5M 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



hairs, soon become smooth and red-brown 

 in colour. The flowers and berries are 

 smaller than those of micrpphylla. H i ma- 

 laya from Kashmir to Sikkim. 



For a very complete account of this 

 interesting group, see Flora and Sylva, 

 vol. ii., p. 175. It is an intricate family 

 to distinguish ; not a few of the kinds 

 have little garden value, but we may 

 expect good kinds yet to come, as the 

 country they mostly come from is so vast 

 and as yet so little known. 



CRAMBE. — One of the finest of 

 hardy and large-leaved herbaceous 

 plants, as easily grown as the common 

 Seakale, and in rich ground having 

 many stout leaves and dense sprays of 

 small white flowers. C. cordifoUa may be 

 planted wherever a bold type of vege- 

 tation is desired. C. jiuicea, a dwarf 

 kind, has white flowers and much- 

 branched stems, the ramifications of 

 which are elegant, but it is not so valuable 

 as C. cordifoUa. 



CRAT^GUS {Thorns). — Beautiful 

 hardy flowering trees, of which some of the 

 most beautiful kinds are seldom seen out- 



Cratsegus parvifol 



side botanical gardens : many are charm- 

 ing for their flowers, others for their 

 pretty fruits, while in a few the habit is 

 picturesque. Perhaps the most beautiful 

 of all is C. Oxyacantha, the Hawthorn or 

 Whitethorn, and its varieties have every 

 gradation of tint from deep crimson, 

 through pinks, to the snowy whiteness of 

 the double sort. Paul's Double Scarlet, 

 the double pink, double white, the single 

 scarlet (Punicea), rose (Carminata or 

 Rosea), and various others are precious 

 for the garden. Some varieties, like the 

 graceful Pendula, are remarkable for their 

 habit others have distinct foliage, and a 

 few differ as regards fruit, there being 

 white and yellow-berried varieties. 



Other species deserving of a place in 



gardens are many. A selection of the best 

 includes : The Cockspur Thorn {C. Crus- 

 ga/li), from North America, usually about 

 10 ft. high, is remarkable for peculiar 

 growth, especially the variety pyracanthi- 

 folia. In this the branches spread out 

 like a table, and the older the tree be- 

 comes the more pronounced the table-like 

 growth. Other distinct sorts of the Cock- 

 spur Thorn are nana, linearis, OTalifoiia, 

 a.x\dpriinifoIia. The Scarlet-fruited Thorn, 

 also North American, is beautiful both 

 when covered with white bloom in early 

 summer or with scarlet fruits in autumn. 

 The Tansy-leaved Thorn {C. tanaceti- 

 folia) is distinct in foliage, with cut leaves 

 of a whitish hue, and it is one of the 

 latest Thorns to flower. C. Azarolus, 

 Aronia, and orientalis are all natives of 

 the Levant, and they are so beautiful in 

 autumn, with fine-coloured fruits as big 

 as Hazel nuts, that they deserve a place. 

 One specimen of any of these on a lawn 

 would be sufficient in a small garden, as 

 they are spreading, and in good soils 15 

 or 20 ft. high. The Washington Thorn 

 (C cordata) flowers when all the others 

 are past ; hence its value. C. glandidosa^ 

 also known as C.flava, has yellow fruits. 

 C. Doiiglasi has dark-purple haws, and C. 

 mela7iocarpa and C. nigra have black 

 haws. The Pyracantha (C Pyracantha), 

 so common as a wall climber, is a favourite 

 because of its orange-scarlet berries and 

 evergreen foliage. It is suitable for 

 planting in the open, and some beautiful 

 effects may be made by making its 

 spreading and trailing growth serve as a 

 margin to groups of taller Thorns, or 

 other small trees. The variety Lfelandi 

 fruits more freely than the common Pyra- 

 cantha when planted as a bush, and 

 another variety, Pausiflora, is dwarferand 



' closer in habit, and, in France, where 

 these shrubs are much grown, is found to 

 be the hardiest. 



CREPIS {Hawk's-beard). — Of this 

 genus of Compositai few, save B. rubra, the 



; Red Hawk's-beard, are worthy of culture. 

 It is a hardy Italian annual, bearing 

 pretty pink flowers about the size and 

 form of the Dandelion, and should be 

 sown in spring or autumn like other hardy 

 annuals in any ordinary garden soil. It 

 flowers from June to September, and is 

 suitable for borders or beds of annual 



! flowers. There is also a variety with white 

 flowers. C. aurca is a perennial, 6 to 12 

 in. high, with small orange blossoms, but 

 seldom more than one to each slender 

 stem. C. incisa is a good species for 

 border, owing to its compact habit and 

 large showy lig-ht-purple flowers, as is also 



