CERASTIUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. CHAM^PEUCE. 



C. RUBER (Red Valerian). A handsome, 

 hardy border plant from the Mediter- 

 ranean, and an old inhabitant of gardens, 

 often also naturalised. There are two 

 or three varieties white, purple, and 

 red or crimson. It has stout stems, 

 woody at the base, and bold clusters of 

 flowers, blooming in June and through 

 the summer. It is often naturalised on 

 walls, ruins, and on rocky or stony banks. 

 Seeds and cuttings. 



CERASTIUM (Mouse - ear Chick- 

 weed). Dwarf herbaceous or alpine 

 plants of the Pink order, containing 

 few garden plants of value, and these 

 mostly used as edgings, among the 

 best being Biebersteini, tomentosum, 

 and grandiflorum, all hardy plants of 

 easy culture, and increase in ordinary 

 soil. 



Cerasus. See PRUNUS CERASUS. 



CERATOSTIGMA POLHILLI. A 



pretty creeping shrub from a great 

 height in the mountains of W. China, 

 with grey leaves and stems and clusters 

 of charming pale lavender-blue flowers. 

 It is hardy in warm, well-drained nooks 

 of the rock garden, and is increased 

 by cuttings. 



C. PLUMBAGINOIDES is the plant so long 

 known as Plumbago Larpentcs, which pro- 

 vides effective patches of blue in late 

 summer. 



C. WILLMOTTIANA is a recent addition 

 from China, the species forming a wiry- 

 limbed bush of several feet high, and 

 producing a great wealth of clear blue 

 flowers during many weeks. Of quite 

 easy culture. 



CERCIDYPHYLLUM. A very 

 beautiful tree, so far hardy in Britain. 

 It is a forest tree abundant in certain 

 parts of Japan on the slopes of hills 

 and mountains, reaching a height of 

 between 80 and 100 feet. We read 

 that it cannot be grafted, which is a 

 blessing, as the natural way of pro- 

 ducing it is much better. 



CERCIS (Judas Tree}. Flowering 

 trees of much beauty of bloom and 

 form of tree. Of the three different 

 kinds of Judas Tree in gardens, the 

 most beautiful is C. Siliquastrum, from 

 S. Europe, which for nearly three 

 hundred years has been a favourite in 

 English gardens. It is from 15 to 

 30 feet in height, and thrives in a light, 

 deep, loam soil. There are several 

 varieties, differing chiefly in the colour 

 of the flowers. It is of slow growth, 

 and though young specimens flower 

 profusely, only very old ones show the 

 picturesque growth of the tree. Other 



kinds are C. Chinensis, and the better- 

 known canadensis, or Red Bud, a hand- 

 some tree of the American forests. 



CERINTHE ( Honey wort] . Annual 

 or biennial herbs of the Borage family. 

 C. aspera bears many yellow flowers, 

 the tube of which is black at the base. 

 In C. minor the flower-stems arch over, 

 so that at the apex of the stem the 

 delicate yellow tube-shaped bloom is 

 hidden by the pale green leaves. C. 

 retorta is a beautiful kind, the floral 

 leaves of a purple tint, and from 

 among them peep the yellow purple- 

 tipped flowers. They are half-hardy 

 annuals, and should be sown in early 

 spring on warm borders or in frames, 

 and afterwards planted out in good 

 soil. S. Europe. 



CETERA CH (Stone Fern). This is 

 now placed with the Aspleniums, but is 

 known so well under the above name 

 that we retain it. C. officinarum is a 

 distinct and beautiful little native 

 Fern, admirably suited for rock or 

 alpine gardens, as it thrives best when 

 planted between the chinks of rocks 

 or of stone walls. The chinks and 

 crevices should be filled with a mixture 

 of sandy peat and pounded limestone. 



CHZENOSTOMA. A small group of 

 the Figwort family, natives of the 

 Cape. They are naturally perennial, 

 but in the open air must be treated as 

 half-hardy annuals. C. fastigiatum 

 and C. hispidum are the prettiest. 

 They grow 6 to 9 inches high, forming 

 dense bushes, with many small pinkish, 

 and sometimes white, flowers. The 

 seeds should be sown in warm frames 

 in spring or in August, when the seed- 

 lings require to be wintered in a pit, 

 and flowers are borne from June to 

 November. Other species in cultiva- 

 tion are C. cordatum, C. linifolium, and 

 C. polyanthum. 



CHAMtflBATIA ( Tarweed) . C. 

 foliolosa is a little shrubby plant of the 

 Rose family, remarkable for the Fern- 

 like beauty of its leaves ; the flowers 

 white and something like those of a 

 Bramble. It grows about i foot high, 

 forming a dense spreading tuft, and 

 covering the ground in California, its 

 native country. I have seen it growing 

 in mountain districts often covered 

 with snow, and believe it to be worth 

 trial in our rock gardens. 



CHAM2EPEUCE (Fish-bone Thistle). 

 Spiny-leaved plants allied to the 

 Thistle. C. diacantha has foliage of 

 shining green, marking with silvery 



