COLUTEA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. CONVALLARIA 507 



Colutea arborescens. 



plants are desired either for pots or plant- 

 ing out. On warm soils it grows best 

 and sows itself every year, surviving the 

 winter, and growing much stronger. 



GOLT3WA.(BleuiiterSenna) The Blad- 

 der Sennas cannot be called choice flower- 

 ing shrubs, but they are very useful for poor 

 hungry soils, particularly for dry sunny 

 banks where few other plants can exist. 

 Like the Gorse and a few other shrubs of 

 the Pea family, 

 they delight in a 

 dry sandy soil,and 

 when in flower, 

 which is during 

 several weeks in 

 late summer and 

 in autumn, they 

 have a pretty ap- 

 pearance, their 

 foliage being light 

 and elegant. 

 They have num- 

 erous names, but 

 there are only one 

 or two distinct 

 kinds. The com- 

 monest is C. ar- 



borescens, which, under favourable con- 

 ditions, grows 6 or 8 ft. high, has large 

 flowers, varying in different varieties from 

 yellow to a deep reddish-yellow. C. cmenta, 

 C. halepica and C. media all natives of 

 Europe are smaller, and have bright 

 yellow flowers ; but all have much the 

 same aspect. 



COMMELINA (Blue Spiderwort\\ 

 charming old garden plant with flowers 

 of a fine blue, C. Caelestis delights in 

 light, warm soils. The roots are fleshy, 

 and in some districts it is well to cover 

 them with coal-asTies on the approach of 

 winter. In cold wet districts the roots 

 may be lifted, and stored in dry leaf-mould. 

 On some warm or stony soils, and in 

 districts near the sea where light soil 

 prevails, it grows like a weed. It is so 

 fine in colour that a group or small bed is 

 always welcome. There is a white form 

 (Mexico). 



Comptonia. See MYRICA. 

 CONANDRON. C. ramondioides is a 

 small Japanese plant allied to Ramondia, 

 having thick wrinkled leaves, in flat tufts, 

 from which arise erect flower-stems some 

 6 in. high, bearing numerous lilac-purple 

 and white blossoms. Though said to be 

 quite hardy, it requires a sheltered posi- 

 tion, such as is afforded by a snug nook in 

 the rock-garden. Plants placed between 

 blocks of stone thrive if there is a good 

 depth of soil in the chink and the soil is 

 moist. 



CONVALLARIA MAJALIS (Lily- 

 of-the-Valley\ It is well to have a 

 plantation of Lilies-of-the-Valley upon a 

 south aspect, for the sake of earliness and 

 of producing them in succession, for by 

 this means flowers may be gathered a 

 fortnight or three weeks earlier. The 

 best places are those under shady walls. 

 Give liberal surface-dressings of rotten 

 manure, and an abundant supply of 

 moisture throughout active growth. Frost 

 is destructive to the blooms, which appear 

 with the leaves. Spruce or other ever- 

 green branches placed sparsely over the 

 beds are a protection, and encourage 

 growth. Preference should be given to 

 a soft loamy soil well enriched with 

 rotten manure and with plenty of sand, 

 though fine Lilies may be grown in 

 rather heavy loam. Whatever the soil, 

 it should be moderately firm before plant- 

 ing- . 



The best time to plant is early in 

 autumn, immediately after the foliage 

 decays, selecting the crowns singly and 

 dividing them. For beds likely to remain 

 undisturbed for several years, the crowns 

 may be planted 2 or even 3 in. apart, as they 

 do not become crowded so soon as to re- 

 quire thinning out. Cover the surface after 

 planting with i or 2 in. of rotten manure, 



(Lily-of-the-Valley.) 



thorough maturity being only insured by 

 repeated applications of water weak 



