LACHENALIAS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20233, 17 February 1934, Page 23 (Supplement)

LACHENALIAS.

Ijachenalias are among the most distinct and beautiful of dwarf bulbous plants and equally suitable for greenhouse culture The leaves of some of the varieties are prettily spotted. There are quite a number of varieties, some of which are very rare. However, tricolour and a few others are now more common as they increase rapidly, and all the bulbs, excepting the smallest, flower. The attractive tubular flowers are disposed around the erect flower spikes. They are not hardy, except in the warmer parts, a few degrees of frost being sufficient to cut them, and as. they make their foliage in the autumn they are exposed to all the winter weather. Where they can be grown outside they are delightful subjects, especially for a pocket in the rockery, or at the top of

a bank where the flowers are just below the eye level, so that one looks into, rather than down at, the flowers. They require plenty of water during the growing season; usually this is not a matter of much import as their growing season is in winter, but they must also have good drainage. They do not seem particular to soil, although a sandy compost suits them best. Plant the bulbs about 2in deep and 3in apart. If grown in pot or basket the same advice in regard to soil applies. Baskets should have a good layer of moss to prevent soil sifting through, and the bulbs should be placed evenly so the whole basket is enveloped with foliage.