THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



641 



L. Orvala is taller and has deep red 

 flowers in early summer. L. maculatum, 

 a native plant, has leaves blotched with 

 silvery-white. Of this species the variety 

 auremn is one of the best golden-leaved 

 plants for edgings. It does not withstand 

 the full exposure that suits the yellow 

 Fexerfew, but in sandy or moist soils its 

 peculiar tint is unequalled by any other 

 hardy plant, and its blooms are pretty. 

 It does not require to be constantly 

 trimmed like the Feverfew. 



LANTANA. — S. American plants, usu- 

 ally grown in greenhouses, and also in the 

 summer garden. The Verbena-like heads 

 of bloom are rich and varied in colour, 

 and range from crimson, through scarlet, 

 orange, and yellow, to white, the colours 

 varying in the same head. 

 They flower freely for about 

 nine months, and are easy 

 to grow, requiring the pro- 

 tection of the greenhouse 

 during winter after being- 

 lifted in autumn. Propaga- 

 ted in spring by cuttings or 

 seeds, the plants being grown 

 in rich hght soil till planted 

 out in a warm position. 

 There are many sorts grown, 

 and a selection should m- 

 clude Phosphore, Don Cal- 

 met. Distinction, Eclat, Vic- 

 toire. La Neige, Feu Follet, 

 Pluie d'Or, Ver Luisant, Ne 

 Plus Ultra, Eldorado and 

 Heroine. Like many dwarf 

 half-hardy plants, they have 

 various uses in the flower 

 garden, and may be trained 

 as standards. The pretty 

 L. Sellowi is a good dwarf plant ; but 

 the odour of these plants is unpleasant, 

 and they are not worthy of much use. 

 West Indies. Verbenaceas. 



LAPAGERIA {Napoleon's Bell).—K 

 beautiful climber usually grown in the 

 greenhouse, but hardy and flowering well 

 in the open air in Cornwall and the south 

 of Ireland ; with care it would be found to 

 do over a larger area round the coast. 

 It forms a lovely picture at Caerhays, 

 trained on a north-west wall, and flowers 

 quite freely. Often at Christmas and 

 onwards through the winter and spring 

 it comes out beautifully ; the rose and 

 white and other forms have been tried, as 

 well as the original form. Soil should be 

 peaty with plenty of sand and leaf-mould. 

 The great enemy of the plant is the slug, 

 which is fond of browsing about cool north 

 walls, and must be well watched day and 

 night. The plant may be nailed direct to 



a wall, or planted among choice shrubs to 

 take its own way as a climber, and it 

 might be well to try it in various aspects, 

 as the conditions that suit it in the ex- 

 treme south of England may not do so in 

 all parts. 



Sometimes, where there is the least 



doubt in less favoured places, success may 



I be obtained by letting a plant growing in 



I a greenhouse get through the glass and 



make its way along any wall surface near. 



1 This has been several times done with 



success in various gardens about London 



and elsewhere. Chili and Patagonia. 



1 LARDIZABALA.— Z. bitemata is a 



\ handsome evergreen climber from Chili, 



I hardy enough for walls in the south and 



1 coast districts : the foliage a deep green> 



Lapageria in a Cornish gaideii. 



the leaflets thick. Along the south coast it 

 makes a beautiful wall-covering, reaching 

 a height of 20 ft. or more, but its in- 

 conspicuous purple flowers are seldom 

 borne in the open air. It should be 

 planted in light or well-drained soil. 



LARIX (Z,a;v//).— One of the most 

 beautiful trees of the north, and though 

 much cultivated in our woodlands for its 

 value as a timber tree it is none the less 

 precious for the lawn and home grounds. 

 Belonging to the great Pine family it has 

 the summer-leafing habit of our ordinary 

 trees, which enhances its charms, not only 

 showing the form better in winter, but the 

 fine colour of the budding leaves in spring-, 

 and the ripening leaves in autumn. A 

 true child of the northern mountains, the 

 Larch is hardy everywhere in our country, 

 perhaps thriving better in the north, as in 

 the case of the lovely old trees at Dun- 

 keld, its only enemy being a dreadful 

 T T 



