786 



PUSCHKINIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PYRETHRUM. 



old houses being covered with it, and it 

 makes a very beautiful covering with its 

 dense mass of tender green foliage. The 

 type has single flowers of a brilliant 

 scarlet, but the best is the double-flowered 

 sort (flore-pleno), which is also scarlet, and 

 is that most commonly seen. There is 

 also a yellow-flowered sort and a white or 

 almost white kind (albescens) with single 

 and double forms, but these are rare. The 

 flowers are borne freely on the young 

 slender shoots of the previous year's 

 growth, and in pruning these must be left 

 untouched. Increase by cuttings of dor- 

 mant wood, rooted under glass with some 

 heat. 



PUSCHKINIA (Striped Squill). P. 

 scilloides is ope of the most beautiful of 

 spring bulbous flowers. In its growth it is 

 like some of the Scillas, but its flowers 

 are delicate blue, each petal being 



Puschkinia scilloides. 



marked through the centre with a 

 darker colour. The flower spikes are 4 

 or 5 in. high. There are two forms of the 

 plant the ordinary one and P. compacta. 

 Compacta is so called from its denser and 

 more numerous flowers, and is therefore 

 the handsomer of the two. Delights in a 

 sunny border with a southern aspect near 

 a wall, or an open border slightly raised 

 will suit it. The soil should be light and 

 friable, and about i ft. in depth ; and the 

 bulbs planted about 4 in. deep. P. 

 libanotica is a taller and more vigorous 

 plant of easy culture and hardy. Shady 

 situations in sub-alpine districts of Asia 

 Minor. 



PYRETHRUM (Feverfew). Vigorous 

 perennial or rock-plants, by far the most 

 important of which is the Caucasian P. 

 roseum, which has yielded the in- 

 numerable varieties, both single and 

 double, that have now become such 

 popular border flowers. These have much 

 to recommend them ; they are showy, 



f 



hardy and easy to grow, little affected 

 by sun or rain, and invaluable as cut 

 flowers The blossoms are continually 

 becoming more varied in colour and more 

 refined in shape. Though Pyrethrums 

 are in their fullest beauty in June, they are 

 seldom altogether flowerless throughout 

 the summer ; and a succession can easily 

 be kept up by judicious stopping and 

 thinning. They are also invaluable for 

 autumn decoration, for if cut down 

 after flowering in June they flower 

 again in autumn. They are easily pro- 

 pagated by division or seed. The proper 

 time for propagation is in spring. Take 

 the plants up, shake off all soil, pull them 

 to pieces, put them in small pots, and 

 place them in a cold frame for a few 

 weeks until established, but not too 

 close, as they are apt to damp. When 

 they are established they may be 

 planted out. A good rich loam suits 

 them best, though they will grow and 

 flower freely in any good garden soil, 

 and the more we incorporate well-rotted 

 manure with the soil the better they grow 

 and flower. Mulching, especially in dry 

 soils, is a help, as it keeps the ground 

 moist and cool. The varieties are so 

 numerous that it is difficult to make a 

 selection, but Messrs. Kelway specially 

 recommend the following : SINGLE 

 FLOWERS: Agnes Mary Kelway, rose; 

 Ascot, peach ; Apollyon, pink ; Car- 

 men Sylva, blush ; Golconde, crimson ; 

 Guardian, clear pink ; James Kelway, 

 crimson scarlet ; Lord Strathcona, flesh 

 pink ; Mary Anderson, early flesh pink ; 

 Mrs. Bateman Brown, crimson purple ; 

 Ornament, violet cerise ; Princess Irene, 

 white ; Princess Marie, white ; Princess 

 of Wales, early flesh pink ; Queen of 

 Whites, white with white centre ; York 

 and Lancaster, rose and white. Among 

 the DOUBLE KINDS the best are : 

 Aphrodite, white ; Captain Nares, crim- 

 son ; Carl Vogt, early white ; Chamois, 

 soft yellow ; Cleopatra, yellow and white; 

 Ernest Kelway, rosy scarlet ; Figaro, deep 

 rose ; J. N. Twerdy, maroon ; King Oscar, 

 crimson scarlet ; Lady Kildare, buff, yel- 

 low, and carmine ; Leonard Kelway, rose; 

 Lord Rosebery, crimson scarlet ; Louise 

 Delesalle, crimson purple; Magician, pink- 

 tipped yellow ; Melton, deep crimson ; Ne 

 Plus Ultra, pale lilac ; Pericles, yellow ; 

 Triomphe de France, reddish crimson 

 shading to purple ; Wega, buff, yellow, 

 and rose ; and Wilson Barrett, light rose. 

 The single kinds are quite as beautiful as 

 the heavy-headed double flowers, and are 

 more suitable for vases. Other species of 

 garden value are 



