178 THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



if collected and made into candles, emits tlie 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 

 Corsicus, 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. Ladies 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 arc 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 covereil with seed- 

 lings, 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, consisting 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 Corsican 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 serpyllum 

 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, immense 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 re- 

 quisites 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 citriodora, which is grown in a moist stove, and with 

 good treatment blooms most profusely ; in fact, little plants a few 

 inches high will produce a dozen blossoms at a time. This may be 

 grown as well in a warm greenhouse, but it it will not there bloom 

 in the depth of winter. Gardenia radicans is much better for a cool 

 house, and never fails to reward the careful cultivator with an 

 abundance of its fragrant white blossoms. The way to manage 

 them is to prune directly after flowering, and grow them rapidly in 



