63o 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



MATTHIOLA. 



plants, are, as a rule, best in masses or 

 groups. S. Europe. 



Malus. See PYRUS. 



MALVA (Af allow). Stout and some- 

 times showy perennial and half-shrubby 

 plants of which there are few pretty gar- 

 den plants ; the majority being coarse and 

 weedy. One of the most beautiful 

 is the white variety of the native 

 Musk Mallow (M. moschata), which is 

 charming when in flower. It is a branch- 

 ing bush, with stems about 2 ft. high, and 

 many flowers i to i in. in diameter. 

 It is a hardy perennial, will grow in 

 almost any soil, is useful for cutting, and 

 is slightly Musk-scented. M. campanu- 

 lata is a beautiful dwarf plant, but rare 

 and not hardy except in very mild 

 districts. It is dwarf and spreading, and 

 bears numerous lilac bell-shaped flowers. 

 M. Alcea, Moreni, and mauritanica are 

 worth growing in a full collection, and so 

 is the annual M. crispa, 3 to 6 ft. high 

 an erect pyramidal bush of broad leaves, 

 with a crimped margin, pretty in groups, 

 beds, or borders. By sowing in cool frames 

 and planting it out early in May, strong 

 plants may be obtained early in the 

 season. 



MALVASTEUM (Rock Mallow). 

 These are in flower like Mallows, but 

 dwarfer, not quite hardy, being natives of 

 the warmer parts of America. M. Mun- 

 roanum is a dwarf plant with rather small 

 orange-red flowers, and M. lateritium, a 

 dwarf native of Buenos Ayres, has brick- 

 red flowers. Sometimes in mild districts 

 these plants thrive in the rock-garden or 

 well drained borders, in light warm soil. 

 M. coctineum has flowers of a brick-red 

 and blue-grey leaves. M. gillissi, crimson 

 flowers. Dry and warm positions on the 

 rock garden. 



MANDEAGOEA (Mandrake}. Curi- 

 ous plants of the Solanum family, suitable 

 mainly for botanical collections. They 

 are easily grown in warm, free soil, and 

 enjoy borders at the foot of south walls. 



MAEGYEICAEPUS (Pearl Berry). 

 Small wiry shrubs, natives of the moun- 

 tains and cool parts of S. America, the 

 flowers not showy, but the berries rather 

 pretty. One cultivated kind, M. setosus, 

 is best suited for the rock garden in dry 

 soil. 



MAEEUBIUM. Unattractive plants 

 of the Sage order, of which the common 

 Horehound (M. vulgare) is the best 

 known. 



MAESHALLIA OESPITOSA. An 

 interesting Texan plant, from 6 in. to 9 in. 

 high, each stem having a single Scabious- 

 like white flower-head about ii in. across. 



It is of perennial duration, and flowers 

 the second season from seed, forming a 

 neat border plant, blooming in summer in 

 light garden soil. Although not showy, 

 its flower-heads are so distinct that it is 

 worth a place in the herbaceous border. 



MAETYNIA. M. lutea is a pretty 

 Brazilian annual, about \\ ft. high, with 

 large roundish leavesand handsome yellow 

 flowers in clusters, useful for beds, groups, 

 and borders. It requires a light, rich, cool 

 soil, a warm place, and frequent watering 

 in summer. M. fragrans, another species, 

 has sweet-scented flowers, and, under 

 similar conditions, thrives in the open air 

 in summer. It is best in rich borders, or 

 among groups or beds of curious or distinct 

 plants. M. proboscidea and others are 

 less desirable. Seed. 



MATEICAEIA (Mayweed). Weeds, 

 excepting the double variety of M. inodora, 

 which is a pretty plant with feathery 

 foliage somewhat like Fennel, and with 

 large white flowers, perfectly double. It is 

 creeping, requires much space, and pegged 

 down forms a dense mass which has a 

 pretty effect in autumn. It is hardy, 

 and perennial on most soils, and is easily 

 propagated by cuttings or division in 

 autumn or spring. Syn., Chrysanthemum 

 inodorum fl.-pl. 



MATTHIOLA (Stock). Annual or 

 perennial herbs, sometimes inhabiting sea 

 cliffs. From a few wild kinds have been 

 obtained the numerous varieties of the 

 garden Stocks, which have so long been 

 among the best of our open-air flowers. 

 The principal of these species are M. 

 incana, M. annua, and M. sinuata. M. 

 incana grows wild on cliffs in the Isle 

 of Wight, and is the origin of the Biennial, 

 or Brompton and Queen Stocks ; M. annua 

 has yielded the Ten-week Stocks, and M. 

 sinuata the others. These three primary 

 divisions the Ten-week, Intermediate, 

 and Biennials require each different treat- 

 ment, and Stocks are so easily grown, so 

 fragrant and handsome, that they will ever 

 deserve care in our gardens. 



TEN-WEEK STOCKS, if sown in spring, 

 will flower continuously during the sum- 

 mer and autumn. The finest strain is the 

 large flowering Pyramidal Ten-week, 

 vigorous plants, each branching freely, 

 bearing a huge main spike of double 

 flowers and numerous branching spikes 

 in succession. A bed of these Stocks 

 should be grown if cut flowers are in 

 request during the summer. The seed 

 may be sown at any time from the middle 

 of March onward, but it is always well to 

 get Stocks from seed early. The seed 

 can be sown thinly in pans or shallow 



