33* 



AIRA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ALISMA. 



Vigorous young plants and suckers in 

 good soil will produce handsome arch- 



Young Ailanthus tree with Cannas. 



ing leaves 5 feet long. Cuttings of the 

 roots. 



A. VILMORINIANA. Like the older 

 species, a native of China, and remark- 

 able for long, handsome, pinnate leaves. 

 It differs from A. glandulosa chiefly 

 in its spiny bark and in the red midribs 

 of its leaves. The leaves are fully 

 4 feet long on vigorous specimens, and 

 clothed with soft, silky hairs. 



AIRA ( Hair Grass}. Graceful 

 grasses, of which one of the prettiest is 



A. pulchella, with hair-like stems, 

 growing in light tufts 6 inches high. 

 It is useful for edgings, amongst plants 

 in borders, or for pots for rooms. Its 

 panicles give a charm to the finest 

 bouquets. A. c. vivipara, with its 

 panicles of graceful viviparous awns, 

 resembles a miniature Pampas Grass. 



A . flexuosa (the Waved Hair Grass) is 

 a graceful perennial. Of easy culture 

 in ordinary garden soil. Seed. 



AJUGA (Bugle}. A small family of 

 dwarf herbs of the Sage order, flowering 

 in spring and early summer, and having 

 purplish flowers. They grow on moun- 

 tain or lowland pastures, and are easily 

 increased by division. A. genevensis 



is among the best, and is distinguished 

 from the common native Bugle ( A . 

 reptans} by the absence of creeping 

 shoots. The flower-stems are erect, 

 from 6 inches to 9 inches high ; the 

 flowers deep blue, and in a close spike. 

 Useful for the mixed borders. There 

 is a white variety of A. reptans, also 

 a form with variegated leaves, and 

 another with purplish ones, this being 

 finer than the type. 



AKEBIA. Of these climbing or 

 twining shrubs of the Barberry order, 

 A. qninata is best known. It comes 

 from China, hardy, is a good climber 

 for a trellis, pergola, or wall. It is best 

 to let it run over an Evergreen, being 

 then better protected against cold 

 winds. It has long, slender shoots, 

 and fragrant claret purple flowers of 

 two kinds large and small, which are 

 produced in drooping spikes. The 

 Japanese A. lobata is a climber of 

 elegant, habit, the leaves pretty in 

 form, the flowers small, dull, and 

 fragrant. 



Albizzia, Julibrissen. See ACACIA. 



ALISMA (Water Plantain). 

 plants, of which two are fitted for 



growing with hardy aquatics. A. 

 Plantago is rather stately in habit, 



