EREMURUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. ERIANTHUS. 



459" 



bold groups with some of the finest 

 hardy plants, with a background of 

 shrubs. These plants are far more 

 accommodating than at first was 

 imagined. Groups of the bolder kinds 

 associated with Hydrangea panic- 

 ulata grandiflora, Lilium Henryi, and 

 Azalea mollis are effective for months 

 on end, and all revel in deep rich loam, 

 old manure, and leaf-mould. The 

 plants named afford them shelter from 

 spring frosts, which is important. 

 Such bold and vigorous growers as 

 E. robustus and E. Elwesianus should 

 never be planted in prepared " holes," 

 but, because of their extended root 

 systems, on a much more generous 

 plan, so that their thong-like roots, 

 radiating like the spokes of a wheel 

 from its hub, may be catered for. In 

 planting, keep the crowns of these 

 giants of the race fully 6 inches deep : 

 they will come to the surface a year 

 or two later by the very nature of their 

 crown-above-crown annual increase. 

 In all my ill-drained and clay soils 

 they succeed quite well. The modern, 

 late-flowering hybrids are not averse 

 to thin partial shade, and in such last 

 well, while the earliest sorts are capable 

 of fine effect amid their plantings of 

 Rhododendrons or other shrubs. 

 They thrive admirably in deep, rich, 

 sandy loam, with the addition of some 

 decayed cow manure. Autumn is the 

 best period for planting. 



The Rev. F. Page-Roberts writes 

 from Scole Rectory : 



" With a little trouble Eremuri may 

 be grown successfully by every lover 

 of beautiful flowers. All that is 

 necessary for their well-being is pro- 

 tection from slugs, which soon scent 

 them from afar. I keep a perforated 

 zinc collar round the crown and protect 

 from spring frosts. The plant early 

 forces its way up even through the 

 frost-bound earth, but the tender 

 flower-spike, tender only in infancy, is 

 nipped in the bud if rain fall on it and 

 freezes. Protection also from cutting 

 winds which destroy the foliage is 

 needed. With such precautions and 

 planted in loam, deep but not 

 too stiff, in a well - drained sunny 

 border, and with an occasional dose 

 of weak liquid manure, they will 

 repay one for all the care given to 

 them." 



E. AITCHISONII. A fine kind from 

 Afghanistan, where it grows on ridges of 

 the hills nearly 12,000 feet above sea-level, 

 bearing in June dense spikes of pale 



reddish flowers, robust, and on stems from 

 3 to 5 feet high. 



E. AURANTIACUS. A dwarf plant, 

 hardy, flowering in April, the numerous 

 spikes of bright citron-yellow flowers 

 giving quite a character to part of the 

 Hariab district, where it is one of the 

 commonest plants on rough ground. It 

 is the vegetable of the Hariab district 

 upon which the inhabitants depend for 

 at least two months of the year. The 

 leaves are cut from the root-stock, as 

 close to the ground as possible, and 

 cooked. 



E. BUNGEI. A beautiful plant with, 

 wand-like spikes of yellow flowers 2 to 

 3 feet high. E. B. pallidus (primrose 

 yellow) and E. B. superbus, a magnificent 

 plant with towering spikes of yellow 

 flowers, are notable varieties. Native of 

 Persia, flowering in July. 



E. HIMALAICUS is a beautiful white- 

 flowered kind. The flower-stems are 4 to- 

 8 feet high, the dense racemes taking up 

 quite 2 feet of the upper portion, with 

 flowers as large as a florin. It is one of 

 the hardiest and best of the known kinds. 

 It flowers in May and June, and is a native 

 of the temperate Himalayas. 



E. OLG^E. A dwarf kind, and one of 

 the latest to flower. The flower-stem is 

 nearly 4 feet high, and is densely set' with 

 handsome lilac flowers as large as a five- 

 shilling piece. It is certainly one of the 

 handsomest species. E. O. roseus and 

 E. O. Salmon Queen are beautiful varieties. 

 A native of Turkestan, flowering in June 

 and July. 



E. ROBUSTUS. One of the best known 

 in gardens, with a huge flower-stem 6 to 

 10 feet high, bearing a dense raceme of 

 peach-shaped lilac flowers nearly 2 inches 

 in diameter. It is hardy, and may often 

 be seen forcing its shoots through frozen 

 ground. Native of Turkestan, flowering 

 in June. 



In addition to the above named are 

 E. Shelford and E. St Michael, raised 

 by the late Sir Michael Foster, and 

 considered by him to be the best of 

 his many seedlings ; Tubergini and 

 Warei, of coppery-pink hue, and a 

 wide range of seedlings affording shades 

 of cream, pink, buff, salmon, and 

 orange, which, apart from colour, 

 beauty, and novelty, have greatly 

 added to the value of the group by 

 their late (July) flowering. 



ERIANTHUS. A fine grass from S. 

 Europe, E. Ravennce is somewhat like 

 the Pampas Grass in habit, but smaller 

 in size, having violet-tinged leaves. 

 The flowering stems grow from 5 to- 

 6 feet high, but as it only flowers 

 with us in a very warm season, it 

 must be valued for its foliage alone. 

 Its dense tufts are strongest with us- 



