6i8 



PEROWSKIA. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PETASITES. 



lings was obtained from Ps. mucronaia 

 and angustifolia. These seedling forms 

 of mucronata are among the most 

 beautiful of berried shrubs, bearing 

 dense clusters of berries varying in 

 size from a small Pea to a small Cherry, 

 and in colour from white, pale pink, 

 and lilac, to crimson, purple, and 

 nearly black. The plants differ in 

 habit, some being nearly prostrate, 

 and others erect or drooping, though 

 the largest are not much over 2 feet 

 high ; their fruits also vary in density 

 and texture. They are often borne 

 so freely that little plants of a few 

 inches high will be loaded down with 

 them, but in some gardens, and for 

 no apparent reason, not many are set. 

 The plants do best grouped together 

 in sunny places, where they shade each 

 other's roots, and where the atmo- 

 sphere is moist and the ground cool, 

 and the soil rich in peaty or vegetable 

 matter. They succeed well, however, 

 in stiffer soils, such as clay and lime- 

 stone marl, especially if given a little 

 good soil at the outset, and soon make 

 dense masses, spreading by suckers. 

 They grow fairly well even in shade, 

 but fruit less freely, and only fail in 

 hot, sandy, or chalky soils, or where 

 there is much lime. Otherwise they 

 are fully hardy, free from insect pests, 

 and move readily, though averse to 

 disturbance. The small sharply - 

 pointed deep green leaves are always 

 neat, and the numerous bell-like white 

 flowers expanding in May, and in 

 pretty contrast with the bright red of 

 the new shoots, render these little 

 shrubs worth growing for their spring- 

 tide beauty alone. 



PEROWSKIA ATRIPLICIFOLIA 



(Silvery Sage}. A beautiful silver-grey 

 half-shrubby plant of the Sage order, 

 with a pungent odour, growing 3 to 5 

 feet high, with blue and white flowers 

 in July and August. The effect 

 of the numerous flowering shoots and 

 the grey foliage is good, and the plant 

 is worth a place in the choicest garden 

 for its graceful habit and long season 

 of beauty, and the value of its slender 

 panicles for cutting. It does best in a 

 sunny spot, and is hardy at least in 

 the south. Cuttings. Afghanistan. 



PETALOSTEMON (Prairie Clover). 

 Pretty clover-like perennials, mostly 

 from the western states of America, 

 and not much grown, though well 

 worthy of cultivation in warm open 

 soils, coming readily from seed. The 

 best species are P. candidus, with white 



flowers on stems of i to 2 feet ; P. 

 oligophyllum, with spike-like white 

 heads on slender stems ; P. tenui- 

 folium, with narrow silvery down- 

 covered foliage, and spikes of rosy- 

 purple flowers ; and violaceus, forming 

 a neat tuft of finely-cut foliage and 

 showy spikes of deep violet flowers. 

 All are better for a dry place. 



PETASITES (Winter Heliotrope). 

 P. fragrans is a rampant weed bloom- 

 ing in December and January, unless 

 the weather is very severe. The 

 flowers, deliciously fragrant and of a 

 pale dingy lilac, are gathered in short 



The Winter Heliotrope (Fetasites fragran*). 



panicles upon stems of 4 to 12 inches. 

 It is unfit for garden culture, as it runs 

 very much at the root and becomes a 

 weed, and should be planted on rough 

 banks and in hedgerows, as it is very 

 useful for winter bouquets, and may 

 carpet a small clump of shrubbery 

 where it can be conveniently gathered. 

 It is not a hardy plant, and is cut down 

 by severe frost. S. Europe. Another 

 species, P. vulgaris (Common Butter- 

 bur), is a native plant, 2 to 2^ feet 

 high, closely allied to the common 

 Coltsfoot, but having great Rhubarb- 

 like leaves. The flowers appear in 

 spring before the leaves, and are a dull 

 pinkish-purple. Exotic plants with 

 less effective leaves than this have been 

 used in gardens ; but it should not be 

 allowed to come nearer to the garden 



