MESEMBRYANTHEMUM. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. MESPILUS. 569 



M. ALPINA. A dwarf kind. The leaves 

 are bluish-green ; the stem 6 to 10 inches 

 high, bearing in early summer one to three 

 drooping terminal clusters of light blue 

 flowers. 



M. DAHURICA. Although very slender 

 and liable to be broken by high winds, is 

 hardy. It is 6 to 12 inches high, has erect 

 branching stems, and bears in June 

 panicles of handsome drooping azure-blue 

 flowers. It is very pretty for the rock 

 garden borders, and should be planted 

 in a sheltered nook in a mixture of peat 

 and loam. Division or seed. 



M. MARITIMA (Oyster Plant). Very 

 little known in gardens, and though a 

 seaside plant and usually found growing 

 in sea-sand, it is amenable to garden cul- 

 ture. Given a light sandy soil of good 

 depth, and a sunny position where its long 

 and succulent flower-stems may spread 

 themselves out, carrying a long succession 

 of turquoise-blue flowers, it is a plant that 

 we may expect to see year after year. 



M. OBLONGIFOLIA. Another dwarf 

 species. The stems are 6 to 9 inches high, 

 and they bear handsome clustered heads 

 of brilliant blue flowers, and deep green 

 fleshy leaves. 



M. PRIMULOIDES. A beautiful and 

 choice species from the Himalayas, with 

 rich blue Forget-me-not like flowers. 

 Quite happy in cool places in peat and 

 loam. Height, 6 inches. Seeds and divi- 

 sion. 



M. SIBIRICA. A plant of much beauty 

 of colour and grace of habit, grows and 

 flowers for a long period in ordinary soil. 

 The small bell-shaped flowers are borne in 

 loose drooping clusters, gracefully ter- 

 minating in arching stems. The colour 

 varies from a delicate pale purple-blue to 

 a rosy-pink in the young flowers. A 

 hardy perennial growing best in a peaty 

 bog. Division. ' 



M. VIRGINICA (Virginian Cowslip). The 

 handsomest of the Mertensias, bearing in 

 early spring drooping clusters of lovely 

 purple-blue blossoms on stems i to i i feet 

 high, the leaves large and of bluish-grey. 

 In many gardens it never makes the 

 slightest progress ; but a sheltered, moist, 

 peaty nook is the place for it. The finest 

 plants are grown in moist, sandy peat, 

 with shelter near. It is an old garden 

 plant, and one which has never become 

 common ; in the southern country it is 

 grown too dry. 



MESEMBRYANTHEMUM ( Ice 



Plant). Dwarf or trailing succulent 

 plants, of which there are several 

 grown in the open air, though none 

 are hardy. The Common Ice Plant 

 (M. crystallinum) is grown for garnish- 

 ing in most large gardens and is also 

 used as a pot plant ; but it is most 

 effective when planted out in the rock 

 garden or on an old wall. In a sunny 



situation it will grow in any good soil, 

 and will grow from 3 to 4 feet in a 

 season. On warm days has a refresh- 

 ing look, and its flowers, unimportant 

 compared with the stems and foliage, 

 are bespangled with crystal. Seeds 

 should be sown in heat in March, and 

 the seedlings planted out 6 to 8 inches 

 apart. There are two varieties one 



"/c< ( Vii gininn Co\v\slip). 



red and the other white. M. cordi- 

 folium is a perennial, the variegated 

 form of which is used in carpet-gar- 

 dening. M. Pomeridianum is a strong 

 species with broad foliage and large 

 purple and rose flowers. It is not so 

 common as the last, but it deserves a 

 place on the south border. M. tricolor 

 is the most showy of the annual Mes- 

 embryanthemums. It is a neat plant 

 with cylindrical foliage, growing in 

 neat tufts 4 to 6 inches in height ; its 

 abundant flowers, of purple-rose or 

 white, afford good contrast. It should 

 be sown in sandy soil in the open garden 

 about the end of April ; it dislikes 

 transplantation, and lasts longer in 

 the ground than in a pot. They are 

 children of the sun, and a rock garden 

 devoted to a collection in an open sunny 

 spot is worth seeing. A soil consisting 

 of little besides sand and gravel suits 

 them perfectly. 



MESPILUS (Medlar}. M. germanica 

 is a beautiful small tree or bush with 

 large and handsome flowers, and a 

 wide-spreading head, and is beautiful 

 in early summer when studded with 

 great white flowers among its large 

 pale green leaves. The only other 

 species in gardens is M. grandiflora, 



