602 OREOCOME. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



OROXTIUM. 



plants grow may be surfaced with 

 such plants as the Balearic Sandwort, 

 Lawn Pearlwort, and the mossy Saxi- 

 frages. The situation for Orchids 

 should be an open one, and the soil a 

 deep, fibry loam in a drained border. 

 The following are the kinds most 

 worthy of culture : 



O. FOLIOSA. A handsome Orchid, one 

 of the finest of the hardy kinds, 2 feet or 

 more in height, with long spikes of rosy- 

 purple blossoms in May, lasting long in 

 bloom. It delights in moist nooks at the 

 base of the rock garden, though quite 

 happy in deep light soil. Plant in early 

 autumn. Madeira. 



O. LATIFOLIA (Marsh Orchis). A fine 

 native kind, i to i feet high, with long 

 spikes of purple flowers in early summer. 

 It thrives in damp boggy soil, in peat or 

 leaf-mould. There are several beautiful 

 varieties, the best being prtecox and sesqui- 

 pedalis ; the last being one of the finest of 

 hardy Orchids, about i feet high, and a 

 third of the stem is covered with purplish- 

 violet flowers. 



O. LAXIFLORA. A pretty species, i foot 

 to 1 8 inches high, with loose spikes of rich 

 purplish-red flowers, opening in May and 

 June, and thriving in a moist spot in 

 the rock garden. Guernsey and Jersey. 

 Division. 



O. MACULATA (Hand Orchis). One of 

 the handsomest of British Orchids, finest 

 in rich soil, and if well grown in moist and 

 rather stiff garden loam its beauty will 

 surprise even those who know it well in 

 a wild state. The variety superba is a 

 fine plant, and should be secured. 



Other beautiful kinds, but more or less 

 difficult to establish in gardens, are O. 

 papilionacea, purpurea, militaris, mascula, 

 pyramidalis, spectabilis, tephrosanthos, and 

 Robertiana. 



OREOCOME CANDOLLEI. An 



effective plant of the Fennel order for 

 the margins of shrubberies, or groups 

 of fine-leaved hardy plants. It grows 

 5 feet in height, with large leaves finely 

 divided, of a fresh green colour, and 

 the flowers, which rise well above the 

 foliage, are in umbels, and white. It 

 grows well in any ordinary garden soil, 

 and is quite hardy. Himalayas. 



ORIGANUM (Dittany, Hop Plant}. 

 O. Dictamnus (Dittany of Crete) is a 

 pretty plant, somewhat tender, and 

 best grown under glass rather than in 

 the open air, though during mild 

 winters it may survive. It has mottled 

 downy foliage, and small purplish 

 flowers, in heads like the Hop, hence 

 the name Hop-plant. O. Sipyleum 

 is similar, and is quite as pretty. In 



the open air these plants should have 

 a warm spot in the rock garden. 



ORIXA JAPONICA A very 

 interesting summer-leafing shrub of 

 graceful habit. Native of China and 

 Japan. Mr Wilson, who saw them in 

 China, says they have the curious 

 and interesting faculty, when ripe, 

 of shooting out the seed at a distance 

 of several feet. Mr W. J. Bean 

 ( Trees and Shrubs) has seen the 

 shrub at Kew, but nowhere else. 

 He says the leaves have a pleasant 

 spicy odour when crushed. The 

 shrub is largely used by the Japanese 

 as a hedge plant. 



ORNITHOGALUM (Star of Bethle- 

 }. Bulbous plants, some of them 

 handsome, others not very distinct, 

 but all useful in the grass and in 

 borders, in any good garden soil 

 one or two kinds among the hardy 

 species important for choice borders 

 and bulb, beds, i.e., pyramidale and 

 latifolium. Among other kinds worth 

 growing are nutans (free in grass), 

 narbonnense, sororium, exscapum, and 

 umbellatum natives mostly 'of S. 

 Europe, N. Africa, and Asia Minor. 



OROBUS (Bitter Vetch). Often 

 pretty plants of the Pea order, flower- 

 ing usually in spring. They are suit- 

 able for the mixed border, for the 

 rock garden, or for naturalising. 



O. AURANTIUS. A handsome plant, 

 1 8 to 24 inches high, with orange-yellow 

 flowers in early summer. O. tauricus'is a 

 nearly-allied species, also with orange 

 flowers. Both require to be well estab- 

 lished before they bloom freely. 



O. LATHYROIDES. A lovely border 

 plant, 1 8 to 24 inches high; its bright 

 blue flowers borne in dense racemes ; 

 increased freely by seeds, and thrives in 

 ordinary soil. 



O. VERNUS (Spring Bitter Vetch). One 

 of the most charming of border flowers. 

 From black roots spring healthy tufts of 

 leaves with two or three pairs of shining 

 leaflets ; the flower-buds appearing soon 

 afterwards, almost covering the plant with 

 beautiful purple and blue blooms in April. 

 There are varieties of which cyaneus is the 

 most attractive, with its larger flowers 

 and strange intermixture of colours. 



ORONTIUM (Golden Club}.O. 

 aguaticum is an interesting perennial 

 of the Arum family, 12 to 18 inches 

 high ; in early summer its narrow 

 spadix is densely covered with yellow 

 flowers. The plant may be grown on 



