i88 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



tongue, but in this case the fronds, instead of starting from a single 

 crown, are produced along a slender rhizome of a wiry nature. 

 Perhaps one of the prettiest of the hardy evergreen Ferns is the 

 violet-scented Lastrea fragrans. 



It is a mistake to consider all Ferns as plants requiring shade 



and moisture. There are, on the contrary, Ferns which like full 



sunshine and bright light. Without counting 



Rock and Cystopteris alpina and fragilis, which grow in our 



sun-loving Ferns, walls as well in sun as in shade, there is one 

 class of Ferns which actually requires sunshine. 

 Cheilanthes from the Old World, as well as those from the New, 

 only do well in a sunny aspect. I could not succeed at Geneva in 

 cultivating Cheilanthes odora, lanuginosa and vestita. In spite of 

 every care given to them, they suffered from general weakness, 

 ending in decay. At last I one day saw Woodsia hyperborea, that 

 delicate and fragile plant, in full sun along an alpine road in 

 Italy, and on returning I planted all my Cheilanthes in sunshine 

 on a south wall. The result was good, and I recommend the plan 

 to Fern growers. But it was necessary also to change the soil 

 in which these plants were cultivated, and I set them in soft porous 

 mould composed of Sphagnum Moss, peat and sand ; good drainage 

 and frequent watering ensured an immediate and excellent result. 

 That which proved satisfactory for Cheilanthes I then tried for 

 Woodsia hyperborea and ilvensis (the treatment did not do for W. 

 obtusa) ; then for Scolopendrium Hemionitis, that pretty and curious 

 Fern from the south so rarely met with in gardens, where it is con- 

 sidered difficult to grow. Then I gave the same treatment to 

 Nothochlena Marantae; and this lovely Fern, which formerly did 

 not do with me, turned out marvellously well. It is, then, cer- 

 tain that many species of Ferns require sun and plenty of air. 

 H. CORREVON, in Gardeners' Chronicle. 



The flower garden should be in the sun, but there may be a 



chance now and then of growing Ferns in shady corners. In my 



garden I took advantage of the cool side of a 



Ferns in ths summer-house to plant the Feather Ferns, which 



flower garden, have done very well there, and with other things 

 are a graceful foil to the bright flowers. In the 

 same place the Maiden-hair Fern of the American woods thrives 

 and is most welcome. On the cool side of a wall I put some 

 graceful native Ferns of recent years, and they are as pretty as any 

 Fern in the tropics, thriving not perhaps as well as in a deep gully ; 

 but we are glad to have them. Some of the little Ferns of the district 

 came of themselves on the cool side of a wall. Polypody grows 

 there very well and the Maiden-hair Spleenwort also. 



