540 



DENTARIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



CULTURE. Annual Larkspurs should 

 be sown where they are to remain at any 

 time after February when the weather 

 permits usually in March and April. 

 They may also be sown in September 

 and October, and even later when the 

 ground is not frozen, but the produce of 

 winter sowing is liable to be devoured 

 by slugs and grubs. The sowing may be 

 made either broadcast or in rows 4 in. to 

 8 in. apart, and the plants should stand 

 4 in. or 5 in. asunder. The branching 

 varieties may be sown in reserve beds, 

 and in March when about 12 in. or 1 6 in. 

 high should be transferred to the flower 

 beds, lifted carefully with balls of earth 

 round the roots, so that they may not 

 suffer. These branching varieties are 

 well suited for the garden, either in 

 masses of one colour or of various 

 colours. They may be planted in borders 

 or among shrubs thinly planted. One 

 great advantage of this class is that 

 it flowers earlier and longer than the 

 dwarf Larkspur that is to say, it flowers 

 throughout the summer, and, according 

 to the period of sowing, from the end of 

 June or July to September, and even to 

 October if the flower-stems that have shed 

 their blossoms be cut off. They succeed, 

 moreover, in the driest calcareous soils, 

 and even upon the declivities of hills. 

 By pinching, dwarf plants useful under 

 certain circumstances may be obtained, 

 Seed should be taken only from flowers 

 perfectly double ; and for this purpose 

 single-flowered plants should be carefully 

 weeded out. Larkspurs are at their best 

 in June and July ; they bloom almost 

 anywhere, especially in dry localities, and 

 do not require much attention. They look 

 well whether they are all of one colour, or 

 of all the colours mixed, and, by separ- 

 ately using varieties possessing different 

 colours, striking contrasts may be pro- 

 duced. 



DENTARIA. See CARDAMINE. 



Dendromecon rigidum (Shrubby 

 Poppy). A half-shrubby poppy wort from 

 the mountains near St. Barbara, bearing 

 flowers in summer. It should be planted 

 in a sandy loam in warm positions : seed. 



DESFONTAINEA. In favoured gar- 

 dens along the southern coast and in other 

 mild parts D. spinosa, a very beautiful 

 evergreen shrub from Chili, can be grown 

 and flowered out-of-doors. It is of moderate 

 growth, having foliage very much like the 

 Holly, and handsome flowers in the form 

 of a tube of bright scarlet tipped with 

 yellow. It usually flowers about the end 

 of summer, and in some parts of Devon- 

 shire it blooms profusely, thriving in a 



light loamy soil, and even round the 

 coasts as far as the north of Ireland, but 

 once a few miles from the protection of 

 the sea air it ceases to thrive and perishes, 

 and is therefore only of value in very 

 favoured places. 



DESMODIUM (Tick Trefoil}. A 

 few of the North American species are 

 cultivated, but their weedy appearance 

 prevents their general culture. These are 

 D. canadense, marilandicum, and Dilleni, 

 all from 2 to 4 ft. high, with slender stems, 

 terminated by dense racemes of small 

 purplish flowers. D. penduliflorum is a 

 really pretty shrub, and hardy if the stems 

 are annually cut down, with graceful 

 shoots, bearing along their upper portions 

 numerous rich violet-purple blossoms in 

 September. It is the name by which the 

 beautiful Lespedeza bicolor is generally 

 known. It is a slender shrub, graceful 

 when in flower, 6 ft. or more in height, 

 bearing drooping racemes of small Pea- 

 shaped flowers of a carmine-purple colour. 

 It is a native of China and Japan,and hardy 

 enough for open-air culture except in cold 

 districts. It makes a good wall shrub. 



DEUTZIA. Hardy, summer-leafing 

 shrubs of high value for the garden, re- 

 quiring no special attention, and of varied 

 character, owing to hybrids having been 

 raised by M. Lemoine and others, and 

 species newly introduced from China. 

 These shrubs deserve a better fate than 

 that of the common shrubbery, mixed up 

 with all sorts of things of different natures 

 and sizes, and should be grouped by them- 

 selves. They thrive in ordinary soils, and 

 when pruned should not be reduced to 

 mopheadedness by cutting back, but only 

 old and exhausted wood should be cut 

 out, the natural forms of the plants 

 'being kept. It is better not to prune at 

 all than to pack them into ugly shapes. 

 They ought to have a good position among 

 choice shrubs on banks or on masses. 



D. corymbiflora. Forms a shrub from 

 4 feet to 5 feet high, the young shoots erect 

 and clothed with bronzy green bark. The 

 mature growths of the previous year carry 

 massive clusters of white flowers, with 

 often from 50 to 100 buds and expanded 

 blooms opening in summer. Though a 

 promising shrub in some parts of France, 

 it in this country appears to be too tender 

 to prove valuable. This is the D. corym- 

 bosa of gardens, and D. setchuensis of 

 Franchet. China. 



D. crenata. Reaches a height of 6 

 feet to i o feet, the flowers in erect thyrses, 

 each flower composed of five pointed 

 petals. Chief among its varieties are D. 

 crcnata, flore punices, whose double white 



