rim.  The spaces between and around the bulbs to be filled with moistened fibre, carefully firmed in by hand.  The bulbs will require practically no attention for the first few weeks and may be stood in a warm, airy position, but on no account must they be shut up in a close cupboard.  If the fibre has been properly moistened there will be no need to give water until the shoots are an inch or so long, but the fibre must not be allowed to go dry, or the flower-buds become ‘blind.’  The surface of the fibre should always look moist, but if too much water has been given the bowl may be held carefully on its side so that the surplus water can drain away.  As the growth increases more water will be required and all the light possible must be given to insure sturdy foliage.  This fibre also answers admirably instead of water for Hyacinths grown in glasses, but care should be taken to fill the glasses as lightly as possible with the compost; if crammed in tightly the root growth is liable to lift the bulbs out of position.

==Achimenes==

Showy stove bulbs remarkable for their beauty.  Given a sufficiency of heat, the cultivation is of the easiest nature, for they grow rapidly and flower freely, if potted in sandy peat, and kept in a warm greenhouse or the coolest part of a stove, in a somewhat humid atmosphere.  It needs only the simplest management to have these plants in bloom at almost any season of the year, for the bulbs may be kept dormant for a considerable length of time without injury, and may be started into growth as required to keep up a long succession of flowers.  They are occasionally well grown in common frames over hot-beds.  For suspended baskets Achimenes are invaluable.

==Agapanthus==

In favoured districts on the South coast this noble plant succeeds admirably if planted out between September and March in a rich, deep, moist loam, either in full sun or in partial shade.  When grown in pots it requires a strong loamy soil, with plenty of manure, and throughout the summer the pots should be allowed to stand in pans of water.  As the Agapanthus is a gross-feeding plant, it should be re-potted annually in autumn, and be wintered in a cool pit or frame.  In transferring to new pots a little care must be taken to avoid injuring the mass of fleshy roots.

==Allium==

The =Allium neapolitanum= is the finest white-flowered variety, and is exceedingly valuable for bouquets and vase decoration.  The large umbels of blossoms are of the purest white.  It is one of the earliest spring-flowering bulbs, and, although quite hardy, it comes forward quickly and easily in a cool house.

==Alstroemeria==

An elegant plant which belongs to the nearly hardy group referred to in the notice of Ixia.  In autumn it may be safely planted out in almost any part of the United Kingdom, provided it is planted nine inches deep, and can have a sunny position on a dry soil, for damp is more hurtful to it than frost.  As a pot plant it is comparatively useless, but if allowed to remain several years in a dry border, a large clump of any of the varieties presents a brilliant appearance when in flower.