LESPEDEZA. 



THE .ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



LEWISIA. 



535 



bright yellow flowers. All these plants 

 thrive best in an open sunny position 

 in a light warm soil. The seeds should 

 be sown early in heat, and the seedlings 

 transplanted in May. 



LESPEDEZA (Bush Clover}. 

 Large flowering plants of the Pea order, 

 few as yet tried in our country. 

 Mostly from China, Japan, Korea, and 

 India. 



LEUCANTHEMUM (A Ipine Fever- 

 few). L. alpinum is a very dwarf 

 plant. The leaves are small, and the 

 abundant flowers are supported on 

 hoary little stems i to 3 inches long, 

 are pure white with yellow centres, 

 and are more than i inch across. It 

 is rather quaint and pretty, and well 

 deserves cultivation in bare level 

 places, on poor sandy or gravelly soil 

 in the rock garden. It is sometimes 

 known as Chrysanthemum arcticum 

 and Pyrethrum alpinum. It is a 

 native of the Alps, and is readily 

 increased by division or seed. (For 

 other species of Leucanthemum see 

 Chrysanthemum.) 



LEUCOJUM (Snowflake}. Pretty 

 bulbs allied to the Snowdrop, but 

 bolder and easily naturalised in rich 

 valley soils. 



L. ^STIVUM (Summer Snowflake). A 

 vigorous plant, flowers white drooping on 

 stalks i to i feet high, and clusters of 

 four to eight on a stem, with leaves shaped 

 like those of Daffodils. It blooms early 

 in summer (in many places before the end 

 of spring), and is pretty in mixed borders 

 or on the margins of shrubberies. It 

 thrives in almost any soil, but is strongest 

 in deep alluvial soil, and is multiplied by 

 separation of the bulbs. It is excellent 

 for the wild garden, and increases as 

 rapidly as the common Daffodil. A form 

 of L. fsstivum is L. Hernandezi, a native of 

 Majorca and Minorca, growing to about 

 the same height as L. cestivum, but with 

 narrower leaves, flowers only half the size, 

 and usually not more than three flowers 

 on each stem, appearing nearly a month 

 earlier. 



L. CARPATICUM. Is considered a vari- 

 ety, bearing two flowers on the stem, 

 flowering a month later. Other cultivated 

 Snowflakes are L. hyemale and L. roseum ; 

 but these are very rare, and somewhat 

 difficult to cultivate. 



L. VERNUM (Spring Snowflake). A 

 beautiful early flower about 6 inches high. 

 The fragrant drooping flower resembles a 

 large Snowdrop, the tips of the petals 

 being marked with a greenish spot. It is 

 excellent for the rock garden or borders, 

 and "thrives in a light, rich soil. Imported 



bulbs make little show for the first year 

 or two, but when established they flower 

 freely. 



LEUCOTHOE. Beautiful evergreen 

 shrubs of the He.ath family, most of 

 them very old garden plants, and 

 common in collections of American 

 plants. There is a family likeness 

 among the kinds, the best known being 

 L. acuminata, ij to 2^ feet high, with 

 slender arching stems, in early sum- 

 mer wreathed with white bell-shaped 

 pretty flowers. L. axillavis is similar, 

 and so are L. Catesbcei and L. race- 

 mosa, all of which are known under the 

 name Andromeda. They are natives 

 of N. America, hardy, thriving in 

 light soil, preferring peat, and are 

 suitable for the margins of groups of 

 American shrubs and for low parts 

 of rock gardens. A newer and very 

 beautiful species is L. Davisice, intro- 

 duced a few years since from California, 

 and not so hardy as the others. It 

 makes a neat little evergreen bush 

 2 or 3 feet high, and has small leaves 

 on slender stems, in May bearing 

 clusters of small white flowers. It is 

 one of the choicest of evergreen hardy 

 shrubs, and thrives with Rhododen- 

 drons and Azaleas in peat soil. 



LEWISIA (Spatlum) . Remarkable 

 and beautiful Rocky Mountain plants, 

 allied to Portulaca, L. rediviva being 

 very dwarf, i inch or so high, with a 

 small tuft of narrow leaves, from the 

 centre of which the flower-stalks arise. 

 The blossoms are large for the size of 

 the plant, being from i to 2| inches 

 across, and vary from deep rose to 

 white. The roots are succulent, and 

 can retain life a long time even when 

 dry, and as the plant sometimes fails 

 to develop leaves annually, it is wrongly 

 supposed to be dead. It should be 

 grown in sunshine, for it cannot be 

 flowered in shade, and the crown kept 

 high and dry, though the roots should 

 have moisture. A crevice in the rock 

 garden is the best situation for it. If 

 grown in pots, the plant should be on 

 broken stones, and the roots in light 

 sandy loam with peat. After flowering 

 it shrivels up and becomes a withered 

 twisted mass, like so many bits of 

 string. There are several other kinds 

 in cultivation, as L. Cotyledon, T weedy i 

 and Howelli. A warm situation in 

 the rock garden is best, in a mixture of 

 half soil and half-broken rock. They 

 are easily raised from seeds, which are 

 freely produced in hot summers, 

 seedlings occasionally appearing by 



