73* 



STIPA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN 



STEWART1A. 



S. SICULA. A form with narrower leaves 

 and segments than the type, while the 

 Cretan variety has considerably larger 

 flowers. 



STIPA (Feather Grass). A large 



froup of grasses, the prettiest of which, 

 . pennata, is hardly to be distinguished 

 from a strong stiff tuft of common 

 grass, except in May and June, when 

 the tuft is surmounted by numerous 

 gracefully arching flower-stems, nearly 

 2 feet high, and covered with long, 

 twisted, feathery spikes. Division or 

 seed. 5. calamagrostis, S. capillata, 

 and 5. elegantissima are other good 

 Feather Grasses. 



STOKESIA. S. cyanea is a hand- 

 some hardy American perennial, 18 to 

 24 inches high, and of stout free 

 growth, with, in September, large 

 showy blue flowers somewhat similar to 

 those of a China Aster. It grows freely 

 in good warm soils, but from its late 

 season it does not always bloom well. 

 In damp localities place a handlight 

 over the plants at the flowering season, 

 but so arranged as to allow free admis- 

 sion of air. The variety precox, which 

 flowers in August, is better. There are 

 also white-flowered varieties of this 

 early form. Failing seed, the only 

 way to increase the Stokesia is by 

 means of root cuttings in winter, and 

 these inserted in pots of sandy soil in 

 the greenhouse soon make useful 

 plants. 



STRANVCESIA. Chinese evergreen 

 shrubs of some value for gardens. 

 One, 5. undulata, is quite hardy in my 

 garden, and pretty and graceful. 

 Flowers and fruits early. 



STRATIOTES (Water Soldier). S. 

 aloides is an interesting native water- 

 plant with a compact vasiform tuft of 

 leaves, from the centre of which arises 

 in summer a spike of unattractive 

 blossoms. In artificial lakes or ponds 

 it will take care of itself, increasing 

 by side-shoots from the base of the 

 leaves. 



STRUTHIOPTERIS (Ostrich Fern). 

 Tall, handsome, and vigorous hardy 

 ferns with fronds of two kinds, fertile 

 and sterile, the former being always 

 grouped in the centre of the plant, and 

 the latter forming a cordon round 

 them. Struthiopteris can be increased 

 by division of the creeping under- 

 ground stems, which run for some 

 distance round well-established plants. 

 They revel in moist loam and leaf-soil, 

 and "are of noble appearance in the 



bolder rock gardens. The kinds suited 

 for gardens are S. germanica and 5. 

 pennsylvanica. The former is one of 

 the best hardy Ferns, with fronds 

 nearly 3 feet long, and well suited for 

 shady slopes, and the margins of 

 streams and pieces of water ; it will 

 thrive either in sun or shade. 5. 

 pennsylvanica closely resembles it, but 

 has narrow fertile fronds. 5. orientalis 

 I give a place to, but have not yet 

 found what suits it best. Both kinds 

 will grace the garden, and should not 

 be confined to the fernery, and for long 

 have had a cool corner in my garden. 



STEW ARTIA. Though these beau- 

 tiful shrubs flower at a time when the 

 shrub garden is past its best, they are 

 seldom planted. The flowers, like a 

 large single Camellia, are beautiful 

 and abundant. They need no care 

 beyond mulching in light soils and 

 during dry seasons, and the removal 

 at intervals of weak and exhausted 

 wood. The most vigorous kind is the 

 Japanese S. Pseudocamellia, and it is 

 also the finest in its autumn tints. 

 Though far less vigorous and hardy, 

 the flowers of 5. virginica, with their 

 contrast of white and crimson, are 

 chastely beautiful, and S. pentagyna 

 is also worth growing. Peat soil is 

 often recommended for these, but is 

 not necessary in gardens of good free 

 loam or alluvial grit, and they will 

 even flower well in some poor soils. 

 A damp place and a moist atmosphere 

 are favourable, as is proved by the 

 fine growth of Stewartias in a wet 

 season, and the fact that they invari- 

 ably choose stream-sides and wet 

 places in their own land. Increase is 

 difficult and the young plants of slow 

 growth. The lower branches may be 

 layered, or cuttings of the nearly ripe 

 wood, taken with a heel towards the 

 end of summer, and plunged in sandy 

 soil under a bell-glass, will slowly root. 



There are five species of Stewartia, 

 but only three are in cultivation. 



S. PENTAGYNA (Shell Flower). The best 

 of the American kinds, reaching a height 

 of 15 to 20 feet, and freely branched from 

 the base upwards. The flowers are 

 fragrant, 3 to 4 inches across, creamy- 

 white with yellow anthers, coming in 

 July and August for about three weeks. 

 In all stages the flowers are beautiful, 

 almost translucent in their purity, tinged 

 with pink upon the outside while in bud, 

 and finely fringed at the edges. The 

 leaves are oval, 5 to 6 inches long, rounded 

 at the base, and finely toothed. 



