==Dog’s-tooth violet==

The red and white varieties are as hardy as any plant in our gardens, and by their neat habit and elegant leaves and flowers they are admirably adapted to plant in quantities in the front of a rockery, in either peat or sandy loam and leaf-mould.  They are equally suitable for edging small beds in gardens where spring flowers are systematically grown; in fact, they are true ‘spring bedders.’  Autumn is the proper time to plant the bulbs.  But Dog’s-tooth Violets are also worth growing in pots, especially where an unheated ‘Alpine house’ is kept for plants of this class.  Several bulbs may be put in a pot of the 48-size.

==Ferraria==—­=see= ==Tigridia==, =page 350=

==Freesia==

The singularly graceful form, wide range of beautiful colours, and delicious perfume of this flower have made it an immense favourite; and happily there is no Cape bulb which can be grown with greater ease in the frame or cool greenhouse.  One characteristic is very marked, and it is the disproportion between the small bulb and the fine flowers produced from it.

Procure the bulbs as early in the autumn as possible, and lose no time in potting them.  Any light rich soil will answer, but that which suits them best is composed of two parts of loam, one of leaf-mould, and one of peat, with enough sand or grit added to insure drainage.  Commence with pots of the right size, for the roots are extremely brittle, and there must be no risk of injuring them by re-potting.  The 48-size will accommodate several bulbs.  Place under a south wall, and cover with leaf-mould until top growth commences, and then remove the covering.

At the end of September transfer the pots to a cold frame, and when the plants attain a height of four inches, support them with neat sticks, which should not be inserted too near the bulbs.  Watering will require judgment, for too much moisture turns the foliage yellow.  When the pots are full of roots, liquid manure twice a week will be helpful.

After the blooming season has passed, encourage the foliage to wither by withholding water.  The roots may be stored away in their own pots until the following August.

==Fritillaria==

Fritillarias produce bell-shaped flowers, varying in colour, but generally of a purplish tint, and beautifully spotted.  They thrive in a good deep loam, but may be grown in almost any soil, and do well under the shade of trees.  They are quite hardy, and, like most other bulbs, should be planted in autumn.  Fritillarias are occasionally grown in pots kept in a cold frame, but they will not endure forcing in the least degree, and the mixed border is the best position for them.  These flowers make a charming ornament when grown in bowls filled with moss-fibre.

==Gladiolus==

The Gladiolus is adapted for many important uses and it associates admirably with Dahlias, Hollyhocks, Pyrethrums, and Phloxes in the furnishing of clumps on the lawn and in the mixed border.  It is perfectly in harmony with surroundings when planted in American beds or in the shrubbery.  For supplying cut flowers it is invaluable, as they retain their freshness in a vase for many days, and a plentiful supply should be grown in reserved spots expressly for this purpose.