THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



725 



of single and double kinds : Single 

 Tree P^eonies : — Beatrice Kelway, 

 Cecil Rhodes, Christine Kelway, Ella 

 C. Stubbs, Henry Irving, Jean de 

 Reszke, Julius Cjesar, Karl Haag, Lady 

 Sarah Wilson, Miss Beatrice Jones, 

 Mrs. W. Kelway, Princess of Wales, 

 Queen Alexandra, Queen of Denmark. 

 Double Tree Peonies : Bijou du 

 Chusan, Blanche Noisette, Debugny, 

 Dr. Bowring, Glory of Shanghai, James 

 Kelway (semi-double). La ville de St. 

 Denis, Lilacea pallida, Louise Mouchelet, 

 Madame Rattier, Madame Stuart Low, 

 Maxima plena, Reine Elizabeth, Triomphe 

 de Vandermael, Zenobia. Some of the 

 most strikingly beautiful are well worthy 

 of glass — that is, having a sash or two 

 put over them in spring to save them 

 from late frosts and rainy weather. 

 Plenty of air must be admitted, and 

 the flowers gain in an astonishing degree, 

 both in size and colour. 



A new plant, P. hitea, has lately come 

 from the mountains of China, with the 

 woody stems of a Tree Pa^ony and hand- 

 some yellow flowers. Whether hardy in 

 the open air with us is still uncertain, the 

 plant being rare. 



Species P. albiflora, Siberia ; anoinala, do. ; Bieher- 

 steiniana, Caucasus; Brownii, N.W. Amer. ; coral- 

 « Una, Europe and Asia Minor ; coriacea, Spain ; decora, 

 As. Minor ; _fi7)tbriata. Eastern regions ; mollis, Sibe- 

 ria ; moutan, China ; obovata, Manchuria ; officinalis, 

 Europe ; paradoxa. S. Europe ; fercgrina. East ; sub- 

 temata, ; tenuifolia, E. Europe, N. Amer. ; triter- 

 nata, Russia ; Wiitinanniana, Caucasus. 



PANAX SESSILIFLORUM.-This 



really belongs to Acaiiiliopanax, but 

 is sold under the above name. It is 

 one of the few shrubby Aralias hardy in 

 Britain, coming from Manchuria, where 

 it grows as a tall dense shrub with large 

 trifoliate leaves and rounded heads of 

 dull purple flowers. The chief beauty of 

 the plant lies in the glossy black berries, 

 which hang far into the winter. Syn. 

 AcantJiopanax sessiUflo7-u]n. 



PANCRATIUM.— Graceful Lily-like 

 plants of the amaryllis order, the only really 

 hardy kind being the South European P. 

 illyrician^ i to 2 ft. high, which bears in 

 summer umbels of large white fragrant 

 blossoms. It thrives in a warm exposed 

 border of sandy loam soil, well drained, 

 the bulbs protected by litter in winter. The 

 plants are better for transplantation about 

 every third year, as soon as the leaves are 

 decayed in autumn. Increased by offsets. 

 P. niaritiinicni is also hardy in the south, 

 if planted at the foot of a warm wall in 

 light soil ; its large white flowers, in 

 clustered heads, are very fragrant and 

 semi-transparent in texture. The hardiest 



of the other species are P. parvifloruin, 

 litiorale, and rotatum, but these only 

 succeed on warm soils in mild localities, 

 and are best in a frame or a cool green- 

 house. 



PANICUM.— Grasses, chiefly tropical, 

 though a few are hardy enough for outdoor 

 cultivation and easy to grow in ordinary 

 garden soils. 



P. altissimum is a handsome hardy 

 perennial Grass, forming dense erect tufts, 

 3 to 6\ ft. high, according to climate and soil, 

 the flowers being a dark chestnut-red. 



P. bulbosum.— A stout kind, with a 

 free and beautiful inflorescence, about 5 ft. 

 high ; the flowers spread gracefully. It is 

 suited for grouping near the margins of shrub- 

 beries. 



P. capillare. — A hardy annual, growing 

 in tufts from 16 to 20 in. high, pretty in full 

 flower, the tufts being then covered with large 

 pyramidal panicles of graceful airy form and 

 purplish in colour. It grows in any soil, often 

 sows itself, and is suited for borders or beds, 

 being one of the most graceful of grasses. 



v. virgatum. — A handsome hardy 

 Grass, 4 to 6 ft. high, forming close tufts of 

 leaves i to 3 ft. long, with graceful branching 

 panicles of dull purple, the spikelets drooping 

 and curiously twisted. Admirable for borders 

 or for isolation in the picturesque flower garden 

 or pleasure-ground. Its colour, though quiet, 

 is pretty throughout the autumn, and not 

 without effect even in winter. Division. 



PAP AVER (P^?///).— Some of the most 

 brilliant of hardy flowers, and of the 

 simplest culture. There are a few good 

 perennials, but the majority are annual 

 and biennial. They range from the tiny 

 alpine Poppy to the stately Eastern Poppy 

 and its varieties. All are easily raised 

 from fresh seeds, but these do not keep 

 long and must be sown where they are to 

 flower, for most kinds will not bear trans- 

 planting. Most Poppies re-sow themselves, 

 and sometimes too freely, and these self- 

 sown plants are always the first to flower. 

 Where seed is not wanted, the pods 

 should be removed as fast as they form, 

 to prolong the show of flowers. The 

 following are the best garden kinds : — 



P. alpinum [Alpine Poppy).— A. plant of 

 dwarf habit from the limestone rocks of the 

 Alps, about 6 inches high, with finely cut 

 grey-green leaves and large white flowers of 

 silky texture, yellow at the centre, with some- 

 times a green spot at the base of each petal. 

 When in good condition, from May to Sep- 

 tember, this little plant is charming,_ but it is 

 apt to perish, unlike a true perennial, espe- 

 cially if disturbed. It does best in the rock- 

 garden, in rather poor soil, with good drainage 

 and full sunlight, and will thrive in walls and 

 rocky clefts; it will sometimes "sow itself," 

 coming easily from seed. It varies much in 

 colour', with scarlet, pale rose, and yellow 



