93 



WHITLAVIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



WISTARIA. 



and very early ; Gloire des Bosquets, 

 very free in its deep rosy flowers ; 

 Heroine, rosy- white, with fine foliage ; 

 hortensis nivea,pure white ; Perle, creamy- 

 white edged with rose ; Montesquieu, 

 wine-purple ; Mt. Blanc, the best white ; 

 Othello, bright rose ; Pascal, blood-red ; 

 Pavilion blanc, blush-white ; and Saturne, 

 rosy-carmine. The new Japanese species, 

 D. prtzcox, bears large pink flowers with 

 a yellow throat, opening nearly a month 

 earlier than other kinds. Its influence as 

 a parent is already seen in a race of early- 

 flowering hybrids. The golden-leaved 

 IV. Looymansi aurea is a fine orna- 

 mental shrub, usually retaining its bright 

 golden foliage through the season. Its 

 variegated-leaved form is also excellent. 

 All sorts are of free habit if planted in 

 good soil in an open position. They 

 should never be crowded, but grown as 

 isolated groups on lawns, or placed on 

 the margins of shrubberies. Weigelas 

 make large bushes, 6 to 10 ft. high and 

 as much in diameter, and their graceful 

 drooping branches are ornamental, even 

 when leafless in winter. They should be 

 top-dressed annually with good rich soil, 

 and pruned, leaving the vigorous stems 

 and the branches that yield the finest 

 bloom. Weigelas are now classed botani- 

 cally in the genus Diervilla, which also 

 includes other species, such as D. sessili- 

 flora and D. trifida from N. America. 

 Neither of these can be recommended 

 save for the bright tints of their autumn 

 foliage. 



WHITLAVIA. F. grandiflora is a 

 beautiful herb about a foot high allied to 

 the Nemophila, with an abundance of 

 showy bell-shaped blossoms of a rich deep 

 blue. There is a white variety, and also 

 one called gloxinioides with white and 

 blue flowers. These are hardy annuals, 

 and may be sown either in autumn or in 

 spring in the open border, in good friable 

 soil. California. Hydrophyllacea. 



WIG ANDIA. Fine-leaved plants of 

 the Tropics, which succeed in the open air 

 in summer in a few warm southern gar- 

 dens. The best is W. caracasana, from the 

 mountainous regions of New Granada ; 

 but even this will only succeed in the 

 warmest and best sheltered spots. It may 

 be used with effect either in a mass or 

 isolated. It is propagated by cuttings of 

 the roots, shoots, or from seeds, the young 

 plants grown in a moist and genial 

 temperature through the spring months, 

 and kept near the light to keep them 

 dwarf and carefully hardened off previous 

 to being planted out at the end of May. 

 The stems of W. macrophylla, from 



Mexico, are covered with short stinging- 

 hairs, bearing brownish viscid drops, 

 which adhere to the hand like oil. W. 

 imperialis is said to excel the others in its 

 growth, and W. Vigieri is another fine 

 kind, of quick growth and of remarkable 

 habit. Its leaves are 3 ft. 9 in. long 

 (including the leaf-stalk), and 22 in. across, 

 and its stem, nearly 7 ft. high, bears a 

 column of these leaves. This plant is 

 distinguished by its leaves and stem being 

 covered in a greater degree with glossy, 

 slender, stinging bodies, so thick as to 

 give the stems a glistening appearance. 

 W. urens is often planted, but is inferior 

 except in its power of stinging, in which it 

 is not likely to be surpassed. All Wigan- 

 dias have clusters of blue or violet blos- 

 soms, which are not often borne in the 

 open air with us. In their own land they 

 range from 3 to 1 2 ft. high, W. caracasana 

 being the tallest. 



WISTARIA (Glycine). The noblest of 

 all woody climbers introduced to Europe. 

 Besides giving a beautiful covering for 

 houses, pergolas, etc., the Wistaria is of 

 great value used in other ways and can 

 be grown on trees. In Mr. Waterer's 

 nursery at Knap Hill it has been trained 

 up Laburnum trees. In the end, no doubt, 

 the Laburnums will get the worst of it, but 

 meanwhile the two flower together, and the 

 pale blue-purple racemes of the Wistaria 

 and the golden ones of the Laburnum 

 make a fine contrast. An old Oak that 

 has seen its best days would be a suitable 

 support for it. In getting this or any 

 other climber to grow on living trees, the 

 difficulty is at the start, chiefly because 

 of the living roots of the tree on which it 

 is to grow, and then the Wistaria should 

 be planted well away from the trunk 

 where sun and rain can reach it. A good 

 plan is to sink a large tub with the bottom 

 knocked out, and fill this with good rich 

 loam and leaf mould, and by the time the 

 Wistaria has filled this with roots it will 

 be able to hold its own. 



It now and then makes very graceful 

 standards at least in the good situations 

 in the south, and bowers and the most 

 beautiful lacework of summer-houses may 

 be formed with this climber alone. For 

 example, a strong framework of tent 

 shape might easily be covered with it. 

 The timbers or irons of the roof might be 

 close enough for the foliage of the Wistaria 

 to cast a slight shade over the interior, and 

 the motive for such a thing would be the 

 grace and beauty of the shrub when in 

 flower, garlanding it, and forming a 

 temple of graceful bloom. 



W. CHINENSIS. The oldest kind intro- 



