35 ARENARlA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. ARGEMONE. 



between forty and fifty species, for the 

 most part little known. The bright 

 colours of many are more intense in the 

 open air than when the plants are 

 cramped in pots in a greenhouse. Dry 

 sunny banks often devoid of plant life 

 might be clothed with them. Although 

 true sun-loving plants, they may be 

 used as a groundwork in spots where, 

 in the shade if not too dense, they 

 flower almost as freely as in the sun. 

 They require warm greenhouse treat- 

 ment in winter. 



A. ACAULIS is a variable dwarf species ; 

 the flowers are large, attractive, and of a 

 deep rich orange. It does not ripen seed 

 freely, but is easily propagated from side 

 shoots. 



A. ASPERA is a half-shrubby species, 

 with deeply cut and wrinkled leaves and 

 creamy flowers, purplish outside. It may 

 be used in vases and hanging baskets, the 

 pink buds being pretty. Cuttings strike 

 readily in heat. 



A. AUREOLA is of shrubby habit, i to 

 2 feet in height, with handsome orange 

 flowers towards the end of the branches. 

 Cuttings. Syn. A . grandiflora. 



A. GRANDIS. A handsome kind from 

 the Cape, with grey or silvery leaves and 

 stems, and showy white flowers, 2 inches 

 or more across, with a gold-banded pale 

 mauve centre, and shaded with lilac on 

 the outside. It forms a bushy plant of 

 about 2 feet high, flowering freely and 

 through a long season, and the long- 

 stemmed flowers are useful for cutting if 

 gathered on first, expanding, though they 

 close up each evening. Seed should be 

 sown under glass in early spring, and the I 

 seedlings planted in rich light soil and in 

 the hottest part of the garden, as soon as 

 danger from frost is over. 



A. LEPTORHIZA. A showy annual, with 

 rich orange flowers, as is also A . breviscapa, 

 which likes a sunny position. The seeds 

 may be sown in the open air, the plant 

 being treated as a hardy annual. A sunny 

 spot should be chosen, and the seedlings 

 well thinned. K. 



ARENARIA (Sandwort). A numer- 

 ous family of rock and mountain plants, 

 of vast distribution over northern and 

 alpine ranges, and in temperate coun- 

 tries. Few kinds are in gardens, and 

 these are dwarf plants, easy to grow. 



A. BALEARICA (Creeping Sandwort). A 

 pretty little plant, which covers rocks and 

 stones with verdure, and scatters over the 

 green mantle countless white starry 

 flowers. Plant firmly in any common soil 

 near the stones or rocks it is to cover, and 

 it will soon begin to clothe them. Flowers 

 in spring. Division. Corsica. 



A. MONTANA (Mountain Sandwort). A 

 pretty rock, plant, with fine large white 



flowers. It is the best of the large Sand- 

 worts, and should be in every collection 

 of rock plants, being hardy and free. 

 France. Seed or division. 



A. NORWEGICA is one of the best kinds, 

 forming dense cushions about 6 inches in 

 diameter, and covered with large white 

 flowers throughout the summer. A fine 

 alpine plant. Norway. 



A. PURPURASCENS (Purplish Sandwort). 

 An interesting kind with purplish 

 flowers, on a dwarf tufted mass of smooth- 

 pointed leaves. It is plentiful over the 



Mountain Sandwort (A reiiaria nwntana). 



Pyrenean Mountains. Seed or division. 

 It should be associated in the rock garden 

 with the smallest plants. 



There are many species, but not 

 among them plants of much garden 

 value. 



ARETHUSA. A. bulbosa is a beau- 

 tiful American hardy Orchid, which 

 grows in wet meadows or bogland, 

 blossoming in May and June. Each 

 plant bears a bright rose-purple flower 

 that shows well on its bed of Sphag- 

 num, Cranberry, and Sedge. The little 

 bulbs grow in a mossy mat formed by 

 the roots and decaying herbage of 

 plants and moss. A shady moist spot 

 with a northern exposure is best, and 

 the soil should be a mixture of well- 

 rotted manure and Sphagnum. Dur- 

 ing winter protect the bed with some 

 cover. 



ARGEMONE (Prickly Poppy}. 

 Handsome Poppy-like plants, said to 

 be perennial, but perishing on moist 

 soils after the first year. As they come 

 from the warmer parts of California and 

 Mexico, and even there grow on dry 

 hill-sides and in warm valleys, their 

 perishing here may be understood. 

 Usually about 2 feet high, they have 

 large white flowers 4 inches across, with 



