THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



MALESIA. 



thriving also in borders ; flowering 

 long in summer and autumn, and with 

 foliage of a pleasant glaucous colour. G. 

 elegans is a graceful feathery annual 

 much used for bouquets. 



Gypsophila cerastioidcs. 



HABENARIA (Rein Orchis). Ter- 

 restrial Orchids from N. America, i to 

 2 feet high, some of which are pretty. 

 For outdoor culture, a partially-shaded 

 spot should be prepared with about 

 equal parts of leaf-mould or peat and 

 sand, and well mulched with leaves, 

 grass, or other material, to keep it 

 moist. H. blephariglottis bears in July 

 spikes of white flowers beautifully 

 fringed. H . ciliaris has bright orange- 

 yellow flowers with a conspicuous 

 fringe, which appear from July to 

 September. H. fimbriata has a long 

 spike of lilac-purple flowers beautifully 

 fringed. H. psy codes bears spikes 

 4 to 10 inches long of handsome and 

 fragrant purple flowers. They are 

 charming plants for the bog garden. 



HABERLEA. H. rhodopensis is a 

 pretty little rock plant with flowers 

 resembling a Gloxinia in miniature, 

 forming dense tufts of leaves, every 

 rosette bearing in spring one to five 

 slender flower-stalks, each with two to 

 four blossoms, nearly i inch long, of 

 a bluish-lilac colour with a yellowish 

 throat. The typical species is a shy 

 bloomer. Quite the best of the 

 coloured forms is that known as 

 Ferdinandi Coburgii, the flowers being 

 much larger and more freely produced. 

 Imported examples show considerable 

 variety, both in habit and flower the 

 outcome, as it would appear, of natural 

 crosses. A choice and rare sort is the 

 pure white-flowered H. virginalis. In 

 cultivation, all the Haberleas are happy 

 in cool shaded places between rocks in 



deep sandy loam, or with peat added. 

 Dryness they abhor. Flowers in May 

 and June. Best increased by seeds, 

 sown as soon as ripe. Native of the 

 Balkan Mountains, where they are 

 found among moss and leaves on damp, 

 shady, steep declivities at high eleva- 

 tions. 



HABRANTHUS, A brilliant bulb 

 of the Amaryllis family, hardy, at least 

 in the southern and eastern parts of 

 the country. H. pratensis has stout 

 and erect flower-stems, about i foot 

 high, and the brightest scarlet flowers, 

 feathered here and there at the base 

 with yellow. The variety fulgens is 

 the finest form. It blooms freely in 

 the open border of the Rev. Mr Nelson's 

 garden at Aldborough, in Norfolk, 

 flowering at the end of May or begin- 

 ning of June. It grows very freely in 

 strong loam improved by the addition 

 of a little leaf-mould and sand. Its 

 propagation is too easy, for in many 

 soils it is said to split up into offsets 

 instead of growing to a flowering size. 

 A choice plant for the select bulb 

 garden or rock garden, but dies out in 

 heavy soil, thriving in calcareous soils. 

 Chili. 



HALESIA (Snowdrop Tree}. Beau- 

 tiful N. American trees, hardy in this 

 country. The commonest is H. tetrap- 

 tera, one of the prettiest of flower- 

 ing trees. It grows in England from 

 20 to 30 feet high, has a rounded head, 

 with sharply-toothed leaves, in May 

 bearing many white blossoms, in form 

 like the Snowdrop, hence its popular 

 name. It is of moderately rapid 

 growth, and flourishes in any good, 

 free soil. In some parts it ripens its 

 seed. A similar species, distinguished 

 in having but two wings to the seed- 

 vessel (tetraptera having four), is H. 

 diptera, of smaller growth, and not such 

 a suitable tree for this climate ; neither 

 is H. parviflora, which, like the others, 

 has small bell-like flowers. 



The Snowdrop Tree is very slow, and 

 grows and flowers badly on heavy, 

 cold soils ; on free, sandy loams it 

 grows freely and flowers abundantly, 

 and in that case is the most beautiful 

 of flowering trees. There are several 

 varieties of the common Snowdrop 

 Tree Meehani and Icsvigata and parvi- 

 flora as yet rare in gardens though 

 deserving a place. 



H. HISPID A. The best examples of the 

 tree I know of are in the neighbourhood of 

 Cork and Queenstown, but mild climatic 



