MICHAUXIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



687 



arrangements of any sort. A British 

 mountain plant, very aromatic. Division. 

 MICHAUXIA (Midlands Bellflower). 

 M. campanuloides is a remarkable plant 

 of the Bell-flower family, 3 to 8 ft. high, 

 the flowers white tinged with purple, and 

 arranged in a pyramidal candelabra-like 

 head. Sometimes it flowers in the third 

 or even in the fourth year, but is usually 

 considered a biennial, and should be 



Michauxia campanuloides. 



treated as a hardy one. Seedlings should 

 be raised annually, so as to always have 

 good flowering plants. It flourishes best 

 in a deep loam. Its stately form and tall 

 stature are effective in the mixed border 

 or in a nook in a bed of evergreen shrubs. 

 Warm sheltered borders and borders on 

 the south side of walls suit it best. 

 Levant. 



MICHELIA. Very interesting trees 

 and shrubs of the Magnolia order ; mostly 

 from Asia and China. Little known in 

 our gardens as yet, excepting one kind 

 which is grown in conservatories. They 

 are only likely to succeed in the southern 

 most favoured parts of the country. 



MICROLEPIA. M. anthriscifolia is 

 an elegant Fern, 6 to 12 in. high, hardy, 

 deciduous, charming in spring and summer, 

 and of easy culture. It thrives in the open 

 as well as in the shade, and may be used 

 with good effect as an edging to a shel- 

 tered border. 



MICROMERIA (Pepper Nettle). 

 Dwarf plants of the sage family, with 

 strong odours, chiefly from S. Europe, W. 

 Asia and America ; as yet little known in 

 gardens and mostly fitted for the rock- 

 garden or dry banks. The cultivated 

 kinds are croatica, graca, Juliana, Piper- 

 ella, and varia. 



MIKANIA (German Ivy). M. scan- 

 dens is a slender twining perennial, with 

 Ivy-like foliage and small flesh-coloured 

 flowers. It is hardy in light warm soils 



and is used for covering trellises. N. 

 America. Composite. 



MILIUM (Millet Grass}. Grasses, 

 some of them graceful. Our native M. 

 effusum is worth cultivating for its 

 feathery plumes. It is suitable for asso- 

 ciating with flowers in summer, and grows 

 in any soil, preferring moist places. There 

 are one or two other kinds worth grow- 

 ing. 



MILLA. The bulbous plants formerly 

 known under this name are now described 

 under the name of Brodiasa. The only 

 true Milla is said to be M. biflora, a 

 beautiful plant with large snow - white 

 blossoms deliciously scented. It is rather 

 difficult to cultivate, but it is well worth 

 any care. Even if it be quite hardy, 

 which is doubtful, it is too choice to risk 

 in the open border. 



MIMULUS (Monkey-flower}. The 

 cultivated species are valuable showy 

 border flowers, and are for the most part 

 natives of California. They love moisture, 

 and are suitable for damp places, such as 

 bogs, moist borders, and the margins of 

 streams and artificial water. The old M. 

 cardinalis is showy when well grown, 

 and is deserving of a place. There 

 are several varieties of it. The common 

 Musk (M. moschatus) is hardy and en- 

 during, and is worth a corner in wet soil. 

 M. luteus and its varieties, variegatus, 

 cupreus, Tilingi, guttatus, and others, are 

 typical of the beautiful hybrids which 

 are now in gardens, and which combine 

 the dwarf habit and hardiness of M. 

 cupreus with the large flowers, richly spot- 

 ted and blotched, of the other parent, the old 

 M. variegatus. These hybrids, which are 

 known as M. maculosus, bear exposure to 

 the sun better than the parents. There 

 is also a strain with Hose-in-hose flowers, 

 sometimes called double. These sorts 

 should be grown, and a packet of seeds 

 affords a wonderful variety. The seeds 

 of the Mimulus should be merely sprinkled 

 on the soil ; if covered by it they may 

 vegetate less quickly and abundantly. A 

 little damp moss may, however, be laid 

 over the surface, but should be removed 

 as soon as the seeds have germinated. 

 Very few of the wild kinds are satisfac- 

 tory in gardens where a high standard of 

 beauty is sought. 



MINA. Fast-growing climbers from 

 Mexico, allied to Convolvulus, and, while 

 perennials in their own country, mostly 

 grown as tender annuals with us. Mina 

 lobata, the best-known kind, is freely used 

 for summer gardening, its three-lobed 

 leaves of deep green being handsome 

 upon arches or trellis. Sprays of tubular 



