732 SPHENOGYNE. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SPIRAEA. 



times purple and sometimes white, 

 there is a double-flowered kind which 

 comes true from seed, also a dwarf 

 compact form with violet-blue flowers. 

 5. pentagonia is another favourite, its 

 flowers larger but less abundant than 

 those just described, purple in colour, 

 with a deep blue centre. Both these 

 kinds are hardy and generally scatter 

 seed, which comes up year after year, 

 without trouble, except to keep the 

 seedlings within bounds. 



SPHENOGYNE. 5. speciosa is a 

 beautiful half-hardy Mexican annual 

 Composite of slender, much-branched 

 growth, about i foot high. The 

 flowers, produced from July to Sep- 

 tember, are yellow with a brownish 

 centre encircled by a conspicuous black 

 ring, the centre being orange in the 

 variety aurea. S. speciosa will succeed 

 if sown in the open in April. 



SPIGELIA (Worm Grass). S. 

 Marilandica is a beautiful native of 

 N. America, distinct from all other 

 hardy plants. It forms a tuft of 

 slender stems about i foot high, each 

 bearing long tubular flowers in July, 

 which are deep red outside and yellow 

 inside. In its own land it grows in 

 sheltered situations, the roots going 

 deep down into rich vegetable mould. 

 Partial shade in summer and abund- 

 ance of moisture are essential. Best 

 in the lower parts of the rock garden. 



Aruncus. 



SPIR^JA. Beautiful shrubby or 

 perennial plants of easy culture, dis- 

 tinct habit, and often of fine form. 

 They grow well in rich soil in borders, 



and are also excellent for the margins 

 of water. The shrubby kinds are of 

 the highest value, and are described 

 in a sub-section. The best of the 

 herbaceous or Meadow Sweet section 

 are as follows : 



S. ARUNCUS (Goafs-beard). A vigorous 

 perennial, 3 to 5 feet high, beautiful in 

 foliage and habit as well as in flower. Its 

 flowers are freely produced in summer in 

 large gracefully-drooping plumes. It is 

 valuable for grouping with other fine- 

 foliaged herbaceous plants. It thrives in 

 ordinary soil, but succeeds best in a deep 

 moist loam. Europe, Asia, and America. 

 Division. 



S. ASTILBOIDES. A moisture-loving 

 plant of unusual merit, happiest on the 

 banks of a stream or pond. It is quite 

 distinct, the inflorescence much branched, 

 and the flowers of a creamy white closely 

 packed' on the stems. 



S. CAMTSCHATICA. A gigantic Meadow 

 Sweet, growing from 6 to 10 feet high, 

 with huge palmate leaves and large fleecy 

 bunches of white flowers crowning the tall 

 stems. Its place is in rich bottoms or by 

 water in deep soil. 



S. FILIPENDULA (Dropwort). A British 

 species, i to 2 feet high, with loose clusters 

 of yellowish-white flowers, often tipped 

 with red. When the flower-stems are 

 pinched off it forms an effective edging 

 plant, its Fern-like foliage being distinct. 

 The double variety (S. Filipendula fl.-pl.) 

 is useful in the mixed border. Division. 



S. LOBATA (Queen of the Prairie). One 

 of the best of the hardy Spiraeas, 18 to 

 36 inches high, with deep rosy carmine 

 flowers in large terminal cymes. It thrives 

 in sandy loam on the mixed border, on 

 the margins of shrubberies, or grouped 

 with the finer perennials. 



S. PALM ATA. A beautiful herbaceous 

 plant from Japan. It has handsome pal- 

 mate foliage, and in late summer broad 

 clusters of rosy-crimson blossoms. When 

 well-grown it is a fine plant for large rock 

 gardens, in borders, or on the margin of 

 shrubberies, and being strong enough to 

 take care of itself, it may be naturalised. 



S. ULMARIA. This native Meadow 

 Sweet deserves a place, if only for the 

 sake of variety, in the mixed border, on 

 the margins of shrubberies. 



S. BLUMEI. -A rare and pretty shrub 

 of about 4 feet, gracefully arching, with 

 blunt deeply-notched leaves and abundant 

 white flowers in June. Japan. 



S. BULLATA. A neat shrub for the rock 

 garden, only 12 to 18 inches high, with 

 erect and downy branches, rounded and 

 wrinkled leaves, and deep pink flowers in 

 July and August. Japan. Syn., 5. crispi- 

 folia. 



S. CANA. A dense shrub of i to 2 feet, 

 with grey down-covered leaves which give 

 the plant a hoary appearance. The tiny 



