446 



ARETHUSA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



A. norwegica is one of the best kinds, 

 forming dense cushions about 6 in. in 

 diameter, and covered with large white 1 

 flowers throughout the summer. A fine 

 alpine plant. Norway. 



A. purpurascens {Purplish Sandwort). 

 — An interesting kind with purplish 

 flowers, on a dwarf tufted mass of smooth 

 pointed leaves. It is plentiful over the 

 Pyrenean mountains, hardy, and, like the 

 other kinds, increased by seed or division. 

 It should be associated in the rock-garden 

 with the smallest plants. 



There are a great number of other 

 species, but it is not easy to find among 

 them plants of such garden value as those 

 named above. 



ARETHUSA. — A. bidbosa is a beautiful 

 American hardy Orchid, which grows in 

 wet meadows or bog-land, blossoming in 

 May and June. Each plant bears a bright 

 rose-purple flower that shows well on its 

 bed of Sphagnum, Cranberry, and Sedge. 

 The little bulbs grow in a mossy mat 

 formed by the roots and decaying herbage 

 of plants and moss. In cultivation it re- 

 quires the same soil, and the leaf mustbe as 

 well matured as possible. A shady moist 

 spot with a northern exposure is best, and 

 the soil should be a mixture of well-rotted 

 manure and Sphagnum. During winter, 

 protect the bed with some cover, for it is 

 not so hardy in gardens as in its bog home. 



ARGEMONE {PricklyPoppy).—¥i2.r,d.- \ 

 some Poppy-like plants, said to be peren- 

 nial, but perishing on moist soils after 

 the first year. As they come from the 

 warmer parts of California and Mexico, 

 and even there grow on dry hill-sides 

 and in warm valleys, their perishing here 

 may be understood. Usually about 2 ft. 

 high, they have large white flowers 4 in. 

 across with a bunch of yellow stamens 

 in the centre. They require a warm 

 loam, and go with the choicest annual 

 flowers. The kinds mostly grown are 

 A. Diexicana., A. grandifloj-a., and A. 

 htspida, which are so much alike in habit 

 as not to need separate description. Seed 

 in a warm frame. 



ARISTOTELIA.— yi.wrt<r^z«isahardy 

 Chilian shrub of the Lime Tree family, | 

 chiefly esteemed for its handsome ever- 

 green foliage. The pea-like berries are at 

 first dark purple but eventually black. 

 There is a variegated form, but not quite 

 so hardy as the species. Commoner in j 

 southern Ireland than in England. 



ARISTOLOCHIA [Dutchman's Pipe). 

 — Climbing Birthworts of curious form of 

 flower, and effective in foliage. A. Sipho 

 is generally used as a wall-plant, but is 

 finer for covering bowers, or for clam- 



bering up trees or over stumps. A. 

 tomentosa is smaller, distinct in its tone 

 of green, and useful in like ways ; both 

 plants are N. American, growing with 

 freedom in ordinary garden soil. The 

 family is a large one, mainly tropical, but 

 some of the forms go into northern coun- 

 tries. Propagated by cuttings. 



ARMERIA ( Thrift, Sea Pi7ik).—KozV 

 and shore plants of the Statice order, 

 of which the best known is the common 

 A. vulgaris (Thrift). This native of our 

 shores, and of the tops of the Scottish 

 mountains, is very pretty, with its flowers 

 of soft lilac or white springing from 



The Tufted Thrift (Armeria caespitosa). 



cushions of grass-like leaves ; but the 

 deep rosy form, rarely seen wild, best 

 deserves cultivation. It is useful for the 

 spring garden, for banks or borders in 

 shrubberies, for edgings, and for the rock- 

 garden, and is easily increased by division. 

 As old plants do not bloom so long 

 as young ones, occasional replanting is 

 desirable. In addition to the white 

 variety and the old dark red one, there 

 are Crinisofi Gem and Laiicheana, the 

 flowers intense pink. A. ccespitosa is a 

 rose-coloured kind from the south of 

 Europe, 5,000 to 8,000 ft. above sea-level. 

 Its flower-heads, each from | in. to i in. in 

 diameter, are borne on slender stems i to 

 2 in. high, from June to September. The 

 leaves are in dense tufts, with a branching 

 woody root-stock. A rock-garden plant, 

 thriving in any well-drained, rather poor, 

 sandy loam ; in wet weather it is apt to 

 damp off at the neck in rich soil. Seed. 

 A. ccpJialotes (Great Thrift) is one of the 

 best hardy flowers from South Europe and 

 South Africa, and should be in every good 



