4 62 



ER1NUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ERODIUM. 



of a neat habit and about i foot high. 

 It bears an abundance of large, purple, 

 yellow-eyed blossoms in summer, and, 

 like E. speciosus, will grow in any soil. 

 E. mucronatus, known also as Vitta- 

 denia triloba, is a valuable border 

 flower, neat and compact, and for 

 several weeks in summer is a dense 

 rounded mass of bloom about 9 inches 

 high. The flowers are pink when first 

 expanded, and afterwards change to 

 white, and the plant therefore pre- 

 sents every intermediate shade. Other 

 kinds in gardens are E. multiradiatus, 

 glabellus, glaucus, bellidifolius, strigosus, 

 and philadelphicus the last two being 

 the prettiest. All are easily increased 

 by division in autumn or spring. The 

 most effective and useful of the genus 

 is E. speciosus, which is excellent for 

 groups or borders. 



ERINUS (Wall E.}. E. alpinus is 

 a pretty alpine plant, with racemes 

 of violet-purple flowers, abundant on 

 dwarf tufts of leaves in early summer. 

 In winter it perishes on the level 

 ground in most gardens, but it is 

 permanent when allowed to run wild 

 on old walls or ruins, and it is easily 

 established on old ruins by sowing 

 seeds in mossy or earthy chinks. It 

 is well suited for the rock garden, 

 where it grows in any position, and 

 often flowers bravely on earthless 

 mossy rocks and stones. E. hirsutus 

 is a variety covered with down. There 

 is a white variety. Pyrenees. 



ERINACEA PUNGENS. A dwarf, 

 much-branched shrub, forming foot- 

 high cushions of spiny branches, and 

 producing in May and June pea-shaped 

 flowers of an exquisite blue shade. 

 The species is an old introduction from 

 Spain, and despite hardiness and dis- 

 tinctive beauty, still remains one of the 

 most rare of hardy plants. Best suited 

 to sunny positions in the rock garden. 

 Increased by seeds when procurable, 

 and layers. It grows well in sandy 

 loam, or this with peat added. 



ERIOBOTRYA (E. japonica : 

 Loquat). A large-leaved shrub from 

 Japan ; in our country tender, and 

 only suitable for walls in warm and 

 sheltered places. Its large evergreen 

 leaves are handsome, and in warm 

 districts it flowers, the blossoms white, 

 but it does not fruit in the open air 

 in England. 



ERIOGONUM. N. American alpine 

 plants which, on the mountains of 

 California, are of much beauty. From 

 a dense tuft of leaves E. umbellatum 



throws up numerous stems, 6 to 8 

 inches high, on which golden-yellow 

 blooms, in umbels 4 inches or more 

 across, form a neat and conspicuous 

 tuft. In light sandy soil of the rock 

 garden it has never failed to bloom 

 profusely. Other kinds are E. com- 

 position, flavum, Jamesi, racemosum, 

 ursinum. 



ERIOPHORUM (Cotton Grass). - 

 Sedge-like plants, whose heads of white 

 cottony seeds make them interesting 

 in the bog garden or in wet places in 

 grass. E. polystachyon is the best for 

 a garden ; it is plentiful in some 

 marshy districts. 



ERITRICHIUM (Fairy Forget-me- 

 not). E. nanum is an alpine gem, 

 closely allied to the Forget-me-nots, 

 which, however, it excels in intensity 

 of azure-blue. Though reputed to be 

 difficult to cultivate, a fair amount of 

 success may be ensured by planting it 

 in broken limestone or sandstone, 

 mixed with a small quantity of rich 

 fibry loam and peat, in a spot in the 

 rock garden where it will be fully 

 exposed, and where the roots will 

 be near half -buried rock. The chief 

 enemy of this little plant, and indeed 

 of all alpine plants with silky or 

 cottony foliage, is moisture in winter, 

 which soon causes it to damp off. In 

 its native habitat it is covered with 

 dry snow during that period. Some, 

 therefore, recommend an over-hanging 

 ledge, but if such protection be not 

 removed during summer, it causes too 

 much shade and dryness. A better 

 plan is to place two pieces of glass in 

 a ridge over the plant, thus keeping 

 it dry and allowing a free access of air, 

 but these should be removed early in 

 spring. Alps, at high elevations. A 

 stone or slate over the plant for the 

 worst months (November to end of 

 February) is a good way. 



ERODIUM (Stork's - bill). Like 

 hardy Geraniums, but usually smaller 

 and more southern in origin. Suited 

 for chalky banks or the rock garden, 

 and some are suited for borders, while 

 others may be naturalised in the grass 

 in warm soil. Among the best species 

 are : 



E. CORSICUM. A choice alpine species 

 of easy culture, having tufts of grey leaves 

 and rose-coloured flowers. Four inches 

 high. Seeds. 



E. MACRADENIUM. A dwarf Pyrenean 

 plant, 6 to 10 inches high, with the blooms 

 of French white delicately tinged with 

 purple, and veined with purplish-rose ; 

 the lower petals are larger than the others ; 



