306 HAEDY PERENNIALS AND 



and so the Pansy may be had in flower nearly the year round. 

 Any description of this well-known plant would be superfluous to 

 an English reader. 



The wild F. tricolor is, however, a very different plant and 

 flower to its numerous offspring, such as the illustration 

 (Fig. Ill) depicts, and in which there is ever a tendency to " go 

 back." It is only by constant care and high cultivation that the 

 Pansy is kept at such a high standard of excellence, and one 

 may add that such labour is well repaid by the results. "With 

 no flower more than the Pansy does all depend on the propa- 

 gation and culture s Not the least reliance can be placed on 

 seeds for producing flowers like those of the parent. Cuttings 

 or root divisions should be made in summer, so as to have them 

 strong, to withstand the winter. They enjoy a stimsh loam, 

 well enriched. And in spring they may be lifted with a ball and 

 transplanted into beds, borders, lines, or irregular masses, where 

 they are equally effective, and no flower is more reliable for a 

 profusion of bloom. 



Yucca Filamentpsa. 



THREADY-LEAVED YUCCA ; Nat. Ord. 



THIS is of a more deciduous nature than T. gloriosa, reclothing 

 itself each spring more amply with foliage. In December, 

 however, it is in fine form, and though it is a better flowering 

 species than most of its genus, and to a fair extent valuable 

 for its flowers, it will be more esteemed, perhaps, as a shrub 

 of ornamental foliage. It came from Virginia in the year 1675. 



The flowers are pretty, greenish-white, bell-shaped, and 

 drooping : they are arranged in panicles, which, when sent up 

 from strong plants, are, from their size, very attractive ; but 

 otherwise they are hardly up to the mark as flowers. The leaves 

 in form are lance-shaped, concave, reflexed near the ends, and 

 sharp -pointed. The colour is a yellowish-green, the edges are 

 brown, and their substance is split up into curled filaments, which 

 are sometimes 9in. or more long, and are blown about by every 

 breeze. Prom these thready parts the species takes its name. 

 It is seldom that this kind grows more than 4ft. high, but a 

 greater number of offsets are produced from this than from 

 any other of our cultivated Yuccas. 



I know no better use for this kind than planting it on the 

 knolly parts of rockwork, positions which in every way suit it, 

 for it enjoys a warm, dry soil. 



Y. f. variegata, as its name implies, is a form with coloured 

 foliage. In the north it proves to be far from hardy, and there- 

 fore cannot be recommended for culture in the open garden. My 



