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.
Nerines and Lycorises
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.
Pancratiums and Hymenocallises
These closely allied plants require similar treatment, and may be suitably mentioned together. The connection is so close indeed that several of the species of either bear in gardens the generic name of the other. The stove species should always be kept moist, while the plants which do with greenhouse temperature need to be kept dry while at rest in winter. The pots must be large and filled with good loam and leaf-mould, with a dash of silver sand. The bulbs should be just below the surface. A few, which have been also known as Ismenes, are understood to be hardy in favoured places. Ordinary stove heat will suit the following:—Hymenocallises:—andreana, Choretis, expansa, lacera, ovata, macrostephana, maculata, speciosa; and Pancratiums verecundum and zeylanicum. For the greenhouse there are:—H. Amancaes, calathina, harrisiana, littoralis (syn. adnata), macleana (the hardiest), tenuifolia. In looking over catalogues to order these, Pancratium, Hymenocallis, and Ismene should all be referred to on account of the uncertainty about the nursery names.
Richardias
These are best known because of the popular R. africana, often called Calla æthiopica, the Arum Lily, or Lily of the Nile. All the species like a very rich soil, and a plentiful supply of water while growing. R. africana can be grown as a hardy aquatic in some warm districts in these islands if the crowns are well below the depth to which the water is frozen. It is, however, most grown as a greenhouse or window plant, especially when white flowers are wanted early. After flowering, it may either be planted out in trenches in the garden, or dried off and started in the same pots. Potting may be done about September, and the plants grown in ordinary greenhouse temperature. Albo-maculata, hastata, and melanoleuca are less beautiful. Adlami, elliotiana, Pentlandi, and Rehmanni are all newer and of much beauty, the second and third having yellowish flowers.
Sprekelias
Although Sprekelia formosissima, known also as Amaryllis formosissima, the "Jacobea Lily," is sometimes recommended as a half-hardy bulb, this is of doubtful expediency, and it is better to treat it as a cool greenhouse bulb and to grow it in pots. It is sometimes planted out on a sunny border below a wall in April and lifted in September, but we recommend planting it in turfy loam, well-decayed manure and a little sand, in pots, and treating it like the Hippeastrum, but in a rather lower temperature. It grows about two feet high, and has crimson or white flowers about June. There is another named S. Cybister, which has red flowers about April.