Beautiful Bulbous Plants Part 10

=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.

PLATE 32. TULBAGHIA VIOLACEA (113) ZEPHYRANTHES CANDIDA (114) CRINUM POWELLI ALb.u.m (115) LYCORIS SQUAMIGERA (116)

ENEMIES OF BULBOUS PLANTS.

Bulbous plants are subject to the attacks of various insect and fungoid pests in the same way as other plants are, and steps should be taken to free the plants from them whenever they appear, or to prevent them appearing at all.

It is easier to carry out the latter recommendation when insect enemies only are to be dreaded, but it is quite another matter with fungoid diseases, the presence of which is only revealed when they have reached the "fruiting" or spore stage, and have already done a certain amount of mischief.

=Wireworms, Grubs, &c.=--When a soil is infested with any of these pests, the gardener may be almost sure to find his choicest roots or bulbs eaten by them. He should, therefore, take the precaution to have the ground turned up, if possible, some time before planting, so that these pests may be brought to the surface and exposed to the keen eyes of the "birds in the air" who are always on the watch for any choice morsels that are likely to improve their voices.

It would not be safe, however, to trust altogether to the natural enemies of these pests who are usually endowed with keen powers for evading their attacks. It may be necessary, therefore, to lay traps of pieces of potato, carrot, parsnip, or any fleshy and enticing material in their haunts, and examine them regularly. A piece of stick thrust into these substances will make a convenient handle for lifting them up for examination. The best time of course to catch the enemy is when he is dining off his piece of potato, parsnip, or carrot. He and his friends should then be led forth for execution beneath the weight of the foot, or into a bucket of boiling water, or in any other way that the ingenious reader may devise. The main thing, however, to bear in mind is that the enemy must be _killed_ without mercy or remorse. And no matter how ruthlessly he is persecuted, it will be found each season that there are still some of his family left to carry on a guerilla warfare against the gardener and his plants. So that one must be really always on the watch for attack, and, like a wise general, be ready to meet it, or spoil it altogether.

Besides using traps of potatoes, carrots, &c., _nitrate of soda_ and _kainit_ have been found very useful for ridding the soil of these pests. About 2lbs. of nitrate of soda or kainit to a square rod (30-1/4 square yards) has been found an ample dressing. It should be distributed evenly over the surface of the soil, when the latter is in a moist--but not sodden--condition.

=Lime and Soot.=--Slugs and snails are great marauders among the young growths of bulbous and other plants, and may be kept in check by the use of nitrate of soda, and kainit, as well as by birds. These remedies may be supplemented, or even supplanted, by the use of lime and soot. These substances are always easy to obtain, and will be found of great use not only in keeping the garden free from insect pests, but also because of their manurial value.

When lime is used for checking the attacks of slugs or snails it should be freshly slaked, that is, a little caustic or quick-lime should be broken down into a fine white powdery ma.s.s by having a little water poured over it. When the heat has subsided the powdered lime may be sprinkled around and between the crowns of the plants that are being attacked by slugs. Should it come in contact with the slimy bodies of these it will soon kill them. Soot that has been exposed to the air for several weeks will be found a good preventive also against these pests, and it has the advantage of not being so conspicuous amongst the plants as lime. Fresh soot from the chimney should on no account be strewn amongst the young crowns or growths of plants, as the poisonous matters in it may kill them as well as the slugs.

Slaked lime and seasoned soot may be mixed together, and then strewn over the surface of the soil. Even common salt is a good slug destroyer, and may be applied in either a liquid or solid form. Lime-water is also an excellent cleanser, and may be given to the soil freely without injury to the plants. Where large numbers of Daffodils are grown one must keep a watch for the grub of the Narcissus fly (_Merodon equestris_ or _Narcissi_), an insect resembling a small and slender b.u.mble-bee in appearance. It lays its eggs in the early summer months in the Narcissi, and the grubs from these bore their way into the fleshy part of the bulb, damaging the growths and flower stems for next season. When the bulbs are being lifted or planted, any that are soft to the touch are very likely affected, and should be examined for the pest. Any badly affected should be burned. Those not so badly injured may be steeped in water in July or August, for about a week, to drown the maggots which at this period have caused but little mischief. When the perfect Merodon insects are on the wing from about the middle of May to the middle of July they may be enticed to drown themselves in saucers containing strong solutions of sugar or treacle, placed amongst the plants.

Although most birds in the garden may be looked on with a friendly eye, one must make an exception in the case of _Pa.s.ser domesticus_,--otherwise known as the common sparrow. He will tear your Crocuses--especially the yellow ones--to tatters out of sheer mischief. If he would only eat the petals or make a nest of them there would be some excuse; but no, he simply tears them to pieces and flings them, so to speak, in your face. Mrs. Sparrow is no doubt just as bad, and therefore should have her nest and the eggs therein confiscated and destroyed on every possible occasion. A few strands of _black_ cotton thread stretched over the Crocuses will be found to yield a certain amount of protection against attack.

=Fungoid Diseases.=--Of the fungoid diseases affecting bulbous plants happily there are few; and even these are not troublesome to any alarming extent in the open air.

Snowdrops are sometimes attacked with a kind of mildew known scientifically as _Botrytis galanthina_. The fungus attacks bulbs, leaves, and flower-stems one after the other, and effectually stops the plants from flowering. As soon as this disease is seen on the plants, the affected portions should be carefully picked off and burned. Once the disease reaches the black spot-like stage, there is little hope for the plants so that they had better be burned straight away.

Colchic.u.ms, Crocuses, Tulips, Hyacinths, Daffodils, Gladioli, and others are affected from time to time with one fungoid disease or another, probably because the soil in which they grow has not been particularly well-prepared, and is full of some organic matter that can only be disposed of by the addition of freshly-slaked lime, and deep digging at the earliest opportunity. When any of the plants referred to are badly attacked with any fungoid disease, the simplest and best remedy is to burn them--and thus kill the spores and prevent them spreading. It will be cheaper to buy new bulbs the following season, and to grow them in _another_ portion of the garden, rather than try to reclaim the old ones whose doom in any case is only a matter of time.

Perhaps one of the worst diseases affecting bulbous plants is that which for some years past has ravaged plants of the Madonna Lily (_Lilium candidum_). The bulbs seem to be fairly free from the disease, but the leaves and stems become so badly affected in some parts of the country that they cannot perform their functions, with the result that no blossoms are borne, or only misshapen ones. There is at present, I believe, no effectual remedy against the Lily disease, and once it appears in a garden, the culture of the Madonna Lily is doomed from that moment. As a preventive, the plants might be sprayed several times during the season, from January onwards, with a solution made by dissolving one ounce of liver of sulphur in a gallon of hot water, and adding 2-1/2 gallons more of water. This should be applied with a fine-sprayed syringe, and is a good preventive against many kinds of fungoid attacks. If used near white woodwork and comes in contact with it, the paint will be discoloured. Of late years, the bulbs that are imported in such large numbers from j.a.pan have been more or less afflicted with a fungoid disease that appears to be very difficult to check. This disease may be the result of over cultivation, or too intense cultivation to secure large quant.i.ties of plants in a comparatively short time. The Bermuda Lily disease is probably the result of similar efforts to get rich too quickly. So that one natural remedy against the disease would be to grow the bulbs more naturally and allow them to ripen fully before disturbing them. However, as people in Europe must have Lilies, they take the best that can be provided. On arrival of the bulbs they should be carefully examined, and any diseased or decayed portions taken off and burned. As a preventive against any spores germinating, the bulbs may be well rolled in freshly slaked lime, and allowed to dry in a cool airy place for a day or two before planting or potting. Mr. Ma.s.see, in his book on "Plant Diseases," recommends submerging the bulbs in a 1 per cent. solution of salicylic acid for 20 minutes, and after thoroughly drying them, to kill the spores of the fungus.

PLATE 33. CROCUS MEDIUS (117) COLCHIc.u.m SPECIOSUM (118) STERNBERGIA LUTEA (119) STERNBERGIA MACRANTHA (120) CROCUS OCHROLEUCUS (121) CROCUS SPECIOSUS (122)

A peculiar fungoid disease, known as "basal rot," attacks Daffodils and Narcissi in soil that is cold and heavy or badly drained. It causes the leaves to become brown at the tips, and the bulbs to become rootless and swollen, while the tunics are soft and rotten at the base. The best way to check this disease is to have the bulbs lifted, and if they can only be grown in the same soil again, this should be deeply dug to let the water pa.s.s away from it, and some road grit and leaf-soil should be incorporated with it before re-planting. Some freshly slaked quicklime may be afterwards p.r.i.c.ked into the top with the fork.

MANURING BULBOUS PLANTS.

When bulbous plants, like Tulips, Hyacinths, Daffodils, &c., are planted and lifted annually, they can hardly be said to require any special manuring during the period of their growth, as the soil in which they are planted is, or ought to be, usually well prepared and manured in advance in the way recommended at p. 16. But even when such bulbs are planted and lifted every year, they might be considerably improved by the application of a little artificial manure at the right time. For instance, in December or January a little _basic slag_ (10 to 20 pounds to about 30 square yards) would supply phosphatic food to roots later on in the season when it would be useful for the development of the blossoms. A little _superphosphate of lime_ at the rate of four to eight pounds to 30 square yards, would also be useful, applied about March or April. _Kainit_ is a cheap potash manure, and may be applied at the same time as the basic slag at the rate of one or two pounds to the same area--either by itself or mixed with the slag.

It contains a good deal of common salt, and should therefore be applied _before_ root-action commences, otherwise it may prove injurious to the new roots.

The necessity for manuring becomes more important in the case of bulbous plants that are to be left in the same soil for several years. Like other plants, of course, they rob the soil of a certain amount of food, and unless this is returned in some way the soil gradually becomes poorer and the plants less vigorous. One of the best ways, perhaps, to supply fresh food for the roots of the bulbous plants is to give the soil a good top-dressing or mulching of well-decayed manure in the early autumn months. This will gradually decay during the ensuing winter and spring months and yield up its food. During this period it will also prevent the heat, that was taken into the soil in the summer, from escaping too rapidly by radiation. It would be more harmful than useful to apply a mulching of manure in the depth of winter or early spring, as it would prevent the sun's rays from warming the roots.

Where Lilies, Tulips, Daffodils, Crocuses, Snowdrops, and many other kinds of bulbous plants are naturalised in the gra.s.s, in flower borders, or amongst trees and shrubs, a good dressing of well-decomposed manure in the early autumn will prove highly beneficial each year. The basic slag, kainit, and superphosphate may be also applied at the seasons mentioned, if considered desirable.