IPOM^A. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



IRIS. 



flowers a couple of months after sowing. 

 Portugal and Morocco. 



IP01OEA (Morning Glory] .Beau- 

 tiful, slender, twining plants of the 

 Convolvulus family, for the most part 

 tropical. A few succeed in the open 

 air when treated as half-hardy annuals. 

 The most popular of these is : 



I. PURPUREA (Convolvulus major). Its 

 varieties are numerous ; there are white, 

 rose, and deep violet varieties, while 

 Burbidgei is crimson, Dicksoni deep blue, 

 and tricolor striped with red, white, and 

 blue. This beautiful though common 

 plant may be used for the open border, 

 for festooning branches, for covering 

 arbours, trellises, and the like, or for 

 rambling over shrubs, growing freely in 

 any good ordinary garden soil. Seeds 

 should be sown in heat in early spring, 

 and the seedlings transplanted in May as 

 soon as large enough. In the south seed 

 may be sown at once in the open border. 

 Tropical America. 



I. HEDERACEA (Ivy-leaved Morning 

 Glory). Is somewhat similar, but has 

 lobed leaves like Ivy. Its flowers, too, 

 are smaller, of a deep blue striped with 

 red. The varieties grandiflora (light blue), 

 superba (light blue, bordered with white), 

 and atvoviolacea (dark violet and white) 

 are all worth cultivating, and Japanese 

 variety. Seeds may be sown in the open 

 border in April, in light rich soil, where it 

 will flower from July to September. 

 N. America. Other kinds of Ipom&a for 

 open-air culture are /. rubroccerulea, a half- 

 hardy annual, and I. leptophylla, a hardy 

 perennial from N. America. 



IPOMOPSIS. Graceful biennials 

 from California, thriving in light, dry, 

 and warm soils in the milder districts. 

 There are three kinds ; each forms a 

 tuft of finely-cut feathery foliage, and 

 has slender flower spikes from 2 to 

 3 feet high, thickly set with flowers 

 that open in succession. In I. elegans 

 the flowers are scarlet and thickly 

 spotted, and in I. superba they are 

 much the same, while in the rosea 

 variety they are a deep pink. The 

 seeds should be sown in spring in pots 

 in the open border in ordinary soil. 

 During the first year the plants make 

 growth, and early the following sum- 

 mer they flower. If planted out to 

 stand the winter, it is advisable to 

 give a little protection. Other kinds 

 mentioned in catalogues belong to 

 Gilia, of which Ipomopsis is really a 

 synonym. On light soils early autumn- 

 sowing should be tried. These plants 

 are very seldom well grown. 



IRESINE. Dwarf half-hardy plants, 

 remarkable for their foliage, and much 

 misused in the flower garden. /. 

 Herbsli grows from i to 2 feet high, 

 and has crimson stems and rich car- 

 mine-veined foliage, the brilliancy of 

 which continues until late in autumn, 

 and is more effective in wet than in 

 hot dry seasons. Lindeni has more 

 pointed leaves, a deep blood-red colour, 

 is compact and graceful, and bears 

 pinching back and pegging down to 

 any height. 



IRIS (Flag}. Beautiful bulbous or 

 tuberous plants numerous in kind and 

 wonderfully varied in beauty. The 

 plants are for the most part hardy, 

 and have much diversity of habit and 

 colour, varying in height from a few 

 inches to 6 feet. They may be con- 

 veniently divided into two classes 

 those with bulbous roots, which are now 

 called Xiphions, and those (the greatest 

 number) with creeping stems. In 

 treating of culture it is well to consider 

 these separately. The bulbous kinds 

 should have a warm and sheltered 

 situation, such as the protection of a 

 south wall, and succeed in almost any 

 light garden soil, but prefer one that is 

 friable, and sandy, not too poor, but 

 enriched with rotten leaf - mould and 

 manure. Sun they must have, and 

 the shelter must be without shade. 

 They need an autumn drought to ripen, 

 and a dry soil in winter to preserve 

 the bulbs and keep them at rest ; 

 but in spring, when the leaves are 

 pushing up, they love moderate rain. 

 These observations apply to the Span- 

 ish and English Irises as well as the 

 rarer bulbous kinds. 



The more vigorous kinds are suited 

 for planting among large shrubs, which 

 ought to be wider apart than they 

 generally are in shrubberies ; and may 

 be employed in groups near water, and 

 also on mixed borders and beds. The 

 flowering season of the Iris extends 

 over the greater part of the year. 

 The following selection of the more 

 important kinds for our gardens is 

 arranged in alphabetical order for con- 

 venience of reference : 



I. ALATA (Scorpion Iris). A beautiful 

 bulbous kind with fine large blossoms, the 

 ground colour delicate lilac-blue, with 

 showy blotches of bright yellow, copiously 

 spotted with a darker hue. The foliage, 

 which appears with the flowers, much 

 resembles that of a Leek. It is easy to 

 grow on a warm, dry, sunny border ; 

 planted in autumn in ordinary garden 

 soil. 



