24 THE GARDENER. [Jan. 



situations, preferring moist, shady places, but not refusing to grow 

 freely in those more dry and exposed. They grow freely in the shade 

 and drip of large trees, and may be used for clothing naked banks 

 with great facility and success. Several fine variegated forms also of 

 the hardy sub-shrubby species may be used with great effect for those 

 and for more select purposes, such as the edging of beds and borders 

 of shrubs, draping rockwork and rustic work, and even for the edging 

 of beds and borders of flowers. All are easily propagated by cuttings, 

 in the autumn or in spring, in a cold frame or under a hand-glass 

 kept moderately close and shaded till the process of rooting has com- 

 menced, and by division either in autumn or spring. 



V. major is the strongest and largest of the hardy Vincas : it grows 

 from 1 foot to 2 or 3 feet high, according to soil and situation. 

 The leaves are broad, ovate, bright shining green. There are two 

 sorts of branches, those growing erect from the roots and bearing 

 flowers, and those trailing and fiowerless, and rooting as they extend. 

 The flowers are large, somewhat bell-shaped, and blue in darker or 

 brighter shades. It flowers throughout the spring and early summer. 

 It is a native of England, in many parts, and of the south of Europe 

 and the Caucasus. There are several interesting and valuable var- 

 ieties of this species. A white-flowered sort, not very common, has a 

 fine effect, mixed with the blue, on banks, or wherever masses may be 

 grown. The V. major, var. elegantissima, has the leaves blotched and 

 margined with creamy white, and is an elegant plant for many pur- 

 poses. Y. major, var. aurea, is even more beautiful and effective than 

 the preceding. The leaves are richly marked w T ith golden yellow, 

 which in the spring, when young growth is being made, is very 

 beautiful indeed. V. major, var. reticulata, is an elegant but not 

 very striking sort, having the veins of the leaves delicately marked 

 with golden yellow. In rich soils and moist shady situations this 

 is not a constant variety, being apt to run green where oversell 

 fed ; but in poorer soil, and more exposed places, the effect of 

 the rich colouring of the veins on the dark shining leaf-ground is 

 very elegant. 



V. minor, the common Periwinkle, is much, more prostrate and 

 slender than the foregoing species, and is, if possible, more useful for 

 covering banks and for planting under trees. The leaves are smaller 

 than those of V. major, and they are ovate-lanceolate. The flowers 

 also are smaller, but more profuse : they are also more variously coloured, 

 there being blue, purple, violet, pink, and white coloured varieties. 

 There are also two varieties with prettily variegated leaves, the one 

 creamy and the other golden yellow. It flowers in April and May, 

 and onwards throughout the early summer months. JSTative of the 



