626 



PHORMIUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PHUOPSIS, 



cuttings, too, with the lowest leaves 

 removed, are also excellent. Insert in 

 very sandy soil June to August, placing 

 cutting pots in handlight in frame or 

 greenhouse. They will soon root, and 

 become good flowering plants the 

 following season. With large patches, 

 the readiest way is to sprinkle sandy 

 soil over the entire plant and to work 

 the same gently amongst the branches 

 with the -hand. If this be done during 

 the summer or the early autumn, the 

 trailing branches will form roots the 

 following season, and may be planted 

 elsewhere. These Phloxes are charm- 

 ing in spring, hardy, and form gay 

 cushions on the level ground, or pen- 

 dent sheets from the tops of crags or 

 from chinks in the rock garden. 

 Rocky hills and sandy wastes in N.. 

 America. 



PHORMIUM (New Zealand Flax}. 

 Fine-leaved plants from New Zealand, 

 like giant Iris in foliage, their tough 

 broadly sword-shaped leaves rising 

 to a height of many feet in the 

 more vigorous kinds, and of stately 

 effect at the waterside mingled 

 with Bamboos, Pampas Grass, and 

 Gunneras. In hard winters even 

 strong plants may be injured or cut 

 to the ground, but the roots seldom 

 perish, and by selection hardier forms 

 are now available than those first 

 introduced. In the most favoured 

 districts one well - grown plant of 

 Phormium will spread into a mass 

 30 or 40 feet in circumference and 

 8 to 10 feet high, with flower-stems 

 rising several feet above this. The 

 reddish-brown flowers are more curious 

 than beautiful, but when borne freely 

 they give character to the plant. In 

 cold districts the roots should be 

 well protected, or the plants can be 

 grown in tubs and moved to the 

 conservatory, after a time on the 

 lawn or terrace during summer. P. 

 tenax is the common green - leaved 

 kind, and is a noble plant of very 

 vigorous growth, but tender. Some 

 of its forms are more resistant, the 

 hardiest of all being the Powerscourt 

 variety, with a narrower and more 

 glaucous leaf of erect growth, and 

 about 6 feet long. A form with dark 

 leaves is atro-purpurea, with a deep 

 purplish zone along the edges of the 

 leaf, and in some plants wholly 

 suffusing it. P. Cookianum is hardier 

 than P. tenax and a much smaller 

 plant, with leaves of only 3 to 4 feet 

 and yellow flowers ; it also has a 



variegated variety. P. Colensoi is 

 another fairly hardy kind from the 

 mountains of New Zealand, with 

 a spreading and graceful way of 

 growth and narrow leaves. Of this 

 there is a distinct garden form called 

 compacta, very dwarf, neat, and hardy, 

 with quite narrow leaves. Increase by 

 seed and root-division, seed from one 

 plant yielding a variety of forms. The 

 Phormiums like a deep soil with abun- 

 dance of sunlight and moisture, and 

 where there is nothing to fear from 

 frost they do well treated as water- 

 side plants. 



PHOTINIA. A group of handsome 

 shrubs, mostly evergreen, and too 

 tender for our gardens, where even 

 the hardiest kind, P. serrulata known 

 as the Chinese Hawthorn is rarely 

 seen except along the south coast, 

 though quite hardy enough for 

 sheltered places inland. This is one 

 of the best of seaside shrubs, making 

 dense masses 20 or more feet in height 

 and width. The foliage is handsome, 

 glossy like that of a Portugal Laurel, 

 and of a fine red colour in spring. 

 These young leaves come so early as 

 to risk injury from late frosts, and to 

 escape this the plant is mostly grown 

 against walls when away from the sea, 

 and is very handsome in this way, 

 bearing heads of small white flowers 

 in May and June. 



Another hardy kind from China and 

 Japan is P. variabilis, which loses its 

 leaves in winter, but retains its bright 

 scarlet berries long, and the leaves 

 themselves turn a fine crimson before 

 falling when the plant is grown in an 

 open and sunny place and in dry soil. 

 To do well with us the Photinias 

 should have a light, well-drained soil, 

 shelter, and sunshine. 



PHRAGMITES (Great Reed). P. 

 communis is a most graceful plant in 

 all open waters, by which it forms 

 excellent covert for duck. It grows 

 to a height of 6 feet, with drooping 

 heads of brownish - purple flowers in 

 autumn. 



PHUOPSIS (Crosswort). A pretty 

 little hardy perennial of trailing habit, 

 with heads of pale rosy flowers in 

 early spring. The individual blooms 

 are small, but clustered in dense heads, 

 their one fault being a somewhat 

 unpleasant smell. There are garden 

 forms with deep crimson and with 

 purple flowers. Increase by seed, or 

 division in early spring. Old tufts 



