45 



DICKSONIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



DIGITALIS. 



the rock garden and the mixed border, or 

 for naturalising by woodland walks ; 

 thriving in rich sandy soil. Division. N. 

 America. 



D. FORMOSA is similar to the preceding, 

 having also Fern-like foliage, but is 

 dwarfer in growth, its racemes shorter and 

 more crowded, and its flowers lighter. 

 Suitable for same positions as D. eximia. 

 California. 



D. SPECTABILIS. A beautiful plant, 

 bearing singular flowers, resembling rosy 

 hearts, and in strings of a dozen or more 

 gracefully borne on slender stalks. It 

 succeeds best in warm, light, rich soils, if 

 in sheltered positions, being liable to be 

 cut down by late spring frosts. It is, 

 moreover, suited for the mixed border, 

 but is of such remarkable beauty and 

 grace that it may be used with the best 

 effect near the lower flanks of rockwork, in 

 bushy places near it. It is excellent for 

 mixed borders, and for snug corners on 

 the fringes of choice shrubs in peat. 

 Division in autumn. 



DICKSONIA (D. antarctica}.K 

 noble evergreen Tree Fern, having 

 a stout trunk, 30 feet high or more, 

 the fronds forming a magnificent 

 crown, often 20 to 30 feet across. 

 They are from 6 to 20 feet long, becom- 

 ing pendulous with age. It is the 

 hardiest of Tree Ferns, and the most 

 suitable for the open air, in sheltered 

 shady dells. From the end of May to 

 October. In favourable localities it 

 may even be left out all the winter. 



D. PUNCTILOBULA. A beautiful hardy 

 Fern found in shady woods and moist 

 copses in N. America, from New Bruns- 

 wick and Canada to the Central United 

 States. Its graceful pale green fronds are 

 i to 2 feet long and 5 to 9 inches broad, 

 twice or thrice divided, and carried upon 

 roots which creep just under the ground. 

 The fronds are held very erect upon hairy 

 stems, are soft in texture, and dry prettily 

 in the autumn, when the tiny glands on 

 the under surface give out a pleasing 

 fragrance to which the plant owes its 

 name of the Hay-scented Fern. It is 

 hardy in Britain, thriving in peaty or leafy 

 soils in partial shade. 



DICTAMNUS ( Fraxinella) .D. 

 Fraxinella is a favourite old plant, 

 about 2 feet high, forming dense tufts, 

 flowers pale purple, and with darker 

 lines (there is a white form) borne in 

 racemes in June and July. This plant 

 does best in a light soil. It is propa- 

 gated by seeds sown as soon as they 

 are ripe, or by its fleshy roots, which, 

 if cut into pieces, in spring, will form 

 good plants much quicker than seed- 

 lings. It is a slow-growing plant in 

 most gardens, though it is freer in 



some warm soils, and a very long-lived 

 plant where it likes the soil. It is at 

 home in the sunny mixed border 

 among medium-sized plants. Cauca- 

 sian Mountains. 



The Caucasian kind is a larger and 

 more handsome form. There is also 

 a white form albus. 



DIDISCUS. A native of New Hol- 

 land, and from i to 2 feet high. In 

 D. cceruleus the stems are erect and 

 much branched, each branch ter- 

 minating in a flat umbel of small 

 flowers, of a pleasing clear blue colour, 

 which are borne freely from August to 

 October. It is a half-hardy annual, 

 and requires rather careful treatment, 

 as it is impatient of excessive moisture, 

 especially in the early stages of its 

 growth. It requires to be raised in a 

 gentle hot-bed, and the seedlings should 

 be transplanted in May to a warm 

 friable soil, in which they will flower 

 freely. 



Dielytra. See DICENTRA. 



Dierama. See SPARAXIS. 



Diervilla. See WEIGELA. 



DIETES. Rather tall, graceful Iris- 

 like plants. One kind only is known 

 to be hardy in our country (Huttoni), 

 which grows freely in my garden in 

 ordinary soil at the foot of a west wall. 

 S. Africa. 



DIGITALIS (Foxglove). The most 

 important plant of this genus is our 

 native Foxglove, the handsomest of 

 the several species in cultivation. 

 The best of the exotics is D. grandi- 

 flora, a tall, slender plant, bearing large 

 bell-shaped yellow blossoms in long 

 racemes. The other kinds are >. 

 ferruginea, aurea, eriostachys, fulva, 

 IcBvigata, lanata, lutea, ochroleuca, parvi- 

 flora, Thapsi, tomentosa, but these are 

 suited mainly for botanical collections. 



D. PURPUREA (Foxglove). Wild Fox- 

 gloves seldom differ in colour, but culti- 

 vated ones assume a variety of colours, 

 including white, cream, rose, red, deep red, 

 and other shades. The charm of these 

 varieties, however, lies in their pretty 

 throat-markings spots and blotchings of 

 deep purple and maroon, which make large 

 flowers resemble those of a Gloxinia. The 

 seed is small, and is best sown in pans or 

 boxes, under glass, early in May. When 

 the young plants are well up they should 

 be placed out of doors to get thoroughly 

 hardened before being finally planted out. 

 In shrubbery borders varied clumps of 

 several plants produce a finer effect than 

 when set singly. The Foxglove frequently 

 blooms two years in succession ; but it is 

 always well to sow a little seed annually, 



