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THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



CALCEOLARIA. 



BUTOMUS (Flowering Rush\B. 

 umbellatus is a handsome native water- 

 plant, often very fine in a rich muddy soil 

 and hardy and free to flower. Common 

 by some river banks, and growing with 

 water-side seeds in garden ponds and 

 lakes, flowering in summer rose-red in 

 bold umbels. Division. 



BUXUS (Box). This beautiful bush or 

 low tree grows wild on some of our 

 southern chalk hills, and is much culti- 

 vated in gardens as an edging and also in 

 shrubberies. The beauty of its habit is 

 seldom seen in gardens, owing to its 

 being grown under other trees or to its 

 being too much crowded, but seen wild 

 its habit is most graceful, and it 

 might be well to secure the same beauty 

 of habit by planting in groups upon ex- 

 posed knolls. Almost all the species and 

 varieties have variegated forms, which, 

 though pretty, are not so good as the 

 natural forms. B. sempervirens (the Com- 

 mon Box) from its close bushy habit 

 is one of the most useful Evergreens for 

 garden hedges. It may be pruned or 

 clipped into any shape ; and when topiary 

 gardening was in fashion, it shared with 

 the Yew in the formation of designs and 

 figures of men and animals. While there 

 are few soils in which it will not thrive, it 

 prefers such as are light, with a warm 

 gravelly subsoil. Among the typical 

 species is Japonica, a form of the com- 

 mon Box, but hardier. The Minorca 

 Box (B. balearica) is a native of Balearic 

 and other islands in the Mediterranean, 

 as well as Italy and Turkey, where 

 it forms a fine tree of from 60 to 80 ft. 

 in height. The leaves are larger than 

 those of the common Box, and when 

 exposed to the sun are of a lighter green, 

 but it only succeeds well in warm well- 

 sheltered situations with a dry soil and a 

 warm subsoil. Other species are Har- 

 landi, microphylla and Wallidiana, few of 

 these so precious as the common Box. 

 The variegated forms of Box are never 

 so good in effect as the green kinds. 



CACTUS. Various plants belonging to 

 the Cactus Order of plants have proved 

 hardy in England. Opuntia, Echino- 

 cereus, Mammillaria and Echinopsis are 

 among the hardiest. Pretty effects are 

 shown by some Cacti in the open air 

 in Southern England, the plants blooming 

 freely when fully exposed in the sun on a 

 warm rock-garden, though the loss of the 

 sun of their native plains is against their 

 being very happy in Britain. 



When the foliage of a plant is perennial, 

 as in Cacti, it is well to place it so that it 

 may be safe from injuries, apart from 



climate, and the best places are, as a rule, 

 on well-drained ledges in the rock-garden. 

 Plants of this family should be planted in 

 the rock-garden in open airy situations, 

 free from dripping water, and where the 

 drainage is thorough. 



CAESALPINIA JAPONICA. A 

 graceful and distinct summer-leafing 

 shrub, but it is one of a genus usually 

 tropical, and is hardy in the country around 

 London. It has hard prickles, leaves a 

 foot long and very graceful, and hand- 

 some yellow flowers in racemes. It does 

 best in good free soil, and is excellent for 

 dry banks. Seeds. R. 



Calampelis. See ECCREMOCARPUS. 



CALANDRINIA. (Rock Purslane). 

 Dwarf annual or perennial plants of the 

 Purslane Order. Few very effective for 

 gardens ; some are brilliant border or rock 

 plants, thriving in warm soils. C. 

 discolor is a beautiful S. American 

 plant, from i to \\ ft. high, with fleshy 

 leaves, pale green above and purple be- 

 neath, and bright-rose flowers in a long 

 raceme, i^ in. across. C. grandiflora is a 

 handsome annual with showy blossoms. 

 It thrives in a warm and good loam, and 

 blooms throughout the autumn. C. 

 oppositifolia is a distinct plant, and is 

 well marked by its larger, very thick, 

 succulent leaves and delicate white 

 flowers. C. speciosa has flowers from ^ to 

 i in. across, purple-crimson ; on sunny 

 mornings they open fully, closing early 

 in the afternoon. C. umbellata is a dis- 

 tinct and pretty plant, the flower 

 dazzling magenta-crimson. It does well 

 in sandy peat or in other light earth, 

 and is perennial on dry soils and 

 in chinks in a well-drained rock-garden, 

 readily raised from seed sown in pots 

 or in the open air in fine sandy soil. 

 It may also be treated as an annual 

 sown in frames very early in spring. 

 Chili. 



There are other kinds, such as C. Lind- 

 leyana, C. procumbens, C. compressa, and 

 C. micrantha, but not so good as the 

 above. 



CALCEOLARIA (Slipper Flower). 

 Handsome herbs or low shrubs of the 

 Foxglove Order, mostly from South 

 America, many of high garden value, but 

 few are hardy. In the London district 

 they are used much less than they were 

 some years ago, as many of the varieties 

 die from disease, or are short-lived as 

 regards bloom, but the handsome C. 

 \ amplexicaulis, with its bold habit and 

 lemon-yellow flowers, is always a 

 favourite. 



PROPAGATION. The best time for pro- 



