HYDROCHARIS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



IBERIS. 615 



showy like the popular kinds, it is an 

 excellent shrub, and one I have noticed 

 growing with fine vigour in sea-shore 

 gardens. The leaves have a good deep 

 colour in the autumn, and the flowers are 

 beautiful, while old plants have a pictur- 

 esque habit. 



The whole family is in want of look- 

 ing up by some enthusiastic admirers 

 who ha\e good soil and other favourable 

 conditions. Although there is a large 

 range of land in Great Britain in which 

 Hydrangeas seem happy, there are other 

 inland and cold districts in which they 

 make poor growth, or are cut down so 

 frequently that experiments come to little. 

 I made a trial myself on a cool hill-side 

 in Sussex without getting any bloom or a 

 healthy growth ; but on the other hand we 

 see, especially in the South of England and 

 Ireland, beautiful results in warm valleys 

 and on sandy and alluvial soils even from 

 the use of one kind, so that I have often 

 thought that any one who should take up 

 the Hydrangeas in earnest, and grow them 

 and group them well, might have some 

 very interesting results. 



HYDROCHARIS {Frog-bit). - H. 

 Moi-sHs-yaiiLV is a pretty native water- 

 plant, having floating leaves and pretty 

 white flowers, and well worth introducing 

 to ponds. It may often be gathered from 

 pools in spring, when it floats after being 

 submerged in winter. 



HYDROCOTYLE {Pennywort). — 

 Small creeping plants, usually with round 

 leaves and inconspicuous flowers. There 

 are se\eral kinds grown, their main use 

 being as a surface growth to the artificial 

 bog. The best are H. inoscliata and 

 microphylla, two New Zealand species, 

 and nftidula., though all of these are 

 somewhat tender. The common H. 

 vulgaris is rather too rank a grower. 



HYMENOPHYLLUM {Filmy Fern). 

 — Although these tiny Filmy Ferns are 

 hardy and beautiful, yet the conditions for 

 their successful culture occur so seldom 

 that in a general sense they cannot be 

 used with effect in the open air. Still, as 

 they grow abundantly wild in certain hilly 

 districts, in moist, shady, or rocky situa- 

 tions, there is no reason why they should 

 not be grown in some places in the west 

 or north, or in hilly districts. 



HYPERICUM {St. John's Wort). — 

 For the most part shrubs and under- 

 shrubs, including a few herbaceous peren- 

 nials and annuals ; these are interesting, 

 though not of high value where effect 

 is sought, and the best kinds do not thrive 

 in the colder lands. The Rose of Sharon 

 {H. calyciniiin) is probably the most fami- 



liar, and there are other shrubby species of 

 some beauty. Some of the perennials are 

 good border and rock-garden plants, and 

 the best of these is H. olynipieuin, one of 

 the largest flowered kinds, though not 

 more than i ft. high. It is known by its 

 very glaucous foliage and erect single 

 stems, with bright yellow flowers about 2 

 in. across. It forms handsome specimens 

 that flower earl)', and its value as a choice 

 border plant can scarcely be over-rated. 

 It may be propagated easily by cuttings, 

 which should be put in when the shoots 

 are fully ripened, so that the young plants 

 may become well established laefore 

 winter. H. elodes is a pretty native 

 plant suitable for the banks of pools and 

 lakes. H. nianmulariuin and Jiuniifusuni., 

 both dwarf trailers, are also desirable for 

 the rock-garden. Owing to their dwarf 

 compact growth, several of the shrubby 

 species are well suited for the rock-garden. 

 Of these, the best are H. cTgypfiacuni, 

 balearicuni,enipetrifoliuni.iCoris,patultcni, 

 uralian, and oblongifoliwn. The last three 

 are larger than the others, but as they 

 droop they have a good effect among 

 the boulders of a 

 large rock - gar- 

 den, or on banks. 

 H. Hookerianum, 

 triJioric!n,aureuni.i 

 orientate are a- 

 mong the kinds 

 h a V i n g so m e 

 l^eauty, but the 

 species from war- 

 mer countries than 



ours are apt to perish in hard winters. 

 H. Moserianiun is a handsome hybrid 

 kind raised in France and well worth a 

 place. 



HYPOLEPIS {Ne%o Zealand Bracke?j). 

 — H. inillefoliitni is a very elegant New 

 Zealand Fern, with a stout and wide- 

 spreading rhizome, from which arise erect 

 light green fronds, i to \\ ft. high, very 

 finely cut. There can be no doubt about 

 its hardiness, as it has flourished for two 

 or three years in a Surrey garden, and was 

 also quite hardy and vigorous in Mr. F. 

 Lubbock's garden in Kent. It thrives in 

 a sheltered nook and in peaty soil. 



HYPOXIS. — Low-growing plants, 

 mostly natives of South Africa. They 

 have grassy foliage and yellow flowers, 

 are tender, iDut are sometimes planted out 

 in summer, in light, sandy soil, in warm 

 borders. The kinds grown are ereeta, 

 e/ei^ans, ste/Iata, and I'illosa. 



IBERIS {Candytuft). -\'aluable hardy 

 perennials and annuals, the perennials 

 somewhat shrubby and evergreen, and 



H>pe. 



