THERMOPSIS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



889 



rosy-violet colour and a very dwarf habit. 

 T. Fctidlcri from the Rocky Mountains of 

 N. America, is of nearly the same charac- 

 ter, with choice fern-like foliage and pale 

 purple flowers. The taller sorts are in 

 general less desirable, but two good ones 

 are T. glaucum from the South of Europe, 

 growing six feet high in moist rich soil, 

 with grey-green finely-cut leaves and 

 feathery heads of pale yellow flowers ; and 

 T. polygamwii from the western United 

 States, which grows even taller in damp 

 places, with fine spreading clusters of 

 white flowers in July. There is a prettily 

 variegated garden form of the first 

 named. 



All the Thalictrums do well naturalised, 

 and are readily increased from seed or 

 careful division in early spring. 



THERMOPSIS.— Perennials, 2 to 6 ft. 

 high, slender in growth, and with long 

 terminal spikes of attractive yellow 

 Lupine-like flowers. T. niontatta is of 

 graceful growth, and as it flowers at the 

 same time it may be associated with the 

 perennial Lupins and other border plants 

 of the season. It grows best in good soil 

 in an open situation, and is a native of 

 Western North America. T. rhombifolia 

 is dwarfer and with rounded leaflets, 

 growing well even in the driest places. 

 T. fabacea comes very near T. montana 

 and has been confused with it, but it 

 comes from the north of Asia ; it is of 

 fine habit and very free-blooming. A 

 scarce but good kind is T. civoliniana., 

 which grows 6 ft. high in rich moist soil 

 and blooms in July and August when all 

 the rest have done. For the back of the 

 border or for massing in moist places, 

 this is a truly handsome plant. T. barbafa 

 is a beautiful Himalayan species with 

 purple flowers. Some of these plants 

 spread freely at the root and may be in- 

 creased by division, but none of them like 

 disturbance, and the better way is from 

 seeds, which, however, unless quite fresh 

 are slow to germinate. 



THL ADI ANTH A. — T. di/biaiss, hand- 

 some creeping perennial of the Gourd 

 family, from N. China and India, with 

 long climbing stems bearing many bright 

 yellow bell-shaped flowers. 



All the flowers on a plant are either 

 male or female, so that unless both sexes 

 are planted no fruit is produced. When 

 the female flowers are hand-fertilised they 

 set freely, and the egg-shaped fruits 25 

 ins. long are exceedingly handsome, green 

 at first, changing to a bright scarlet. The 

 pale green foliage is handsome and the 

 stems run to a length of many feet from a 

 tuberous root, which can be lifted in the 



autumn after the plant has died down. It 

 is likely to be hardy, however, over a 

 great part of Britain, in light sandy soil, 

 and in a sunny place such as the foot of a 

 wall, where the roots are dry in winter 

 and the plants find ready support when in 

 growth. Their beauty is perhaps nowhere 

 better seen than in the Cambridge Bo- 

 tanic Garden, where plants fruit freely 

 every season on an east wall. 



T. C/m>;7 is anew kind from N. China, 

 hardy and vigorous, making shoots 30 ft. 

 long in the season. The rounded leaves 

 are about 8 ins. across, carried on long 

 stalks. Clusters of yellow bell-shaped 

 flowers an inch across and 30 to 35 in 

 number appear from the leaf-axils from 

 July to September, rendering this a truly 

 handsome plant, especially suited to sun- 

 scorched walls or banks. 



THLASPI. — Annual or perennial herbs 

 of slight importance. T. latifoliiim is a 

 dwarf vigorous perennial from the Cau- 

 casus, 6 to 12 in. high, with large root- 

 leaves, and flowers something like those of 

 Arabis albida , but larger. Suitable for 

 borders, the spring garden, beds, and 

 naturalising with the dwarfer flowers of 

 spring and early summer in ordinary 

 garden soil. Division and seed. Syn., 

 Iberidella. 



THUNBERGIA.— r. alata is a beauti- 

 ful half-hardy annual, common in green- 

 houses, an elegant dwarf climber of the 

 easiest culture, and in summer valu- 

 able for draping dwarf trellises. The 

 flowers vary in colour : alba is pure white 

 with a dark eye ; aurantiaca, bright 

 orange ; Fryeri, orange with a white eye ; 

 Doddsi has variegated foliage ; and there 

 are others with yellow and sulphur flowers. 

 The plants grow 4 to 5 ft. high, and from 

 July till October their slender stems are 

 covered with bloom. Seeds should be 

 sown in heat in early spring, and the seed- 

 lings potted separately when large enough. 

 In May plant them out in good light soil. 



THUYA {Arbor-vita-). -— Evergreen 

 cone-bearing trees, some of much beauty, 

 but the group is represented in gardens 

 by numbers of worthless shrubs and mean 

 trees ; happily, the species are not so 

 numerous as they seem from the many 

 names that have been given to their mostly 

 ugly varieties. 



T. DOLOBRATA {Japanese Aj-bor-vitcB). — A 

 distinct and beautiful evergreen tree, perhaps 

 the most graceful of the group, fine in colour 

 and very hardy. Fortunately this tree seems 

 less ready than most to sport into the worth- 

 less dwarf and variegated forms so much 

 in vogue with nurserymen. The tree is 

 said to attain its finest stature in mountain 

 woods in Japan, and to grow well under other 



