PETROCALLIS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. PHACELIA. 619 



than the margin of some adjacent 

 stream or moist bottom. An allied 

 plant, P. japonica gigantea, has re- 

 cently come to us from the Far East, 

 where the great rounded leaves, as 

 large as a small sunshade and used as 

 such by Japanese children, rise on 

 stout fleshy stems as high as a man. It 

 makes a stately waterside plant, and 

 coming from the island of Saghalien 

 it should prove fully hardy in this 

 country. Its flowers come in early 

 spring, before the leaves. Division. 



PETROCALLIS (Rock Beauty}. P. 

 pyrenaica is a beautiful little alpine 

 plant, forming dense cushions 2 to 

 3 inches high, resembling a mossy 

 Saxifrage, with fragrant pale lilac 

 flowers, faintly veined, coming in April. 

 Though hardy, it is fragile, and hap- 

 piest on the rock garden, in sandy 

 fibry loam, in level sunny spots, where 

 it can root freely in moist soil mingled 

 with broken stones. It may also be 

 grown in pots plunged in sand in the 

 open air, and in frames in winter, but 

 it becomes " drawn " and delicate 

 under glass. Increase by seed or 

 careful division. Alps and Pyrenees. 

 P. fenestmta is a newer kind, of similar 

 habit but with white flowers. 



PETTERIA RAMENTACEA 



(Dalmatian Laburnum}. A deciduous 

 tree-like shrub allied to Laburnum 

 and Cytisus. Introduced in the middle 

 of the last century, but not common 

 in gardens. It is quite hardy, flowering 

 in May and June. The seeds are 

 poisonous. Dajmatia and Montenegro. 



PETUNIA. In certain positions, 

 some of these showy half-hardy plants 

 of the Solanum order produce a good 

 effect. The spots chosen for Petunias 

 should be open and sunny, and the soil 

 deep and rich, for in low damp situa- 

 tions' they perish with the first cold 

 nights of autumn. A pleasing variety 

 may be quickly raised from seeds of a 

 good strain. Sown in heat in February 

 or March, good plants may be had for 

 putting out at the end of May, but it 

 is not safe to plant them out earlier. 

 Seedlings, too, are now so good that 

 they are frequently planted in mixed 

 borders for cutting. 



PHACELIA. A group of sun-loving 

 annuals with showy flowers, mainly 

 from the western states of N. 

 America. Some are only a few inches 

 high and spread along the ground ; 

 others are several feet in height, 

 bearing bell-shaped or tubular flowers, 



blue, mauve, purple, or white, and 

 carried in curved racemes which 

 straighten as they expand. Only two 

 or three kinds have been grown in our 

 gardens, but others are well worth a 

 place as they become better known. 

 They are of easy culture as annuals, 

 some kinds preferring sandy soils and 

 others something stiffer. The tall 

 kinds should be planted fairly close, 

 and the trailers farther apart, and most 

 kinds will begin to flower in about 

 ten weeks from sowing. Nearly all 

 are more or less hairy, and like, most 

 hairy plants- they like a dry place, 

 and then bloom freely and through a 

 long season. Seeds may be raised in 

 heat, and the seedlings planted out in 

 clumps, but this needs care, for all 

 Phacelias dislike moving. They may 





/**, 



ir- 



Petrocallis pyrenaica. 



be sown in the open during April. 

 August sowings may also be made, 

 to be wintered under glass, and 

 flower in early spring. Few plants are 

 more valuable to bee-keepers. The 

 best kinds are : 



P. BIPINNATIFIDA. A bushy plant of 

 i to 2 feet, with dissected leaves irregu- 

 larly lobed and toothed, and covered with 

 downy hairs. The flowers, opening in 

 succession from July and September, are 

 small but very numerous, and arranged 

 as in the Heliotrope. The buds are white 

 and the open flowers bright blue with 

 prominent stamens. Pretty for cutting. 

 Found in Ohio and Alabama, much farther 

 east than other kinds. 



P. CAMPANULARIA (Gentianelle) . The 

 best kind, free in its fine dark blue flowers, 

 spotted with white in the throat ; they 

 last a long while, and the plant makes a 

 pretty carpet in sunny places. 



P. DIVARICATA. A showy kind, abound- 

 ing on the shores of the Bay of San Fran- 

 cisco. Its fragile stems spread freely, 



