THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



717 



and replant immediately. The variety 

 Clusi also succeeds. 



SCIRPUS ( Bulrush] . Sedge-like 

 plants fringing lakes and ponds. There 

 are numerous native species that might 

 be readily transplanted, and the best 

 of these are S. triqueter, S. sylvaticus, 

 and S. lacustris. These are from 3 to 

 8 feet high, and effective on the margins 

 of lakes or streams with other tall 

 plants. A distinct kind is 5. Erio- 

 phorum from N. America, a handsome 

 grassy plant with drooping heads of a 

 cinnamon-red colour. 



SCOLOPENDRIUM ( Hart's-tongue) . 

 5. vulgare is one of the best known 

 of hardy evergreen British Ferns, and 

 broken into numberless interesting 

 forms and varieties, some being very 

 beautiful. It prefers shade, and 

 though sometimes met with on dry 

 stone and brick walls, its favourite 

 place is by the side of a stream in a 

 shady ravine. Fine specimens have 

 been seen between the joints of brick- 

 work at the tops of old wells, the fronds 

 developing fine proportions. A suit- 

 able soil consists of equal portions of 

 fibrous peat and loam, good sharp sand 

 being added, together with broken 

 oyster-shells or limestone. 



No fewer than 400 varieties of the 

 Hart's-tongue were described thirty 

 years ago, and since then this number 

 has been much increased. Most of 

 these, however, are deformities veget- 

 able cripples, so to speak. A few of the 

 characteristic forms of each group 

 might be used where collections of 

 hardy Ferns are being formed, being 

 evergreen and diversified in form. 



SCUTELLARIA (Skullcap] .Hardy 

 perennials, of which several are in cul- 

 tivation, but few are good garden 

 plants. These few are handsome 

 flowers for the border, and their dwarf 

 neat growth is also suited to the rock 

 garden in an open sunny situation in 

 any soil. 5. baicalensis , from Siberia, 

 is the finest of all the species. It is 

 an excellent alpine perennial, forming 

 a hardy woody root-stock, is 9 inches 

 high, and produces an abundance of 

 rich, velvety, dark blue flowers, finer 

 in colour than those of 5. japonica, 

 though this is a handsome plant. The 

 alpine Skullcap (S. alpina) is a spread- 

 ing plant with all the vigour of the 

 coarsest weeds of its natural order, but 

 neat in habit and ornamental in flower. 

 Pyrenees. Division or seed. 



SCYPHANTHUS (Cup-flower}. 5. 

 elegans is a beautiful slender climber, 

 5 to 8 feet high, with forked stems, and 

 valuable for trailing over a trellis or 

 against a wall. Its leaves are deeply 

 cut, and the flowers come singly in the 

 forks of the branches. They are cup- 

 like in shape, and of a bright golden- 

 yellow with fine red spots inside, 

 coming freely from August till October. 



S cilia festalis (Wood Hyacinth). 



5. elegans is easily grown as a half- 

 hardy annual in rich light soil. Chili. 



SEDUM (Stonecrop). Rock and 

 alpine plants which thrive in any soil. 

 They may be grown in the ordinary 

 border, in the rock garden, on walls, 

 and on ruins, and indeed in any place 

 where the roots find foothold. Like 

 the Saxifrages, they differ in habit, 

 some, like S. acre, being humble and 

 creeping, while others, like 5. spectabile, 

 are stately plants for the border. A 

 great many are in cultivation, and we 

 mention the best of the hardy kinds. 



S. ACRE (Wall Pepper). This little 

 plant, with its small, thick, bright green 

 leaves and its brilliant yellow flowers, 

 grows abundantly on walls, thatch, rocks, 



