88o SYMPHYANDRA. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



the garden the clumps should be cut to 

 the ground every spring to encourage 

 young free-flowering shoots, and the roots 

 trimmed deeply with a spade to prevent 

 their spreading unduly. A pretty variety 

 of 5. -vulgaris has its foliage variegated 

 with green and yellow. It is now com- 

 mon, and, being hardy and vigorous, is 

 one of the best of evergreen variegated 

 shrubs. 



SYMPHYANDRA. Campanula-like 

 plants, S.pendula being a showy perennial 

 from the rocky parts of the Caucasus, 

 with branched pendulous stems and large 

 cream-coloured bell flowers, almost hidden 

 in the leaves. It is hardy, and rarely more 

 than I ft. in height. It does well with 

 other Bell-flowers, but is best seen at the 

 level of the eye in the rock-garden ; it is 

 also a good border plant in ordinary gar- 

 den soil. Seed. The Austrian S. Wanneri 

 rarely exceeds 6 in. in height, with deep 

 mauve flowers borne freely on branching- 

 racemes. Like S-. pendula, it prefers a 

 light, warm, rich soil and a partially-shady 

 situation. S. Hofmanni from Bosnia is 

 considerably taller than the others, with 

 large white flowers and hairy leaves. All 

 these plants are short-lived, and duplicates 

 should be kept at hand. 



SYMPHYTUM(Cp;/r^). These Bor- 

 age-worts are bold, but somewhat coarse 

 plants, suited for naturalising in open 

 sunny places, since, when well grown in 

 masses their foliage has a fine effect. The 

 largest and best kinds for the wild gar- 

 den are S. asperrimum and S. caucasicum, 

 particularly aureum, a golden-leaved form 

 of the first-named. The Bohemian Com- 

 frey (S. bohemicum) is a handsome peren- 

 nial, about I ft. high, with in early summer 

 erect twin racemes of brilliant reddish- 

 purple flowers. The variegated-leaved 

 form of the common Comfrey [S. officinal^} 

 has striking variegation, effective in a 

 garden of hardy flowers, and thriving in 

 any soil. 



SYRINGA.(Z.z'/rt*r.) Where theselovely 

 shrubs are well done they afford beautiful 

 effects in the home landscape as well as 

 charm in the hand and fragrance. To no 

 family has the harm done by grafting been 

 more injurious than to the Lilac. Every- 

 where grafted on Privet for the sake of 

 cheapness and ease of increase, it has 

 proved an alliance that they resent by 

 dying. I lost ten years through a grafted 

 collection ; instead of growing up the 

 plants grew down and slowly perished. 

 And so it has been in many gardens where 

 Lilacs have been put in the shrubberies 

 but rarely show their fine value, though so 

 many superb varieties have been raised of 



recent years. In our country the best 

 results from Lilacs are often seen about 

 farm-houses and in small gardens where 

 the Persian Lilac on its own roots, and 

 perhaps a few common kinds also, are 

 grown. 



What we have to secure is the full value 

 of the varieties that we now have, with 

 their long racemes beautiful in colour if 

 only well grown. To effect this the first 

 thing is to insist that none shall be grafted 

 on the Privet. As to arrangement, the 

 best way is to group our Lilacs in the 

 sunlight : they are too often put away 

 among mixed shrubs where they deterior- 

 ate owing to crowding and other causes. 

 No plants more deserve a clear space in 

 the open sun, where they can ripen their 

 wood and be free from the encroachments 

 of coarser neighbours. 



PRUNING. Lilacs are too often ne- 

 glected, though few shrubs are better 

 worth pruning, without which they become 

 a tangled mass of shoots and we do not 

 get the fine full thyrses of bloom that are 

 seen in French gardens. On fading, the 

 flowers should be removed, and the small 

 and weak shoots also if the plants are too 

 " stalky," the aim being to secure healthy 

 and open growth during summer. Cut- 

 ting back in winter is wrong, because the 

 flowers are produced on the wood of the 

 previous year, and cutting back to a stiff 

 ugly outline does not deserve the name of 

 pruning. To prune is to help the natural 

 shape of the bush and let the light into it, 

 so that it can concentrate its energy on a 

 number of strong flowering-shoots. 



SOIL. We read sometimes that the 

 Lilac will do in any soil, and so it may in 

 districts where the soil is warm and good, 

 as in much of Ireland where the Rouen 

 Lilac (commonly called the Persian) 

 makes such lovely trees. In certain heavy 

 soils Lilacs are slow in growth and do not 

 ripen their wood well or flower so freely as 

 in soils of an open nature. If we are not 

 so fortunate as to possess this open soil 

 we must make it so if the Lilacs are to do 

 well. Cold places in valleys are not so 

 good for them, especially where heavy soil 

 occurs, because being early, the bloom is 

 often caught by late frosts. Therefore, in 

 addition to warm soil we should try and 

 secure positions not too low down and 

 somewhat sheltered. Coming from a 

 warmer and sunnier land than our own 

 Transylvania and the regions near very 

 cold soils and situations are against suc^ 

 cess. 



INCREASE. Lilacs grow freely from 

 seed, if sown as soon as ripe. Cuttings 

 are best made from the young wood in 



