366 



BETULA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. BILLIARDIERA. 



gently heated frame, and afterwards 

 planted out in rich ground. It varies 

 much from seed, and the most striking 

 individuals should be selected before 

 the plants are put out. Used sparingly, 

 its effect is often perhaps more telling, 

 but it is a mistake to use this or any 

 such vegetables in the flower garden. 

 Other varieties of the common Beet 

 are misused in the garden for the sake 

 of their dark colours, but no artistic 

 flower gardening is possible where such 

 vegetables out of place are used. 



BETTJLA (Birch}. Trees of cold and 

 Arctic regions, often forming vast 

 forests. Sometimes, in the extreme 

 north, even the tall and graceful 

 Birches of more temperate lands take 

 a bushy form, and there are also 

 Arctic and northern species which are 

 small and give us little effect or 

 interest except for botanic gardens. 

 The Birches, generally, are easy to 

 grow and should be raised from seed, 

 in which way they come very easily, 

 excepting what are called the garden or 

 nursery varieties. These are grafted, 

 and might be propagated by layers, if 

 anybody would take the trouble, and 

 in this way might be longer lived and 

 useful in some ways. Owing to the 

 beauty of our native species in all sorts 

 of positions north and south, we have 

 not lost so much by neglecting the 

 American species, but it would be 

 difficult to expect any of them to show 

 anything finer in effect than such 

 woods as we see in Northern and Cen- 

 tral Europe, of Birch alone, the silvery 

 stems rising out of heath or Ferns. 

 Among the greater, or tree, Birches 

 after our own (including its varieties 

 or allies, verrucosa and pubescens) are 

 the Canoe Birch (B. papyri/era) or 

 Paper Birch, a forest tree of N. 

 America, which is hardy in Britain ; 

 the River Birch (B. nigra), also a tall 

 tree of N. America ; the Cherry or Sweet 

 Birch (B. lento), which is sometimes 

 80 feet high and also of northern dis- 

 tribution (Canada, Newfoundland) ; 

 the Yellow Birch (B. lutea), sometimes 

 100 feet high ; the Western Birch (B. 

 occidentals), a medium-sized tree of 

 W. America and British Columbia, 

 and the White Birch (B. populifolia), 

 also a slender tree of Canada and the 

 Northern States, with tremulous leaves 

 like some of the Aspens. B. maxi- 

 mowiczi is a distinct and fine Japanese 

 kind which grows very high and with 

 a trunk 2 to 3 feet in diameter, the 

 bark orange-coloured, the leaves very 



large. B. ermani is also a common 

 kind in Japan. 



Having got a collection from 

 America, I planted them by some 

 ponds where I thought they might 

 have a better chance, as they often 

 grow well near water in their native 

 country. I lost a good many of them, 

 not knowing the cause until I happened 

 to pull up some of the dead young 

 trees, when I found the main roots 

 were all barked round by the common 

 water-rat, working below the line of 

 the snow during a hard winter. 



As regards the positions of Birches 

 in a pleasure-ground, there is not a 

 more graceful lawn tree than the cut- 

 leaved and weeping kinds, the more 

 so where trees of light shade are 

 desired. The American tree kinds 

 might take their places in the mixed 

 woodlands of a country place, or by 

 streams or pools. 



BIGELOVIA (Plumed Golden Rod). 

 Shrubby or half-shrubby perennials 

 coming from the dry plains and moun- 

 tain slopes of the 'Western States of 

 America, as yet little tried in Britain. 

 They thrive in dry soils and sunny 

 places, where they are not overgrown 

 by stronger plants. 



B. ARBORESCENS is a shrubby plant, 

 covered with long, narrow leaves, and 

 crowded heads of yellow flowers 6 to 8 feet 

 high, and rather pretty. 



B. BOLANDERI is about a foot high with 

 viscid stems covered with dense white 

 wool ; its flowers are a bright yellow. 



B. CERUMINOSA is a strongly-scented 

 shrub. The leaves are sticky and needle- 

 like, and the flowers a pretty pale yellow. 



B. COOPERI is a low-growing plant with 

 very narrow, almost needle-like, leaves, 

 and heads of yellow flowers. 



B. DOUGLASII varies from i to 6 feet in 

 height, forming a stout, shrubby column 

 or pyramid, with narrow leaves and bright 

 yellow flowers. 



B. GRAVEOLENS, the best-known species, 

 is of shrubby habit and from i to 6 feet 

 high, much branched and thickly covered 

 with narrow light green leaves about 

 2 inches long and covered with white silky 

 wool. The flowers appear as heads of 

 4 to 6 inches, very fragrant and of a pale 

 yellow, lasting from the middle of summer 

 to late autumn. 



Bignonia. See TECOMA. 



BILLIARDIERA LONGIFLORA 



(Purple Apple-berry). An elegant 

 climbing plant, hardy in the southern 

 counties. Its narrow oblong leaves 

 show its purple-blue berries to advan- 

 tage as they dangle in profusion in 



