TUSSILAGO. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ULMUS. 905 



is a small plant with a profusion of wiry 

 stems that bear numerous elegant little 

 rosy flowers. It forms tufts a few inches 

 high, does best on poor soils, but thrives 

 without particular care anywhere. It is 

 a native of arid stony places on the 



Tunica Saxifraga. 



Pyrenees and the Alps ; but it often 

 descends into the lowlands, and is found 

 on the tops of walls. It will doubtless 

 grow in such positions in this country. It 

 is a neat plant for the rock-garden and 

 fringes of borders, and thrives like a weed 

 between the stones in a rough stone wall. 

 Seed. 



TUSSILAGO (Coltsfoot). T. Farfara 

 variegata, the variegated Coltsfoot, is 

 perfectly hardy, increases itself by run- 

 ning underground, and, being of spread- 

 ing habit, is not easily got rid of when 

 established. It may be used with good 

 effect in shady positions where other 

 plants will not thrive, and does well as an 

 edging to a clump of Ferns, or as a ground- 

 work to plants with graceful foliage. 



TYPHA (Reed Mace] Graceful water- 

 plants, hardy, easily grown, and very 

 ornamental whether at the waterside or 

 cut for decoration. T. latifolia is a native 

 plant, growing in tufts of two-rowed flat 

 leaves, 18 to 24 in. long and i or i^ in. 

 wide. From the centre of each tuft springs 

 a stem 6 or 7 ft. high, terminated in the 

 flowering season by a close cylindrical 

 spike 9 in. long, which is of dark olive, but 

 changes to brownish-black as it ripens. 

 T. angustifolia is like it except in the size 

 of the narrower leaves and spike, and of 

 the two is perhaps the more graceful. T. 

 minor is a smaller form of it. T. minima 



is the smallest of the hardy kinds, 12 in. 

 to 1 8 in. in height, with slender rush-like 

 leaves and dense or globose heads, those 

 of the other kinds being much longer 

 than they are broad. Other kinds to be 

 found in Water Gardens are T. steno- 

 phylla with narrow leaves turned in a 

 spiral and short thick spikes ; and T. 

 Shuttleivorthii, like latifolia as to general 

 appearance, but with leaves of a showy 

 golden-green. 



ULEX (Furze}. The native Furze is so 

 beautiful and is so well suited for clothing 

 dry banks and the like, that it should 

 be included among flowering shrubs. 

 Where the common Furze grows wild, 

 the double variety is well worth planting, 

 as it is more effective and lasts longer 

 than the single kind. There is also a 

 dwarf sort, nanus, which deserves a place, 

 as it flowers at midsummer when its com- 

 moner relative has done. This is also a 

 native, and where it flourishes it makes 

 a dense prickly bush 2 ft. high, 



U. strictus (Irish Furze) is an uncom- 

 mon variety of europceus, sometimes met 

 with in botanical collections. As all the 

 kinds of Furze are difficult to transplant 

 when large, the best plan is to get small 

 plants of the double and of the dwarf 

 kinds, and to sow seed of the common 

 single kind. In most nurseries the double 

 Furze is kept in pots, and can be planted 

 at any time. There are few finer sights 

 than a bank of double Furze in full bloom, 

 and this can be enjoyed in every garden. 

 Vigorous pruning when the plants be- 

 come straggling is all the attention 

 needed. In severe winters all these plants 

 are liable to be cut to the ground, but 

 they start again little the worse. 



ULMUS (Elm}. Summer-leafing forest 

 trees of northern and temperate regions 

 and of importance in planting, though the 

 dangerous habit of the common Elm of 

 suddenly dropping heavy branches should 

 make us cautious about planting it near 

 houses. Some of the kinds that may be 

 of interest in botanical collections are not 

 worth a place in private grounds, where 

 those planted should be the most distinct 

 and stately kinds only, as weedy-looking 

 Elms, common in some districts, never 

 give fine effect. The common habit in 

 many districts of forming avenues of Elm 

 only, might well be modified in favour of 

 other trees of proved value, as the loss 

 caused by storms in Elm-planted villages 

 and roadsides is deplorable. 



U. AMERICANA (Water Elm}. A large and 

 handsome tree inhabiting moist soil and banks 

 of streams in North America ; quite hardy, 



