356 ASTRANTIA. fHE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. AUBRIETIA. 



purplish-crimson flowers in June. It 

 thrives well on any good loam. A. 

 dasy glottis is well suited for the rock 

 garden. Its numerous showy flower- 

 heads, of a clear bright purple, are set 

 off by the fresh green foliage. A. 

 adsurgens is dwarf, with numbers of 

 violet-carmine flowers. A. vaginatus 

 succeeds in an exposed position in any 

 ordinary border. The showy deep 

 violet-purple flowers are borne in dense 

 erect clusters for a long time. 



ASTRANTIA (Master-wort}. Um- 

 belliferous plants, natives of the moun- 

 tains of S. Europe. The most distinct 

 are A. major and A. helleborifolia. A. 

 helleborifolia is from the Caucasus, with 

 the largest flower of any, the colour 

 clear pink ; but the habit of the plant 

 is straggling, and the flowers smell 

 unpleasantly of sour milk. The 



of water during their growing period, 

 but not in winter, because all the 

 varieties are deciduous, the ground at 

 that period being wet enough naturally. 

 Among many fine hardy evergreen and 

 herbaceous plants Lady Ferns might 

 be planted with advantage ; they will 

 thrive in a little shade where protected 

 from drying winds. There are many 

 beautiful forms. 



Atragene. See CLEMATIS. 



ATRAPHAXIS (Goat Wheat}. - 

 Plants allied to the Polygonums. 

 There are two or three kinds, but not 

 attractive plants for the garden. 



AUBRIETIA (Purple Rock Cress). 

 A charming group of rock plants from 

 the mountains of S. Europe. There 

 are many varieties in gardens, the 

 majority descendants probably from 

 A . deltoidea. Of these the best of the 



Aster elegnns (Lilac Starwort) 



Astrantias have a quaint beauty of 

 their own ; they are not showy, nor 

 particular about soil or aspect. They 

 are easily established in woodland 

 walks where the growth of weeds is 

 not too rank. 



ATHROTAXIS. A little group of 

 tender trees from Tasmania, which do 

 well in the southern parts of our 

 islands near the sea, but of slight value 

 elsewhere. 



ATHYRIUM (Lady Fern). Beau- 

 tiful hardy Ferns, which A. Filix- 

 femina may be taken to represent. 

 They like a compost of loam, leaf- 

 mould, and peat, mixed in about equal 

 proportions, with the addition of some 

 sharp sand. They require abundance 



older sorts are Campbelli, graca, grandi- 

 flora, Hendersoni, and violacea. Some, 

 like Dr. Mules, Beauty of Baden, 

 Souvenir de W. Ingram, and LeicJiUini, 

 are of more recent date and higher 

 garden value ; while such as Lavender, 

 Fire King, Aubrey Prichard, Prichard's 

 Ai, Violet Queen and Lloyd Edwards, 

 represent the most recent additions to 

 this valuable and easily-grown class of 

 hardy plants. 



The Aubrietia is excellent as a wall- 

 plant. We need only sow the seed in 

 any mossy or earthy chinks in autumn 

 or spring ; indeed they will sow them- 

 selves on walls, and often bloom on the 

 sunny sides in February. Rock gar- 

 dens, stony places, and sloping banks 

 suit Aubrietias perfectly. They make 



