THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



743 



in spring or summer ; the herbaceous 

 kinds by seed, or division in spring or 

 autumn. The best kinds are : 



P. armeniaca, neat and distinct, with down- 

 covered silvery leaves and stems crowded 

 with whorls of rosy flowers, several of which 

 are in good condition at the same time. A 

 good rock-plant. Armenia. 



P. cashmeriana, an old kind newly reintro- 

 duced, doing best in light soils and in warm 

 gardens near the sea. At its best a striking 

 plant, about 2 feet high, with densely woolly 

 sterns and leaves, and heavily crowded whorls 

 of pale lilac or rosy-purple flowers, from the 

 end of July. North India. 



P. fruticosa {Jerusalem Sage). — A shrubby 

 kind, hardy in warm dry soils, with evergreen 

 stems at times reaching 6 to 8 feet, but mostly 

 3 or 4 feet high, and clothed with evergreen 

 woolly-grey leaves of wrinkled texture. The 

 flowers are showy, coming as whorled heads of 

 bronzy-yellow from June to August, and 

 lasting well on the plant, or when cut. Of 

 fine appearance and indifferent to drought and 

 to sea-winds, this is one of the most distinct 

 ■of our evergreen shrubs. South Europe. 

 P. ferruginea is a shrubby kind coming near 

 this, but is not so good or so hardy. 



P. herba-venti, a handsome perennial from 

 Spain, needing a warm dry soil and some 

 protection if grown far inland. It makes 

 a bold spreading mass of 2 to 3 feet, with 

 hairy green or purple stems, and long green 

 leaves which are rough on the upper side and 

 hoary beneath ; flowers violet-purple, from 

 July to September. It is a good perennial of 

 easy culture. 



P. lunarifolia, a fine border plant, free in its 

 bright yellow flowers. The white woolly 

 leaves and stems render it conspicuous even 

 ■when out of flower. 



P. purpurea, a low shrubby kind from 

 Southern Europe, with much-wrinkled oblong 

 or triangular leaves, covered with down, and 

 rosy-purple flowers in July. 



P. samia, a pretty plant for warm soils, free in 

 its pale yellow and orange flowers, sometimes 

 shading to pink. It blooms in May and June. 

 Mountains of North Africa. 



P. tuberosa, a stout plant of 3 to 5 feet high 

 in good soils, with handsome dark green 

 leaves and dense whorls of rosy-purple flowers 

 in summer, partly fringed with white hairs. 

 The foliage is good, and the plant of easy 

 increase by its fleshy tubers. East of Europe, 

 and Siberia. 



P, viscosa (also known as P. Russelliana), 

 a rather clammy plant of 3 feet, with bold 

 wrinkled leaves, green above and downy 

 beneath, and numerous bright yellow flowers 

 of fine effect. 



PHLOX. — For the most part showy 

 garden perennials ; but the annual P. 

 Drunwiondi alone has produced distinct 

 varieties enough to furnish a garden with 

 almost every shade of colour. The peren- 

 nials are numerous, and present such 



variety in habit that for the garden they 

 maybe divided into three distinct groups. 

 One is alpine in habit ; of this the beauti- 

 ful P. subuhita, or Moss Pink, is the best 

 known, but there are many others in the 

 Rocky Mountains and westward, some of 

 them more truly alpine. Next to these are 

 several that may be groupecl as running 

 or creeping Phloxes, perennial, but with 

 prostrate stems. Lastly, there are the 

 well-known tall garden Phloxes, generally 

 called the perennial Phloxes, though all 

 Phloxes but P. D? iimmondi are perennial. 

 Perennial Phloxes have been so hybridised 

 that the types are quite lost sight of in a 

 vast number of garden forms. P. sttbielata, 

 for instance, varies so much in the wild 

 state that its forms have been described 

 as species. 



Early or summer - flowering 

 Phloxes have chiefly come from P. 

 siiffriiticosa. They include many varieties, 

 from 2 to 2i feet in height, varying 

 principally in colour, and flowering dur- 

 ing June and July. They grow in any 

 good border or bed, and if the subsoil be 

 too wet, it must be drained, and about 9 

 in. of good hazel-loam enriched with good 

 old manure and a small quantity of broken 

 bones laid on the surface. In the herba- 

 ceous border a pit can be dug— say, 12 in. 

 square and 9 in. deep — and filled with this 

 compost. In the south of England, and 

 especially on warm dry soils, these early 

 Phloxes often do best in partial shade, 

 being more sensitive to fierce sun heat 

 than the later kinds. In dry seasons a 

 good surface mulching is a great help. 

 Summer Phloxes are useful in June 

 and July, as they come between the 

 spring and autumn sorts. The following 

 are twenty-four of the finest : Attrac- 

 tion, Burns, Charles Dovvnie, Conqueror, 

 Cyrene, Duke of Athole, Excellence, 

 Fantasy, Gem, James Hunter, James 

 Thomson, John Fairband, Lady Napier, 

 Miss Lingard, Mrs. Craven, Mrs. Duncan, 

 Mrs. Forbes, Mrs. J. Hope, Mrs. Leckie, 

 Mrs. Miller, Nettie Stewart, Perfection, 

 Snowden, The Shah. 



Autumn or late-flowering 

 Phloxes have been obtained by hybri- 

 dising and selecting from various N. 

 American species, principally P. panicu- 

 lata and its varieties aciuninata, decussaia, 

 and pyramidalis, which are stronger and 

 taller'than the early Phloxes, and immedi- 

 ately succeed them in flower, thus prolong- 

 ing the season at least two months from 

 the end of July. Within the last few 

 years there has been great advance 

 in these plants, both in habit and 

 freedom of flower. They are now bright 



