TH ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



and in cold places it is only safe under 

 glass, and it needs careful protection from 

 slugs at all times. Siberia, China, and 

 Japan. Syn. Sempervivum spinosum. S. 

 sedoides is a little plant with thick reddish 

 leaves like a Sedum, from S. Europe. 

 C. simplicifolia is an interesting, desirable, 

 and free-growing subject for the rock 

 garden ; flowers rich yellow in June and 

 July, on arching and drooping Laburnum- 

 like racemes. Seeds and cuttings. C. 

 Umbilicus is a hardy British plant, with 

 queer rounded leaves almost like a tiny 

 mushroom, and greenish-yellow flowers 

 in June. It grows on walls and rocky 

 places near the south and west coasts, 

 with stems of 6 to 18 inches, and leaves 

 coming after the flowers are past. 



CRAMBE. One of the finest of 

 hardy and large-leaved herbaceous 

 plants, as easily grown as the common 

 Seakale, and in rich ground having 

 many stout leaves and dense sprays of 

 small white flowers. C. covdifolia may 

 be planted wherever a bold type of 

 vegetation is desired. C. juncea, a 

 dwarf kind, has white flowers and 

 much-branched stems, the ramifica- 

 tions of which are elegant, but it is 

 not so valuable as C. cordifolia. 



CRAT^GO MESPILUS. The name 

 is a dreadful invention of some one 

 with a callous mind, as if we had not 

 enough of ugly names already. It is 

 given to a supposed hybrid between 

 the Hawthorn and the Medlar. These 

 hybrids sometimes arise from grafting. 

 We have so many beautiful and noble 

 hardy trees that we can well dispense 

 with grafted hybrids. One was known 

 in old times as Mespilus-Smithi, and is 

 rather common in old London gardens. 



CR AT JE GU S ( Thorns}. Hardy 

 flowering trees, of which some of the 

 most beautiful kinds are seldom 

 planted ; many are charming for their 

 flowers, others for their fruits, while in 

 a few the habit is picturesque. Per- 

 haps the most beautiful of all is C. 

 Oxyacantha, the Hawthorn or White- 

 thorn, and its varieties have every 

 gradation of tint, from deep crimson, 

 through pinks, to the snowy whiteness 

 of the double sort. Paul's Double 

 Scarlet, the double pink, double white, 

 the single scarlet (Punicea), rose (Car- 

 minata or Rosea), and various others, 

 are precious for the garden. Some 

 varieties, like the graceful Pendula, are 

 remarkable for their habit ; others 

 have distinct foliage, and a few differ 

 as regards fruit, there being white and 

 yellow berried varieties. 



Other species deserving of a place in 



gardens are many. A selection of the 

 best includes the Cockspur Thorn 

 (C. Crusgalli), from North America, 

 usually about 10 feet high, is remark- 

 able for peculiar growth, especially 

 the variety pyracanthifolia. In this 

 the branches spread out like a table, 

 and the older the tree becomes the 

 more pronounced the table-like growth. 

 Other distinct sorts of the Cockspur 

 Thorn are nana, linearis, ovalifolia, 

 and prunifolia. The Scarlet-fruited 

 Thorn, also N. American, is beautiful 

 both when covered with white bloom 

 in early summer or with scarlet fruits 

 in autumn. The Tansy-leaved Thorn 

 (C. tanacetifolia) is distinct in foliage, 

 with cut leaves of a whitish hue, and 

 it is one of the latest Thorns to flower. 

 C. Azarolus, Aroma, and oriental is are 

 all natives of the Levant, and they are 

 so beautiful in autumn, with fine- 

 coloured fruits as big as Hazel nuts, 

 that they deserve a place. One speci- 

 men of any of these on a lawn would 

 be sufficient in a small garden, as they 

 are spreading, and in good soils 15 or 

 20 feet high. The Washington Thorn 

 ( C. cordata) flowers when all the others 

 are past ; hence its value. C. glandu- 

 losa, also known as C. flava, has yellow 

 fruits. C. Douglas i has dark purple 

 haws, and C. melanocarpa and C. nigra 

 have black haws. The Pyracantha 

 (C. Pyracantha), so common as a wall 

 climber, is a favourite because of its 

 orange-scarlet berries and evergreen 

 foliage. It is suitable for planting in 

 the open, and some beautiful effects 

 may be made by making its spreading 

 and trailing growth serve as a margin 

 to groups of taller Thorns, or other 

 small trees. The variety Lcelandi 

 fruits more freely than the common 

 Pyracantha when planted as a bush, 

 and another variety, Pausiflora, is 

 dwarfer and closer in habit, and, in 

 France, where these shrubs are much 

 grown, is found to be the hardiest. 



Until of late the Hawthorns of 

 America were little known ; many 

 kinds have now been described, among 

 which the following kinds are said to 

 be of garden value. They are adapted 

 to all kinds of ornamental planting, 

 and seem to prefer heavy limestone 

 soil, for they occur very sparingly in 

 light or sandy soils. Planters have 

 an idea that they are difficult to trans- 

 plant, but if pruned back rather 

 severely, quite large plants may be 

 moved without loss, and in two or 

 three years' time they will be objects 

 of great beauty. 



