iHEFFIEI.DIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SIDALCKA. 



SHEFFIELDIA.— 5. reperis is a hardy 

 little New Zealand creeper, with small 

 leaves, small slender stems, and tiny white 

 flowers which appear in summer. It is 

 interesting for the rock-garden, and grows 

 in any good well-drained soil. Primula 

 Order. 



SHEPHERDIA.— A small group of 

 American shrubs, grown for their bright 

 silvery foliage, the flowers being incon- 

 spicuous, though one kind bears an 

 excellent fruit. All are hardy and of easy 

 culture, resisting cold and drought even 

 on dry banks where few other plants can 

 exist. 6". canadensis is excellent in this 

 way, reaching a height of 6 to 8 ft. with 

 oval green leaves, reddish underneath, and 

 small red or yellow berries, .b'. (U-t^cnfea, 

 the Buffalo Berry, is a taller shrub of 

 nearly 20 feet, with thorny stems, silvery 

 leaves, and juicy red or yellow berries, 

 prized for jellies and preserves by the 

 Western colonists. 6". roticndifolius is an 

 evergreen kind with silvery leaves, from 

 Utah. 



SHORTIA.— 5. galacifolia is an in- 

 teresting and beautiful plant, first dis- 

 covered over a hundred years ago by 

 Michaux in the mountains of North 

 Carolina, and rediscovered in 1877. It 

 was found growing with Galax aphylla, 

 and forms runners like that plant, and is 

 propagated by this means. The plant is 

 of tufted habit, the flowers reminding one 

 of those of a Soldanella, but large, with 

 cut edges to the segments, like a frill, 

 and pure white, passing to rose as they 

 get older. There is now a pretty variety 

 in which the flowers are of a delicate 

 pink from the very first, and plants with 

 semi-double flowers also occur. There is 

 much beauty in the leaves, which are of 

 rather oval shape, deep green, tinged with 

 brownish-crimson, changing in winter to 

 quite a crimson, when it forms a bright 

 bit of colour in the rock-garden or border. 

 A correspondent writing in T/ie Garden 

 says : " The cultural directions given in 

 catalogues to keep the plant in a shady 

 situation and grow it in Sphagnum and 

 peat deprive us of its chief charm — i.e., 

 the handsome-coloured leaves during the 

 winter and spring months. Instead of 

 choosing a shady spot I selected a fully 

 exposed one, and here two plants have 

 been for over a year, one in peat and the 

 other in sandy loam. Both are vigorous." 

 It succeeds well in various soils, as de- 

 scribed, and is hardy. It is also a delight- 

 ful plant in a pot, as the flowers on their 

 crimson stems are pretty, and one gets also 

 the prettily tinted leaves. N. America. 

 A new species, S. tiniflora., has recently 



come to us from Japan, but is still rare. 

 While not unlike the American plant, 

 this differs from it in having larger flow- 

 ers, broader and more prostrate leaves, 

 and shorter flower-stems, some of the 



A^ 



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J 



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Shortia uniflora. 



flowers hardly rising above the leaves, 

 which turn a fine crimson from August 

 to the following spring. The plant thrives 

 in a mixture of peat and loam, in full sun, 

 and is fully hardy. 



SIBTHORPIA {Mo)ieynvort).—S. euro- 

 pcea is a little native creeper with slender 

 stems and tiny round leaves. In summer 

 it forms a dense carpet on moist soil, and 

 should always be grown in the bog- 

 garden or moist ferneries. The variegated 

 form is prettier but more delicate than 

 the type, and rarely succeeds in the open, 

 but thrives in a cool house or frame. 

 Shady banks and ditches suit it. The 

 ' purple flowers are inconspicuous. 

 I SIDA. — 5". dioica and ^''. Napcea are 

 stout vigorous plants with ample foliage, 

 and suitable chiefly for the wild garden 

 I and shrubberv borders. 

 I SIDALCEA {Greek Mallow).—^ 

 , group of graceful herbs from N.W. 

 America, with showy white, pink, or purple 

 j flowers in long erect spikes like a minia- 

 ture Hollyhock. Those in cultivation are 

 perennials, but do best if frequently 

 renewed from seed sown as soon as ripe, 

 ■ the seedlings being wintered in a frame, 

 1 and planted out in spring. In sheltered 

 ! places and in warm soils these plants 

 I will pass the winter in the open, but they 

 , prove a little tender in many places, and 

 ! the autumn- sown plants bloom earlier and 

 i more finely than those raised in heat 

 early in the year. The Sidalceas are fast 

 becoming better known, and being pro- 

 fuse in flower, excellent for cutting, and 

 of the easiest culture, they deserve atten- 

 tion. The best kinds are S. Candida, with 



