FLOWERING GRASSES. 



182 



FORCING PIT. 



others, and will require more protection, 

 until they are thoroughly established. Few 

 plants, however, are more worthy of atten- 

 tion, as they have a fine appearance when 

 growing ; and if the flower-stem is cut 

 before it begins to fade, it looks almost as 

 noble when dry. In addition to the localities 

 here pointed out for them, they also con- 

 trast admirably with large masses of yews 

 or other dark-foliaged shrubs. 



A companion grass to this, with broad- 

 striped foliage and large feathery flowers, 

 is the Erianthis ravenna. The Tussack- 

 grass, and some of the common reeds and 

 rushes, also form beautiful features in con- 



F1G. 3. CRESTED BARLEY GRASS (HORDEUM 



JUBATUM). 



nection with these. There are also eight 

 or ten varieties of the Holcus saccharatus, 

 or sugar-cane, whose elegant leaves, stately 

 stems, and various-coloured heads of corn 

 are highly ornamental. These are half- 

 hardy annuals, and should be sown in a 

 gentle heat, and pushed rapidly forward to 

 secure strong plants for planting out in 

 May. The variegated, white-striped, and 

 beautifully marbled Zea, or maize, requires 

 similar treatment, and has a charming 

 effect. The pretty millet-grass (Milium 

 cffusum), charming love -grasses (Eragrostis 

 elegans, E. megastachyaxudi E.^Egyptiaca), 

 and the several varieties of Briza, or quak- 



ng grass, should be sown either in pots 01 

 on a rather sheltered bed out of doors. 



Two more beautiful annual grasses are 

 the Brizopyrum siculum, whose branches 

 rival in beauty the deciduous cypress, and 

 Bromus brizoporoides, so useful for bouquets. 

 The two feather-grasses, Stipa pinnata 

 (Fig. 2) and S. gigantca, hardy perennials, 

 and the hardy biennial Hordeum jubatum, 

 or crested barley grass (Fig. 3), are also 

 most useful for mixing with other flowers, 

 and very elegant in themselves. The 

 smallest feather-grass almost rivals the 

 Festuca glauca for edgings. The hand- 

 some silver foliage of the Festuca contrasts 

 beautifully with red gravel walks, and is 

 said to harbour fewer vermin than box or 

 any other living edging whatever. Tufts 

 can be purchased for is. 6d. a dozen, or 155. 

 per hundred. It is neat, graceful, and 

 easily kept, the only attention required 

 being to cut off the flower-stems in sum- 

 mer, which maintains the leaves in health 

 and beauty. 



Foliage Plants. 



These have become very fashionable of 

 late. Many of the geraniums, such as 

 Happy Thought, Black Douglas, and those 

 known as zonal and tricolor geraniums, are 

 to a certain extent examples of these, but 

 the more noticeable specimens are to be 

 found in the begonias, coleus, &c., and 

 various plants used in bedding out. 



Forcing Pit. 



The forcing pit is, as it were, interme- 

 diate between the garden frame with its 

 source of heat, the hotbed, and glazed 

 structures which are heated by artificial 

 means. It partakes of the nature of the 

 former in so far that it is used for the same 

 purposes, and chiefly those of growing 

 cucumbers and melons, and is covered in 

 by glass lights ; and it partakes of the 

 nature of the latter in being formed of 



