530 LASTHENIA. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



LATHYRUS. 



experience gained by planters this is 

 thought doubtful, as it promises very well 

 indeed as a woodland tree, and is said to 

 escape the Larch fungus canker, which is 

 so deadly to the European Larch. 



L. OCCIDENTALIS (Western Larch). 

 Said to be the noblest of all the Larches, 

 from the mountains of N.W. America. 

 It is of great height, but as yet little tried 

 in our country, though promising well. 



LASTHENIA. A pretty hardy 

 annual, L. glabrata being from 9 inches 

 to i^ feet high, with many rich orange- 

 yellow blossoms. It should be sown 

 in autumn or early summer, or in 

 spring for later bloom. Like other 

 annuals, it looks best in broad tufts, 

 but care must be taken that the 

 plants are properly thinned. The 

 autumn-sown plants come in with the 

 Iberis, Wallflowers, and early Phloxes. 

 L. californica is a variety. California. 

 Composite. 



Lastrea. Syn. Aspidium and 

 Nephrodium. 



LATHYRUS (Everlasting P.ea). - 

 Hardy annual and perennial plants, 

 several of them very beautiful for the 

 garden. The perennial kinds of Peas 

 are valuable, as they are of such free 

 growth and last long in bloom. The 

 kinds worth growing are not numerous, 

 yet sufficient to keep up an unbroken 

 display from May till October. They 

 have long fleshy roots, which, when 

 once established, will go on for years 

 without giving further trouble or 

 needing attention. Near a low wall 

 or trellis they succeed admirably, and 

 climbing gracefully drape such surfaces 

 with veils of foliage and blossom. 

 Upon banks, raised borders, or on the 

 bold rock garden few things are pret- 

 tier, and they never look better than 

 when scrambling over the face of a 

 rock, flowering as they go. The way 

 to spoil them is to attempt to tie and 

 train them in a stiff or formal way. 

 They may be used with good effect in 

 mixed borders, and they are valuable 

 for cutting from. The best varieties 

 are pretty if allowed to grow through 

 beds of medium-sized shrubs, and there 

 are few effects in gardens prettier than 

 that of the best white varieties when 

 allowed to trail and bloom on a grassy 

 place untrained in any way ; a few 

 tufts so placed are charming and live 

 for many years. Most of the species 

 ripen seed freely, and all may be divided 

 either in autumn or spring. 



L. GRANDIFLORUS (Two-flowered Ever- 

 lasting Pea). A very handsome plant for 

 the early summer garden, succeeding any- 

 where, and, as the name implies, is the 

 largest flowered species, the blooms being 

 as large as those of a Sweet Pea. It is at 

 its best in June and early July, the flowers 

 usually borne in pairs, of a rosy-purple 

 colour, the stems in good soil reaching 



The White Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus latifolius 

 albus). 



6 feet. It is one of the hardiest of the 

 genus, and from its neat and free-flowering 

 habit a very useful border plant, common 

 in cottage gardens. It has not so far 

 varied in colour as the Everlasting Pea, 

 but it may do so yet, and varieties of it 

 would be welcome. 



L. LATIFOLIUS (Everlasting Pea). One 

 of the hardiest and most easily cultivated 

 of plants, thriving almost anywhere, even 

 in courtyards amongst Flags. There are 

 good white varieties and some striped 

 with deeper coloured flowers than the old 

 kind. The best white-flowered variety is 

 The Pearl, an invaluable plant. All are 

 peculiarly suited for rough places, and 

 will scramble over bushes. Staking, tying, 

 and training only spoil them. An old 



