OAURA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



587 



GAURA. G. Lindheimeri is a grace- 

 ful perennial, 3 to 4^ ft. high, flowering in 

 summer and autumn, on long slender 

 spikes bearing numerous white and rose 

 flowers. It thrives in borders, in sandy 

 loam, and plants for the flower garden 

 may be used with the larger bedding 

 plants. Increased by division and seed. 

 N. America. G. coccinea, a Colorado plant, 

 has recently been introduced. 



GAZANIA ( Treasure Flower). Hand- 

 some and distinct dwarf plants ; of much 

 value, though only hardy enough for 

 our summers. They are most useful on 

 warm soils, and should always be placed in 

 open sunny spots and among dwarf plants. 

 They strike freely in a cold frame in 

 August, but later require bottom-heat. 



Gazania niyea. 



Unless struck very early, spring-struck 

 plants are almost worthless, so that it is 

 best to put in the stock in August and let 

 them stand in cutting-pots till potting-off 

 time in spring. They will then come well 

 into flower when put out in May ; whereas, 

 if they are topped for spring cuttings, both 

 lots will be small and late. Short young 

 tops should be used for cuttings, and may 

 be inserted pretty thickly in the cutting- 

 pots. When established, they must be 

 just protected from frost, and kept in dry 

 airy quarters. If kept warm, they grow 

 too much, and are in spring poor lanky 

 plants that can hardly be handled ; but 

 cool airy treatment keeps them short and 

 sturdy. G. rigens is the best known. It has 

 long deep-green leaves, silvery beneath, 

 and bears flowers 2 in. across, which are 

 of bright orange-yellow, with a dark 

 centre. G. splendens is a fine variety, 



and there is also one with variegated 

 leaves. Some kinds are offered in the 

 seed catalogues and may be raised in heat 

 in spring. There is a very full description 

 of these plants in Flora and Sylva, p. 139, 

 1905. 



The known species (from S. Africa) are : 

 G. arctototdes, arminioides, Burchellii, caespi- 

 fosa, canescens, coronopifolia, heterochaeta, 

 Jurineaefolta, Kraussii, Krebsiana, Lichten- 

 steinii, lineariloba, longifolia, longiscapa, mu- 

 cronata, multijuga, nivea, othonnites, oxyloba, 

 Pavonia, pinnata, pygmaea, rigens, serruiata, 

 subbipinnata, snbulata, tenuifolia, uniflora, 

 varians. 



GENISTA (Rock room). Some of 

 these are good garden and rock-garden 

 shrubs, thriving in almost any soil which is 

 not too wet, and readily raised from seeds. 



G. setnensis, a native of Sicily, is one 

 of the best kinds. In a young state 

 the twigs are sparsely clothed with linear 

 silky leaves, but when old no leaves 

 are developed, and the green slender 

 twigs perform the functions of leaves. 

 An old tree for this species attains a 

 height of 12 ft. or more is a beautiful 

 sight in July or August when in full 

 flower. 



G. anglica (Needle Furze) is a prostrate 

 spiny shrub, sometimes growing to a 

 height of 2 ft., widely distributed through- 

 out Western Europe, and in Britain 

 occurring on moist moors from Ross 

 southwards. The short leafy racemes of 

 yellow flowers appear in May and June. 



G. aspalathoides, a native of South- 

 western Europe, makes a densely- 

 branched, compact, spiny bush from i ft. 

 to 2 ft. in height. It flowers in July 

 and August, and is a good shrub for the 

 rock-garden. 



G. anxantica, found wild in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Naples, is very nearly allied 

 to our native Dyer's Greenweed. It is 

 dwarf in habit, and its racemes of yellow 

 flowers are borne in great profusion in late 

 summer. A beautiful rock-garden plant. 



G. ephedroides, a native of Sardinia, is 

 a much-branched shrub, -2 ft. in height, 

 bearing yellow flowers from June to 

 August. 



G. germanica, a species widely dis- 

 tributed throughout Europe, makes a 

 bright rock-garden shrub not more than a 

 couple of feet in height. It flowers very 

 freely during the summer and autumn 

 months, and the stems are inclined to 

 arch when i ft. or more high. 



G. hispanica, a native of South-western 

 Europe, is a compact undershrub, ever- 

 green from the colour of its shoots. It 

 scarcely attains more than i ft. or 18 in. 



