THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



693 



semperflorens, from its long season of 

 flowering. 



M. lithospermifolia. — I think this has 

 the largest flowers of any of the true 

 Forget-me-Nots, flowering freely at a 

 height of 8 in. ; the flowers striking for 

 their size, the leaves distinct and small, 

 but otherwise resembling those of our 

 British Lithospermum purpureocceruleum. 

 The plant is gay from its abundance of 

 flowers and their large size. — W. 



M. Rehsteineri. — Under this name I 

 have received one of the prettiest Forget- 

 me-Nots, an eftective close-to-the-ground 

 creeper, practically forming a dense 

 cushion of blue for several weeks in April 

 and May. The plant thrives and spreads 

 like a mossy Saxifrage, but keeps flat to 

 the ground. This will be a charming sur- 

 facing plant, through which the rarer 

 Snowdrops and Crocuses may spear during 

 winter and early spring. — W. 



M. sylvatica ( Wood Forget-me-Not). — 

 A beautiful woodland plant and of great 

 value for the garden and wild garden. It 

 should be abundant in a wild state by wood 

 walks, in copses, &c., and sows itself 

 freely in half-shady places. For the 

 garden, sow seeds in beds in August every 

 year. Britain. Seed. There are a white, 

 rose-coloured, and a striped variety. 



MYRICA(J5'7£w/ tJ^j/t').— The Myricas, 

 though not showy flowering shrubs, are 

 desirable on account of their scented 

 foliage. The native Sweet Gale or Dutch 

 Myrtle (M. Gale) should be wherever 

 sweet-smelling plants are cared for. It 

 is a thin bush, 2 or 3 ft. high, having 

 fragrant leaves. In a moist spot, such as 

 a bog, it spreads by underground shoots 

 and makes a large mass. The North 

 American species, M. cerifera (Wax 

 Myrtle), M. pennsylvanica, and M. cali- 

 fornica, are less common. The last is a 

 good evergreen of dense growth, with 

 fragrant leaves, green through the winter. 

 It is a vigorous plant, especially in light 

 soils, and is hardy, but is little known 

 outside botanical collections. The Wax 

 Myrtle is met with in old gardens, where 

 it was planted for its spicy foliage. I find 

 our native Sweet Gale free and vigorous 

 in stiff" soils where few things grow well. 

 M. {Coniptonia) asplenifolia {Sweet Fern). 

 — A quaint little shrub 2 to 3 ft. high. 

 Fern-like in leaf, the leaves long and cut 

 into rounded lobes, and aromatic. It 

 spreads freely in sandy soils, and may be 

 increased by layers, suckers, or seeds. A 

 pretty plant in the sandy woods of many 

 other parts of N. America. In gardens 

 its place is among small shrubs and on 

 the margins of peat beds. 



MYRICARIA {German Tamarisk). ~ 

 M. gernianica is an elegant shrub, hardly 

 differing from the common Tamarisk of 

 our sea-coasts, with feathery foliage and 

 many long plume-like clusters of small pink 

 flowers. It grows 6 or 8 ft. high in warm 

 sandy soils, and, like the true Tamarisk, 

 is a good shrub for dry banks where few 

 shrubs would flourish. 



'W^^'KSl^{S%iieet Cicely).— M. odorata 

 is a graceful native plant, with a peculiar 

 but grateful odour and sweet-tasting stems, 

 2 to 3 ft. high, with white flowers in early 



Myrrhis od 



summer, in compound umbels. Suitable 

 for naturalising near wood walks and in 

 open shrubberies in any soil, and may 

 be used among fine-leaved perennials. 

 Division. 



MYRTUS {Myrtle).— \xi southern and 

 coast counties the Myrtle is hardy enough 

 to be planted as a bush, for if its shoots 

 are killed by frosts it often recovers 

 the following season. But the common 

 Myrtle is most generally grown as a wall- 

 shrub, and house walls could not have a 

 more beautiful covering, especially if some 

 pretty Clematis or other graceful climber 

 be allowed to ramble amongst the Myrtle. 

 There are many varieties of the common 

 Myrtle, every one with sweet-smelling 

 leaves, and all with white flowers. The 

 chief sorts are the Dutch, Italian, Roman, 

 Rosemary or Thyme-leaved, Nutmeg, 

 Box-leaved, and Andalusian. Besides 

 these there are some with variegated 



