FOLIAGE PLANTS FOR GROUPING 47 



may have a season for recruiting. The same advice may apply 

 to most plants which have served their turn in the conserva- 

 tory. Myrtles, large and small-leaved, and Eugenia buxifolia, 

 provide good greenery of a different character. Eugenia will 

 also bear its delicious fruit abundantly in a small-sized pot, 

 making the greenhouse fragrant with its peculiar aromatic 

 scent. Small-leaved Ivies can be used in various ways, and 

 Senecio mikanoides, the Ivy-leaved Cape Groundsel, which 

 may often be seen trailing half-wild over bushes in Cornwall, 

 is by no means to be despised where a quick growing climber 

 is desired. Amongst herbaceous plants, and therefore only 

 of use during summer and autumn, Funkia grandiflora and 

 Funkia sieboldiana are very ornamental, and particularly 

 well adapted for grouping with various kinds of Lilies in 

 flower. 



Nothing of course can be more valuable than a well-grown 

 stock of hardy evergreen Ferns, both native and foreign. Of 

 these the British species of Maiden-hair (Adiantum Capillus- 

 Veneris), of which there are several remarkable varieties ; 

 Polypody, especially the Welsh form Hart's-tongue ; Poly- 

 stichum, with its proliferous forms ; and Asplenium Adian- 

 tum-nigrum (" French Fern "), may be mentioned. Of exotic 

 species, Woodwardia radicans, with its massive drooping 

 fronds, each carrying a bulblet at its point, is invaluable 

 for large spaces. The Ostrich-plume Fern (Struthiopteris 

 germanica), and Lomaria chilensis, and L. magellanica are also 

 large-growing, handsome, and quite hardy. Smaller species are 

 Lastrsea marginata and Polystichum acrostichoides. Amongst 

 deciduous species, the very beautiful plumose varieties of the 

 lady Fern (Athyrium Filix-foemina) are well worth growing, 

 and the fine Canadian Maiden-hair (Adiantum pedatum) 

 should not be overlooked. If variegated foliage be desired, 

 the small Euonymus radicans and Aucubas are useful, and 

 small tufts of the old-fashioned Ribbon grass, grown in pots, 



