6?o 



tub ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



RESEDA. 



R. GLACIALIS (Glacier Buttercup). 

 This is the plant of the icy regions, 

 being found near to the melting snow 

 on the loftiest mountains. The thick, 

 fleshy leaves of a dark green and deeply 

 incised, the stem of a brown-red tint, 3 or 

 4 inches long, prostrate on the ground, 

 and bearing from one to four flowers, 

 the petals of which are at first of a light 

 pink colour, passing into a bright coppery- 

 red. Everything about this plant has 

 a glacial aspect. It thrives on cool 

 and moist but fully exposed ledges of 

 the rock garden, in. deep gritty soil 

 with white stones or sand on the surface 

 to keep it cool. Alps and Pyrenees. 



R. GRAMINEUS. A pretty little plant 

 from the Pyrenees, with slender, erect 

 stems of about a foot high and narrow 

 grass-like leaves of a blue-grey colour. Its 

 golden flowers 

 are produced 

 in great pro- 

 fusion during 

 early summer. 

 A useful plant 

 for the border 

 or moist corner 

 of the rock gar- 

 den, and also 

 quite happy if 

 treated as a bog- 

 plant. 



R. LINGUA 

 (Great Spear- 

 wort). A na- 

 tive kind and a 

 noble waterside 

 plant, its leaves 

 rising boldly out 

 of the water to 

 a height of 2 or 

 3 feet, with large 

 yellow and at- 

 tractive flowers. 

 Thrives in mud- 

 dy watersides, 

 and the numer- 

 ous and hand- 

 some flowers are good for cutting for the 

 house. 



R. LYALLI (Rockwood Lily). A lovely 

 New Zealand plant ; in moist places 

 in the Southern Alps the plant has 

 large rounded leaves and very large 

 handsome waxy white flowers, not unlike 

 those of Anemone japonica, with delicate 

 yellow stamens in the centre. In some 

 places in Britain this plant is not hardy, 

 but in others it stands the winter well, 

 but is difficult to cultivate in our climate. 

 R. MONSPELIACUS (Montpelier Butter- 

 cup). A vigorous plant, growing about 

 1 8 inches high, with three-lobed woolly 

 leaves and large flowers like the Com- 

 mon Buttercup. 



R. PARNASSIFOLIUS (Parnassia-leavcd 

 Buttercup). A singular - looking plant 

 with thick, entire leaves, woolly on 



Ranunculus Lingua. 



the edges, flowers large, of a pure white 

 colour, borne two or three together 

 on a prostrate stem in the month of 

 May. In the Pyrenees and on the 

 French Alps it is rare to find a flower 

 of this handsome species which possesses 

 the full number of petals. 



R. RUT^FOLIUS (Rue-leaved Buttercup). 

 Rue-like leaves and white flowers 

 with dark-yellow centres. Coming from 

 the highest parts of the Alps, it requires 

 the same treatment as the higher alpine 

 plants, in a fully-exposed spot in moist 

 soil with plenty of grit in it. 



R. SPECIOSUS (Large Double Buttercup). 

 A showy plant, with compact rosette- 

 like flowers of bright yellow in May, 

 succeeding in any light soil. In a full 

 collection, R. chcevophyllus, illyricus, and 

 famiaricefolius may be included. 



The above is but a selection from a 

 very large family in nature, many of 

 which are little known in gardens, 

 and many of no garden interest. 



RAPHIOLEPIS ( Japanese Haw- 

 thorn). R. ovata is a beautiful Japanese 

 shrub, hardy in southern districts, 

 and with a little winter protection 

 may even be planted in cold parts. 

 Its thick evergreen leaves are of a 

 dark colour, and its flowers, which are 

 large, white, and sweet - scented, are 

 in clusters terminating the young 

 branches. It is a low, spreading 

 bush, somewhat open and straggling, 

 and should not be crowded with other 

 shrubs. Some of the other species, 

 such as R. indica and R. salicifolia, 

 both from China, are not hardy enough 

 for the open ground, but make good 

 wall shrubs. A cross between ovata 

 and indica, named R. Delacourii, is 

 intermediate in foliage and bears 

 delicate pale pink flowers. It was 

 raised in France, and does not yet 

 seem to have been tried in the open 

 air with us. 



RESEDA (Mignonette). The only 

 species worth growing is R. odorata and 

 its varieties. Seed sown in the open 

 ground in March or April produces in 

 a few weeks flowering plants, which 

 continue to bloom till late in autumn. 

 If fine masses be wished for, the seed 

 should be sown in pans about the end 

 of March, the seedlings placed singly 

 in 3-inch pots, and planted out in good 

 soil in an open position. A little 

 attention should be given to thinning 

 out the weak shoots and stopping the 

 vigorous ones. Plants sown in autumn 

 will survive mild winters and produce 

 flowers in early summer, these being 

 finer than those of spring-sown plants. 



