570 



ESCAI.LONIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



EUCALYPTUS. 



turn) differs in having a bract developed, 

 as E. graudiJioniDi sometimes has. It is 

 very pretty, but, being a somewhat shy 

 flowerer, is seldom seen in cultivation. 

 In poor, sandy soil, this little plant 

 blooms better than in compact or cold 

 soil. 



E. gigantenm.— A variety oiE. irrandi- 

 Horuin. Its showy flowers of pure 

 white have a ring of bright orange-red, 

 and measure 3 in. in diameter. It is 

 found in California at an elevation of six 

 to ten thousand feet, and also in Van- 

 couver's Island. 



E. grandiflorum. — The only cultivated 

 kind with more than one flower on a stem. 

 In a peat bed, with Lilies and other 

 peat-loving plants, it is very fine, and pro- 

 duces as many as five flowers on a stem. 



I have planted them largely in Grass, 

 and find they thrive in every soil in that 

 way, and are very early and pretty both 

 in leaf and flower, scattered in groups and 

 colonies in turf. 



Other kinds are E. revolufutn, Var. 

 Jo/msoni, albidum, pnrpurasce?7S, pro- 

 pidlans, Hariivegi^ califorjiiciiin., citri- 

 jiiem, NuttaHz, Hefidersotiii, NoweHi, 

 Watsotiz — any are worth a place in half 

 shady and sheltered places. For a full 

 account of the western Erythroniums, 

 see Flora and Sylva, p. 250, Vol. I. 



ESCALLONIA.— The Escallonias in 

 cultivation are often beautiful shrubs, un- 

 fortunately sometimes perishing in hard 

 winters save in favoured districts. In 

 mild places the common E. inacrantha 

 succeeds in the open, but, as a rule, it 

 must be regarded as a wall shrub. Even 

 in the mild districts it is cut down during 

 severe winters, but it usually shoots up 

 again strongly in the returning spring. 

 There is a variety called sangidnea with 

 deeper - coloured flowers. Somewhat 

 similar to E. macrant/ia is E. rubra, but 

 the foliage is less handsome and the 

 flowers are paler. E. Philippiana is very 

 beautiful and hardy, as it may be grown 

 as a bush in the neighbourhood of London. 

 It is an Evergreen with small leaves, and 

 bears a profusion of large panicles of small 

 white flowers. It is a first-rate shrub, and 

 one of the best of the Escallonias. E. 

 pterocladon is very free-flowering, the 

 small flowers being white and pink, while 

 E. pimctata has dark red flowers some- 

 what similar to those of ^. rubra. Another 

 species, if. niontevidensis, also known as 

 E./loribufida, bears large loose clusters 

 of white flowers, and there are varieties — 

 usually seedling forms — known under 

 different names, especially in seaside 

 gardens. Among these, that called E. 



Ingrami is one of the best, being hardier 

 than E. macrazitha., though not so hand- 

 some. Escallonias are mostly natives 

 of S. America, chiefly Chili, Brazil, and 

 Peru. 



ESCHSCHOLTZIA {Califomian 

 Poppy). — Brilliant annual flowers, of easy 

 culture in ordinary soil. To have them 

 in all their beauty, they should be sown 

 in August and September for early 

 summer bloom. They may be sown later 

 — and should then be allowed to bloom 

 where they are sown. They get deeply 

 and firmly rooted, and flower much longer 

 than if sown in spring. They are very 

 hardy, and snails and slugs do not molest 

 them. There are some half a dozen kinds, 

 well worth growing, viz. E. califor7iica ; 

 E. crocea, saffron colour ; E. c. alba., 

 white ; E. c. Mandariit, orange and 

 crimson, very fine ; E. c. ^.-//., double ; 

 E. c. rosea., and E. temdfolia ; and new 

 forms are raised from time to time and 

 given in the seed lists. They are plants 

 that should not be used to any great ex- 

 tent in the select flower-garden. 



Known species. — Nearly all natives of Cali- 

 fornia. E. Austma, californica, elegans, 

 glyptosperiiia, mexicana, iinmitiflora, Parishii, 

 peninsiilaris, rhoinbipetala. 



EUCALYPTUS {Gum Tree).— Large 

 andhandsome Australian trees and shrubs, 

 of which a number of species grow to 

 a great height. The leaves are thick and 

 leathery, and vary much in shape. In the 

 south of England and Ireland a few of the 

 species live in the open air. About London 

 some grow them for their aspect in the 

 open air after a single year's growth, and 

 in that case they should be put out about 

 the middle of May. Some letters in the 

 Times, by persons unaware of the results 

 of planting the tree in this country, in- 

 duced many to plant the common Gum 

 tree, which perished with the first severe 

 frost. Only in the more favoured districts 

 have these trees any chance, and they 

 never present the graceful and stately 

 port which they show in countries that 

 really suit them, such as parts of Italy 

 and California. What the higher moun- 

 tain species may do remains to be seen, 

 and the common Gum tree is sometimes 

 made fair use of in the London parks 

 among the larger plants put out for 

 summer. I think these trees are unfitted 

 for our climate, and even in Algeria, 

 where many species were planted by the 

 French Government, the result, as I saw 

 it some years ago, was anything but 

 good. Among the hardier kinds are E. 

 globulus, Guniiii, citriodora, amygdaliiia., 

 cordata. 



