Lachenalias--Nerines and Lycorises--Pancratiums and Hymenocallises --Richardias--Sprekelias--Tuberoses--Vallotas--Watsonias--Zephyranthes
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.
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.