Double-flowering, Yellow.—Incomparable fl. pl., Van Sion.
White.—Alba plena odorata.
Poet’s narcissus (N. poeticus). Flowers white, with yellow cups edged crimson. Very fragrant.
Jonquils (N. Jonquilla). These have very fragrant yellow flowers, both double and single, and are old garden favorites.
Polyanthus narcissus (N. Tazetta). These include paper-white, Chinese sacred lily (var. orientalis), and others.
Primrose Peerless (N. biflorus).
Narcissi may be forced into flower through the winter, as described on p. 345. A popular kind for winter bloom is the so-called Chinese sacred lily. This grows in water without any soil whatever. Secure a bowl or glass dish, about three times the size of the bulb; put some pretty stones in the bottom; set in the bulb and build up around it with stones so as to hold it stiff when the leaves have grown; tuck two or three small pieces of charcoal among the stones to keep the water sweet, then fill up the dish with water and add a little every few days, as it evaporates. Set the dish in a warm, light place. In about six weeks the fragrant, fine white flowers will fill the room with perfume. The Paper-white, closely allied to this, is also forced, and is one of the few good bulbs that may be bloomed before Christmas. The Van Sions, single and double (a form of daffodil), are also much forced.
Oleander.—An old favorite shrub for the window-garden, and much planted in the open far South.
While there are many named varieties of the oleander, but two are often seen in general cultivation. These are the common red and white varieties. Both these, as well as the named varieties, are of easy management and well adapted to home culture, growing in pots or tubs for several years without special care. Well-grown specimens are very effective as porch or lawn plants, or may be used to good advantage in mixed beds of tall-growing plants, plunging the pot or tub to the rim in the soil. The plants should be cut back after flowering. They should be rested in any out-of-the-way place through the winter. When brought out in the spring, they should be given sun and air in order to make a sturdy growth.
Propagation is effected by using well-ripened wood for cuttings, placed in a close frame; or the slips may be rooted in a bottle or can of water, care being taken to supply water as evaporation takes place. After being rooted, they may be potted, using soil with a large proportion of sand. Well-established plants may be repotted in good loam and well-rotted manure. They should bloom the second year.