464 



BRACHYGLOTTis. • THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



BRACHYGLOTTIS REPANDA— A 



New Zealand shrub, with fine fohage 

 deeply-toothed ; of a deep green, mottled 

 with dark purple on the upper side and 

 silvery-white beneath. As many of the 

 leaves on a shrub invariably display their 

 undersides the sharp contrast between the 

 white and the deep green is striking. The 

 leaves are nearly a foot in length and 8 in. 

 in breadth. In the small state they are 

 ivory-white on both sides. The flowers 

 are said to be minute and inconspicuous, 

 but the shrub is not apparently a free 

 bloomer, as a specimen that has grown at 

 Kingswear, vS. Devon, for six years, and 

 is now 5 ft. 6 in. in height, has shown no 

 sign of blossom up to the present. It 

 appears to be quite hardy in the south- 

 \\-est. Syn. Sc7iccio Fosteri. 



BRASSICA. — Some forms of the Cab- 

 bage, particularly the variegated Kails, are 

 used in the flower g-arden for winter 

 effect, where people are ignorant of what 

 a flower-garden means — in winter even 

 a beautiful thing to those who know how 

 to make it so. So we will forego de- 

 scriptions of how to grow Kail for the 

 flower-garden. The odour of such things 

 about a house after a hard frost should be 

 enough of itself to condemn them. And as 

 for beauty, a corner of a labourer's garden 

 with a few Snowdrops and Hepaticas is 

 worth all the displays of the floral kail- 

 yard ever seen. 



BRAVO A {Scarlet TiL'inflo7ver).—B. 

 gemiiiiflora is a pretty Mexican bulbous 

 plant of the Amaryllis order. From i to 

 2 ft. high, the flower-stems stout and erect, 

 bearing on the upper part numerous pairs 

 of nodding tubular flowers of a rich scarlet 

 outside, but inclined to yellow within. It 

 succeecls well in warm sheltered situations 

 in borders of light and well-drained soil, 

 but requires some protection over the 

 bulbs in winter. It flowers in autumn, and 

 remains a long time in bloom. 



BREVOORTIA {Criinson Satinflower). 

 — B. cocci JieuK a beautiful bulbous flower, 

 of the Lily order, also known as B. Ida- 

 Mai. It is one of the prettiest 

 Californian plants. The flowers grow on 

 stems, l^ to 2 ft. high, and are tubular 

 and of a deep crimson-red, the lips a vivid 

 green. It succeeds best in friable loam. 

 Plant in October, and the roots may re- 

 main undisturbed for several years. Not 

 less than three plants should be grouped 

 together, and a dozen will produce a still 

 better effect; an Osier rod in their midst 

 will support the fragile stems. Off'sets 

 and seed. 



BRIZA {Quakiftg Crass).— A graceful 

 family of Grasses, American and Euro- 



pean. B. maxima is one of the hand- 

 somest, growing 12 to 18 in. high ; may 

 be sown in the open in March in any 

 garden soil, is quite hardy and graceful 

 while growing, and useful for decoration 

 either green or dried. B. media (Common 

 Quaking Grass) is smaller, 9 to 15 in. 

 high. Borders. Seed. 



'B,'ROJilMA{Brodie'sLilyorCaliforma?T 

 Hyacinih). — A charming family of North 

 American liliaceous plants. 



B. congesta has the stems long and 

 wiry, the flowers in a dense umbel ; pur- 

 plish blue in colour, and very lasting. B. 

 alba is a pretty white-flowered variety. B. 

 capiiata much resembles this kind. 



B. grandiflora. — This is an old and 

 pretty plant, about 5 in. high, with deep 

 purplish-blue flowers in a loose umbel in 

 July. At the time of flowering the foliage 

 is often withered, and to hide the naked- 

 ness of the stems it is sometimes best 

 planted among other low-growing plants. 



B. Howelli. — This pretty species has 

 flowers in a fine umbel, bell-shaped and 

 milky white. A beautiful variety of it 

 {lilacina') has delicate bluish flowers, re- 

 taining its fine deep-green foliage at the 

 time of flowering, and throwing up sturdy 

 stems about 2 ft. high, crowned by large 

 flat umbels of well-shaped flowers. 



B. laxa is a very old garden plant, of 

 which there are several varieties, not only 

 varying in colour, but in the size of the 

 flowers and the umbels. 



B. minor, probably a variety of the 

 foregoing, is very pretty ; the scape is 

 not more than an inch high, about fifteen 

 flowers in the umbel ; the colour purplish 

 blue, with a lighter centre. 



B. peduncularis is a pretty white- 

 flowered species, with large umbel of 

 porcelain-white blossoms. 



These bulbs may be planted from 

 October until December, and in mild 

 localities will pass the winter in the 

 open unprotected. In Holland, where 

 the winters are often very severe, they 

 are covered with reeds or straw at the 

 approach of the cold season. This 

 covering will keep the cold off, the soil 

 open, and ward off' the effects of a treach- 

 erous winter sun. — C. G. V. T. 



BROMUS [Brome Grass). -At least one 

 of this large genus of Grasses is very 

 graceful and worthy of culture — that is 

 B. brizccformis., a hardy biennial about 

 2 ft. high, with large graceful and droop- 

 ing heads. It is more valuable for cutting 

 and drying than any of the Quaking 

 Grasses. It may be grown as an annual 

 sown out-of-doors in spring, and autumnal- 

 sown plants would be best in warm soils. 



