THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SHAMROCK. 



S59 



S. TANGUTicus is another new kind from 

 ■China, with stout spiry stems of 6 or 7 ft., 

 and bold leaves cut into irregular loljes. The 

 yellow flowers are small, appearing in autumn, 

 when the general effect of the plant is bold 

 and pleasing, growing apart on the lawn or in 

 the wild garden. 



Two handsome tender kinds which thrive 

 in our warmest gardens, but nowhere else, are 

 S grandifoliits of Mexico, a stout shrubby 

 plant with large leaves and heads of many 

 small flowers, and S. Petasitis, handsome in 

 leaf and flower, and well worth a place in the 

 conservatory for its beauty during winter. 

 ^S". sagittifolius is a stately perennial which 

 from a spreading rosette of large grey-green 

 leaves sends up stout stems 5 to 8 ft. high with 

 heads of large creamy-white flowers. The 

 mid-rib of the leaf is often curiously crested 

 in this plant. Uruguay. Very different is 

 -S". leiuophyUa, a little alpine plant of only a 

 few inches high, its leaves so densely clothed 

 with white wool as to render it one of the 

 most silvery of rock-plants. It thrives in 

 gritty or sandy soil, in a sunny and well- 

 drained position. S. iiuijiorus, from Switzer- 

 land, also with hairy white foliage, hardly 

 rises above the ground, spreading into silvery 

 sheets, from which the flowers should be 

 clipped as they appear. 



SEQUOIA. — Enormous cone-bearing 

 evergreen trees of the Pacific coast of 

 North Anierica, just hardy enough to be 

 the object of numerous experiments in our 

 country, far from successful either from an 

 artistic or most other points of view. In 

 someof the books it is said that these great 

 trees are readily propagated by cuttings j 

 inserted under glass in autumn, but we ' 

 would beg everybody never to plant any 

 ■tree of the kind except from seed. 



S. GIGANTEA {Big Tree).—-\ colossal tree 

 in its own country, inhabiting mostly, in scat- 

 tered groups or groves, the Californian Moun- 

 tains for a distance of over 250 miles in length, 

 existing trees being over 300 ft. high. No 

 tree ever introduced has excited so much 

 interest or been the subject of so much costly 

 experiment in this country. It succeeds well 

 in various districts, and even as far north as 

 Scotland, but after it grows up the growth is 

 very apt to be seared by harsh east winds. 

 The tree is not good in form, while in very 

 few cases will it ever attain the dignity of size 

 that it does in its native country, one of the 

 finest climates in the world. Even where 

 the tree does well, the effect is seldom good in 

 the home landscape. The variegated and 

 golden forms are rubbish. Syn. , Wellingtonia 

 gigantea. 



S. Sempervirens [Red Wood). — A noble 

 evergreen tree, thriving somewhat better in 

 our country than the Big Tree, but, planted as 

 it usually is by itself, it is often torn about by 

 sleet storms in our climate, which is so very 

 different from that of its native country. Still 

 it grows rapidly in good free soils, and is worth 



trying grown in a wood or grove so that the 

 trees may shelter each other. Sheltering 

 groves or woods of it would give good timber 

 in quick time, as it is a very rapid grower. 

 The variegated forms are not worth planting. 

 Coast range of Western America. Syn., 

 Tax od ill in sempervirens. 



SERAPIAS.— Terrestrial Orchids from 

 S. Europe, worthy of a collection of hardy 

 Orchids, as the flowers are always singular 

 and in some kinds beautiful. The most 

 desirable are .V. cordigera, with large 

 showy flowers, chiefly of a blood-red 

 colour ; -S". lingua, with peculiar brownish- 

 purple flowers ; and S. longipetala, with 

 large rosy-red flowers. These are all 9 

 to 12 in. high, and their flowers are 

 densely arranged on broad erect stems. 

 The plants succeed best in a soil composed 

 of two parts of peat, one of loam, and one 

 of sand and leaf-mould. The position 

 should be partially shaded, and well 

 sheltered from cold winds. 



SESELI ( Gum Seseli). — S.guminiferum 

 is a handsome plant, i^ to 3 ft. high, with 

 elegantly-divided leaves of a pectiliarly 

 pleasing glaucous or almost silvery tone. 

 Though a biennial, it is so distinct that 

 some may like to grow it. The best 

 position for it is on dry and sunny banks, 

 or in raised beds or borders. S. glauca 

 is also cultivated for its graceful white 

 foliage and curious heads of flowers. 



SHAMROCK.— This little plant is 

 often grown in gardens for the sake of its 

 sentimental interest, but as several totally 

 different plants do duty for the Shamrock, 

 the following note by Mr. Hemsley of 

 Kew may be of interest :^ 



" The plant commonly sold at Covent 

 Garden as Shamrock is Trifoliuin minus, 

 a small yellow-flowered Clover, and 

 the same plant is now in use as such 

 in Ireland in the counties of Antrim, 

 Down, Meath, Fermanagh, Dublin, 

 Wicklow, Carlow, Westmeath, Wexford, 

 Limerick, Waterford, Cork, and Kerry. 

 This plant, therefore, so far as present 

 usage is concerned, has the greatest 

 claim to the name of true Shamrock. 

 Black Medick {Medicago lupulind), a 

 very similar plant, is sometimes sub- 

 stituted for the Clover, from which it may 

 be distinguished by the leaflets being 

 rounded, not notched, at the top, and by 

 the tiny pod being twisted. The common 

 red Clover {Trifoliuin pratense), the 

 white Clover {T. repens), and the Wood- 

 Sorrel are other plants more or less 

 commonly known and used as Shamrock. 

 Occasionally one or the other of the plants 

 named producesleaveshaving four leaflets, 

 then called the four-leaved Shamrock." 



