds of any of them sprout, as shown in the Tulip, p. 35.

It is within the limits of this definition, therefore, that all the plants described in this book come. They all have parallel-veined leaves, and the parts of their flowers are in "threes" or "sixes," as may be seen by consulting the coloured plates.

PLATE 3. BULBOUS IRISES I. HISTRIO, (11) I. BAKERIANA, (12). I.

KOLPAKOWSKYANA, (13) I. DANFORDIae, (14) I. PERSICA (15)

There is an apparent contradiction to this rule in the Daffodils (Narcissi) in which the "trumpet" or "corona" in the centre makes a seventh organ. A similar growth may be seen in such bulbous plants as the Eucharis, Hymenocallis, Pancratium, &c., that are usually grown under gla.s.s. This corona is a.n.a.logous to the ligules or scale-like outgrowths so noticeable on the petals of the Campions (Lychnis), the chief difference being that in the Narcissi the ligules are joined together, become much larger, and often const.i.tute the most attractive feature of the flowers.

=Definition of a "Bulb".=--Perhaps the very best-known example of a true bulb is the common or garden Onion. Another example is shown in the sketch of a Hyacinth and Tigridia.

Ill.u.s.tration: TUNICATED BULB OF HYACINTH in section showing "Disc," and Scale Leaves _s. l._

Ill.u.s.tration: TIGRIDIA BULB, Showing thick Contractile Roots.

The bulbs of Daffodils, Tulips, Snowdrops, Scillas, &c., all conform very closely to the Onion in structure. It will be noticed that at the base of the Hyacinth, for example, is a flattish or deltoid ma.s.s of tissue. This is called the "disc" and is really the stem portion of the bulb. On the upper surface it bears a number of thick scaly leaves packed very close together, and rolled round each other, with the flower-spike in the centre; while from the under surface, the roots emanate when growth takes place. It may be easily imagined by the reader that if the "disc" were drawn out lengthwise, and if a s.p.a.ce separated one scale-leaf from another, that the bulb would be very similar in appearance to an ordinary leafy stem. Nature, however, has a certain object in view in modifying the stems and leaves in such a manner that they are tightly packed away when at rest, within a brown protecting coat, so that they resemble the large scale-protected flower-buds that may be seen in winter on Horse-chestnuts, Lilacs, Ash, &c. The thick scale-leaves are really storehouses in which food has been stored up by the larger and broader green leaves that perform the functions of a.s.similation, respiration, &c., above the ground during the growing period.

When the bulb begins to grow, the food in the thick scale-leaves is drawn up to supply nourishment to the flower-stem, until the new green leaves can manufacture or elaborate a fresh supply in the sunlight from the raw materials drafted into them from the soil by the roots. Under favourable circ.u.mstances more food is elaborated than is necessary for the wants of the plant, and then extra growths or young bulbs called "offsets" are developed at the base, or rather the side, of the older bulb.

It should be mentioned here, however, that all bulbs do not vegetate in the same way. In many cases the original bulb persists for several seasons, as in the Daffodil and Hyacinth, for example; but in others it vanishes completely during the period of growth, and is absorbed, or swallowed up, as it were, by the flower stem. The most common example of this among bulbs is the Tulip, to which more detailed reference has been made at p. 133.

=Kinds of Bulbs.=--Most true bulbs are constructed like the Onion, Daffodil, Snowdrop, or Hyacinth, in having the scale-leaves rolled round each other, forming different layers or coats. Such bulbs are said to be "tunicated." In the case of the Liliums, however, the scale-leaves only lap over each other at the edges, and are arranged spirally round the central axis. These bulbs are called "scaly," or "imbricated," and are shown in the annexed sketch on p. 12.

The individual scales are much thicker at the base than at the apex, and in the case of tunicated bulbs, they are also thicker on one side than the other. By this arrangement, the various "coats" can be rolled round each other more tightly, and without wasting any s.p.a.ce.

Ill.u.s.tration: SCALY BULB OF LILY.