460 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



kinds. These have large and usually 

 mottled red flowers upon long stalks, and 

 are best suited for mixed borders. A 

 very old favourite is the Hen-and-Chickens 

 Daisy. It differs in no respect of habit or 

 foliage from the double kinds, except that 

 when the flowers are at their best they 

 send out small ones from the axils of the 

 scales hence the name. 



Propagation is simple, and may be 

 done in spring and autumn. Well-dug 

 soil suits well. Pull the plants to pieces, 

 dibbling them in six inches apart, or a 

 little closer. Where the soil is good 

 the Daisy increases so rapidly that it 

 rnay be transplanted twice in the year. 



BELLIUM. Plants belonging to the 

 same order as the Daisy (Compositas), 

 of which some three or four forms are in 

 cultivation. Although from the south of 

 Europe, they are hardy on the rock- 

 garden, but are apt to exhaust them- 

 selves in flowering. B. bellidioides, 23. 

 crassifoltum, and B. minutum are much 

 alike and are easily grown in light soil. 

 B. rotundifolium ctzrutescens (Blue Daisy) 

 is a native of Morocco, and a pretty rock- 

 plant. Division or by seed. 



BERBERIDOPSIS (Coral Barberry}. 

 B. corallina is a beautiful evergreen 

 climbing shrub from Chili, hardy enough 

 for open walls in the southern counties. 

 It has large spiny leaves very much like 

 some Barberries, the flowers bright coral- 

 red, hanging in clusters on slender stalks, 

 and borne for several weeks in summer. 

 It is charming for a wall, preferring 

 partial shade, such as that of a wall facing 

 east or west, and does best in peaty or 

 sandy soil. Seed or layers. 



HERBERTS (Barberry}.^ valuable 

 group of hardy shrubs, among the most 

 beautiful of which is Darwin's Barberry 

 (B. Darwini}. B. stenophylla is a hybrid 

 between B. Darwini and the small 

 B. empetrifolia. B. dulcis is a pretty 

 Barberry, whose slender shoots are hung 

 with tiny yellow flowers. The common 

 Barberry (B. vulgaris] is brilliant when 

 in fruit in autumn, and it has several 

 varieties, some of which differ con- 

 siderably in habit of growth and colour 

 of the berries. A beautiful shrub-group 

 could be formed of the fruiting Bar- 

 berries alone, using B. vulgaris, B. 

 aristata (which has berries covered with 

 white powder, like Plums), and the small- 

 growing B. Thunbergi, also remarkable for 

 its scarlet berries, which remain on the bush 

 throughout the autumn. B. Wallichiana 

 has handsome flowers and foliage, and is 

 worthy of cultivation in the best collections. 



The Mahonias are now merged in 



the genus Berberis. As flowering shrubs 

 they are of much value, as is shown 

 by the beauty of flower and fruit of 

 the common evergreen Barberry, B. aqui- 

 /0tium,ar\d its varieties. M.fascicularis, 

 though not hardy everywhere, is fine 

 when in bloom, its stems being wreathed 

 with golden clusters for some weeks, while 

 M. hybrida is scarcely less ornamental and 

 certainly hardier. M. repens, M.glumacea 

 and M. trifoliata are all good dwarf 

 Evergreens. In mild districts there is not 

 a finer flowering shrub in spring than M. 

 nepalensis, with large clusters of yellow 



Berberis nepalensis. 



bloom and massive foliage. M. japonica 

 is a good evergreen in sheltered places, 

 and a fine flowering shrub. Most of the 

 evergreen kinds thrive best in leafy or 

 peaty soils, the ordinary hardy kinds in 

 any garden soil. 



Berkheya. See Stob<za. 



BETA (Chilian Beet).~B. cicla varie- 

 gata is a variety of common Beet, the 

 leaves being more than 3 ft. long, vivid in 

 colour, their midribs varying from dark 

 waxy orange to vivid crimson. The 

 plant should be sown in a gently heated 

 frame, and afterwards planted out in rich 

 ground. It varies much from seed, and 



