Hardy and Half-hardy Plants 71 



September, and wintered in a cold frame. Seeds may also be sown in 

 autumn in cold frames, transplanting the seedlings in March or April. 



Meecmopsis. A genus of pretty Poppyworts, including the Welsh 

 Poppy (M. cambrica), 1-2 ft. high, with pale-yellow flowers; M. hetero- 

 phylla, 1-1 J ft., orange yellow; M. integrifolia, 1-1 J ft., a fine biennial, 

 with yellow flowers, from China; M. nepalensis, from the Himalayas, also 

 has yellow flowers; while M. Wallichi from the same region, has drooping 

 pale-blue flowers on stems 4-6 ft. high. It is a fine plant for moist shady 

 places, and is best raised from seeds sown 

 in spring under glass. The other kinds may 

 be treated in the same way. 



Megrasea. This includes the large- 

 leaved Saxifrages of leathery texture, some 

 of the finest plants being the following: 

 cordifolia, 1 ft., clear rose, with a deeper 

 variety purpurea', crassifolia, 1 ft., deep 

 pink: ligidata, 1 ft., deep pink, but white 

 in the variety ciliata, which flowers from 

 April to May. Stracheyi (fig. 226), 9 in., 

 is a fine Himalayan plant with rose-pink 

 flowers. It has a white-flowered form (alba), 

 and another called Milesi. M. speciosa has 

 rich-purple flowers. 



Melianthus major (HONEY FLOWER). 

 A handsome South African plant, 4-6 ft. 

 high, with blue-green leaves cut into four to 

 six pairs of serrated segments. It is raised 

 from seeds sown in heat from January to 

 March, the young plants being sold for bed- 

 ding purposes, in pots or boxes, in May and 

 June to give subtropical effects later on. 



Mentha gibraltarica. This variety of 

 the British Pennyroyal (M. Pulegium) 



forms dense tufts of deep-green roundish oval leaves, and is an excellent 

 plant for carpet bedding. Increased by cuttings or division under glass. 



Mertensia virginica. A pretty North American perennial, 1-2 ft. high, 

 with ovate lance-shaped leaves and tubular purple-blue flowers from April 

 to June, drooping from the axils of the upper leaves. Another good plant 

 is sibirica, 1| ft., with paler-blue flowers, which in the variety alba are 

 white. M. echioides is a rare kind, 6 in. high, with rich-blue flowers; and 

 closely related is primuloides, with deep gentian-blue flowers. Other 

 kinds grown are ciliata, 2 ft., lanceolata, 1J ft., and oblongifolia, 1 ft., all 

 with blue flowers. Mertensias flourish in ordinary soil, and are raised from 

 seeds sown in frames, and by division. 



Mignonette (Reseda odorata). This has been a favourite market plant 

 for many years, and is still largely cultivated for cut flowers and in pots. 



Fig. im.Megasea (Saxifraga) Stracheyi 



