6i4 



HYDRANGEA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



HYDRANGEA. 



the Sterile flowers, which have a very long-, 

 slender calyx tube. 



(^) H. Hortensia stellata. — The 

 chief character of this variety is in the 

 flowers, which are all sterile and double. 

 The variety in cultivation has pink flowers, 

 but they are described as iDeing either 

 pale blue or rose, finally changing to 

 a greenish colour, and distinctly net- 

 \eined. 



The white variety Thomas Hogg is a 

 very fine one, now widely cultivated. 

 Most of the above-named deserve the 

 attention of all who have soil and climate 

 suited to these shrubs. 



H. paniculata {Plumed Hydrangea). 

 — A shrub or small tree. According 

 to Maximowicz, the only Japanese 

 Hydrangea which becomes a tree. It 

 grows as much as 25 ft. high, with a 



The Plumed Hydrangea. 



dense rounded head and a straight 

 trunk 6 in. in diameter. But it more 

 commonly forms a shrub a few feet high, 

 bearing enormous panicles of flower. 

 With the exception of H. Hortensia., it 

 is the commonest species in Japan, 

 growing throughout that country both in 

 the mountains and the plains, being more 

 abundant in the northern parts, and it is 

 said to vary very much. It is commonly 

 cultivated by the Japanese. The massive 

 clusters of pure white blossoms, terminat- 

 ing every shoot in autumn, are very 



beautiful, and there are few finer autumn 

 effects than a well-flowered mass of this 

 shrulD. It must have a good soil, and be 

 well mulched with manure in winter. To 

 encourage the new growth the old and 

 useless shoots must be cut away. It is 

 from 3 to 4 ft. high, and spreads its 

 branches gracefully and widely on all 

 sides. The clusters are often i ft. long 

 and half as much in diameter, but to 

 get such flowers we must cultivate 

 well and prune the shrubs hard down in 

 winter. 



H. hirta {Nettle-leaved H.)—A dwarf 

 shrub, 3 or 4 ft. high, with slender hairy 

 branches and Nettle-like leaves. The 

 leaves and branches become nearly or 

 cjuite glabrous with age. This, although 

 not a showy species, seems to be a pretty, 

 compact dwarf shrub, with numerous 

 clusters of white flowers. A native of the 

 mountains of Japan. 



H. virens {Changing H.) — This is a 

 remarkable and elegant shrub, varying in 

 height from 2 to 6 ft. The branches, 

 straight, slender, and polished, bearing 

 small, thin, deeply-toothed leaves, 2 to 

 3 in. long, yellowish-green above, and 

 pale beneath, with small clusters of 

 flowers, some of which are sterile. 

 Altogether this is a pretty little shrub, 

 and it is somewhat surprising that it has 

 not been introduced, as it is common in 

 the neighbourhood of Nagasaki in 

 Japan. 



H. chinensis {Fortune's H.) — Near 

 the last, iDut of more robust habit, with 

 leaves 3 to 5 in. long, and with cymes of 

 flowers much larger. It differs from H. 

 virens in the leaves being green on both 

 sides, and in the enlarged sepals being 

 nearly equal in size, much thicker, in fact 

 almost fleshy in substance, and remaining 

 on the branches until the fruit of the 

 fertile flowers is ripe. This species 

 was collected by Mr. Fortune in N. 

 China. 



H. Thunbergi. — A small shrub with 

 slender branches, small leaves, and small 

 cymes of flowers. A few only of the outer- 

 most ones are sterile, and these are not 

 more than h in. in diameter. Accord- 

 ing to the Gardeners' Chronicle., Messrs. 

 Cripps, of Tunbridge Wells, flowered this 

 species in June 1870. They describe it as 

 hardy, though not so showy as some of 

 the varieties of H. paniculata and H. 

 Hortensia. The sterile flowers are of 

 a delicate Peach-blossom colour. It is a 

 native of the mountains of Sikok and 

 Nippon, Japan. 



H. quercifolia {Oak-leaved H.)—Th.\s 

 is a fine distinct kind, and though not 



