PEKNETTYA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PETASITES. 737 



Evergreen shrubs of the Heath family, 

 from South America. At one time several 

 of the wild kinds were grown, but none 

 proved satisfactory until by crossing and 

 selection a race of seedlings was obtained 

 from Ps. mucronata and angustifolia. 

 These seedling forms of mucronata are 

 among the most beautiful of berried 

 shrubs, bearing dense clusters of berries 

 varying in size from a small pea to a small 

 cherry, and in colour from white, pale 

 pink, and lilac, to crimson, purple, and 

 nearly black. The plants differ in habit, 

 some being nearly prostrate, and others 

 erect or drooping, though the largest are 

 not much over 2 feet high ; their fruits 

 also vary in density and texture. They 

 are often borne so freely that little plants 

 of a few inches high will be loaded down 

 with them, but in some gardens, and for 

 no apparent reason, not many are set. 

 The plants do best grouped together in 

 sunny places, where they shade each 

 others roots, and where the atmosphere 

 is moist and the ground cool, and the 

 soil rich in peaty or vegetable matter. 

 They succeed well, however, in stiffer 

 soils, such as clay and limestone marl, 

 especially if given a little good soil at 

 the outset, and soon make dense 

 masses, spreading- by suckers. They grow 

 fairly well even in shade, but fruit less 

 freely, and only fail in hot sandy or 

 chalky soils, or where there is much 

 lime. Otherwise they are fully hardy, 

 free from insect pests, and move readily, 

 though averse to disturbance. The small 

 sharply-pointed deep green leaves are 

 always neat, and the numerous bell-like 

 white flowers expanding in May, and in 

 pretty contrast with the bright red of the 

 new shoots, render these little shrubs 

 worth growing for their spring-tide beauty 

 alone. And when the berries are freely 

 produced in autumn, lasting through the 

 winter quite into spring, their value for 

 beds upon the lawn near the house, or in 

 groups of the rock-garden, cannot well 

 be overstated. The birds seldom touch 

 the fruits unless hard pushed in winter, 

 and they last well and are exceedingly 

 pretty when cut for indoor use. Indeed, 

 it is possible to enjoy the plants in this 

 way, potting them in autumn when the 

 berries are well set, for use in the con- 

 servatory and dwelling-house when re- 

 established and fully coloured. Increase 

 by suckers, layers, cuttings, and seed- 

 lings, which often spring up of themselves 

 where the plants are thoroughly at home. 

 There are many kinds with different 

 names, mostly indicating the colour of 

 the fruits, Pretty dwarf-forms are atro- 



lilacina, carnea nana, coccinea purpurea, 

 purpurea macrocarpa, rosea macrocarpa, 

 sanguinea, rosea lilacina, and rosea pur- 

 purea ; taller forms, alba, atrococcinea, 

 atro-purpurea, elegans, lilacina, macro- 

 carpa, rubra-lilacina, and nigro-major. 



PEROWSKIA ATRIPLICIFOLIA 

 (Silver Sage}. A beautiful silver-grey 

 half-shrubby plant of the Sage order, 

 with a pungent odour, growing 3 to 4 

 feet high, with spikes of blue and white 

 flowers in July and August. The effect 

 of the numerous flowering shoots and 

 the grey foliage is distinct and good, 

 and the plant is worth a place in the 

 choicest garden for its graceful habit and 

 long season of beauty, and the value of 

 its slender panicles for cutting. It needs 

 only ordinary soil, but does best in a 

 sunny spot, and so far seems hardy at 

 least in the south. Increase by cuttings. 

 Afghanistan. 



PETALOSTEMON (Prairie Clover}. 

 Pretty clover-like perennials, mostly 

 from the western states of America, 

 and not much grown, though well worthy 

 of cultivation in warm open soils, coming 

 readily from seed. The best species are 

 P. candidus, with white flowers on stems 

 of i to 2 feet ; P. oligophyllum, with 

 spike-like white heads on slender stems ; 

 P. tenuifolium, with narrow silvery 

 down-covered foliage and spikes of rosy- 

 purple flowers ; and violaceus, forming a 

 neat tuft of finely-cut foliage and showy 

 spikes of deep violet flowers. All are 

 better for a dry place. 



PETASITES ( Winter Heliotrope}. P. 

 fragrans is a rajnpant weed blooming 

 in December and January, unless the 

 weather is very severe. The flowers, 

 deliciously fragrant and of a pale dingy 

 lilac, are gathered in short panicles upon 

 stems of 4 to 12 inches. It is unfit for 

 garden culture, as it runs very much at 

 the root and becomes a weed, but it may 

 be planted in the worst clays and on 

 rough banks, lanes, and in hedgerows, as 

 it is very useful for winter bouquets, and 

 may carpet, so to say, a small clump 

 of shrubbery, where it can be conven- 

 iently gathered. Another species, P. vul- 

 garis (Common Butterbur), is a native 

 plant, 2 to 2^ ft. high, closely allied 

 to the common Coltsfoot, but . having 

 great Rhubarb-like leaves ; the flowers 

 appear in spring before the leaves, and 

 are of a dull pinkish-purple. Exotic 

 plants with less effective leaves than 

 this have been used in gardens ; but 

 it should not be allowed to come nearer 

 to the garden than the margin of some ad- 

 jacent stream or moist bottom. An allied 



3 B 



