THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



131 



those who literally " follow their 

 nose " in making selections of plants 

 for culture. 



One of our favourite shrubs, which 

 we grow in a wet peat bed, is Myrica 

 gale the swept gale (or box myrtle), 

 a native of Britain, and quite hardy 

 This is more delicioualy scented than 

 any myrtle, and the best of all 

 vegetable products to place in drawers 

 with clothing, to render them 

 delightfully perfumed. When near- 

 ing this plant during a garden ramble, 

 the nose is informed of its proximity 

 to a source of a most refreshing and 

 agreeable spicy odour, and a twig of 

 the plant broken off at any time, 

 winter or summer, will retain its 

 fragrance for months, if kept inclosed 

 in a book or between folds of linen. 

 Hung up anywhere in a room, it will 

 diffuse its sweet odour for weeks 

 together in the atmosphere ; and, as 

 the plants grow freely, it only needs 

 to be cut at judiciously, and it will 

 supply twigs all the year round for 

 any purpose for which its fragrance, 

 may be required. This plant is plen-' 

 tiful on the dreary wastes of Dart- 

 moor, where the red pebbly heath 

 soil seems to suit it admirably. It 

 will grow anywhere with hardy 

 heaths and rhododendrons, and when 

 bearing catkins is an interesting 

 though not a beautiful object. When 

 the sweet gale is boiled, a wax rises 

 to the surface of the water, which, if 

 collected and made into candles, 

 emit the same spicy fragrance while 

 burning. 



Another quite hardy plant rarely 

 seen in English gardens, and the 

 most deliciously scented of all 

 herbaceous plants, is Thymus Corsica 

 the Corsican thyme. This forms a 

 close spreading tuft like a miniature 

 decumbent chickweed, and before it 

 comes into bloom is attractive only 

 for its close felt-like appearance, 

 having somewhat the aspect of a tuft 

 of moss or spergula. But it always 

 emits some amount of thymy odour, 

 which is more powerful than any 

 other thyme when the leaves are 

 rubbed or bruised by the hand. 

 During June, July, and August, it is 

 covered with myriads of little purple 

 flowers not much larger than the 



head of a pin, and then for its 

 fragrance it is of the highest value. 

 La lies who amuse themselves in the 

 garden should obtain this thyme and 

 keep it; we have grown it for many 

 years on a very simple plan. The 

 tufts are grown in five-inch pots ; 

 when the season is at an end, the pots 

 are placed in a cold frame, and simply 

 left alone till spring. By that time 

 all the plants have died, but the 

 surface of the mould is covered with 

 seedlings, self-sown in the pots the 

 previous season. These are carefully 

 lifted out in clumps of two or three 

 together, and planted in the centres 

 of pots filled with fresh soil, consist- 

 ing of sweepings of the peat bin, 

 with leaf-mould, rotten dung, and 

 sand ; any light rich sandy mixture 

 will do. One plant placed in the 

 centre will soon cover a five- inch pot, 

 as the branches run along and root 

 as they go ; these will sow their own 

 seeds as before, and the species need 

 never be lost. This Comcan thyme 

 is a suitable plant for the chinks in 

 front of a rockery, and a very good 

 companion for it is the variegated 

 form of the common thyme, Thymus 

 vulgaris variegata. This is a sweet 

 pretty shrub, with yellowish-grey 

 leaves, the points of which are tinged 

 of a lively red during its first growth 

 in spring. When in bloom it has no 

 beauty, but is powerfully fragrant. 

 There is a variegated variety of our 

 English wild thyme, Thymus ser- 

 pyllum variegata which has all the 

 mountain aroma of the species. All 

 the varieties and species of Thymus 

 thrive in English gardens, on sandy 

 banks.but in damp or shady situations 

 they do not live long, or at least 

 rarely survive the winter. 



In Covent Garden Market, im- 

 mense numbers of (so-called) orange 

 blossoms are sold during winter and 

 spring ; of course the purchasers are 

 mostly concerned in the purchases of 

 wedding cakes and white gloves, but 

 the orange blossoms are the first 

 requisites when bride, bridegroom, the 

 ring, and the parson are in readiness. 

 Now it is very rarely that real orange 

 blossoms are sold at all; the flowers 

 so called are the produce of a lovely 

 evergreen called Gardenia citrioclora, 

 G2 



