408 



ABUTILON. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ACANTHOLIMON. 



and autumn, and are pretty and effective 

 when well planted. - Nyctaginece. 



ABUTILON Plants mostly requiring 

 greenhouse temperature in winter, but 

 growing freely out-of-doors in summer, 

 and a graceful aid in the flower garden, 



Abutilon, Boule de Neige. 



at least in the southern counties. A. 

 Darwini and its forms, as well as the 

 varieties related to A. striatum, under 

 favourable conditions, grow from 4 ft. to 

 8 ft. in height. They can be made bushy 

 by stopping, and they flower better than 

 they do in pots. They are useful among 

 the taller and more graceful plants for 

 the flower garden, and are 'easily raised 

 from seed and cuttings. A. vitifolium is a 

 very handsome wall-plant in mild districts, 

 and several sorts may be grown in the 

 open air in gardens in warm sea-shore 

 districts. A. Sellowianum mannoratum 

 is a fine variety. Among the best in 

 cultivation are the following, and new 

 varieties are often raised : Admiration, 

 Anna Crozy, Buisson d'Or, Darwini majus, 

 Elegantissimum, Grandiflorum, Lemoinei, 

 Lady of the Lake, Leo, Orange Perfection, 

 Boule de Neige Delicatum, Pactole, 

 Darwini tesselatum, Thompsoni variega- 

 tum, vexillarium variegatum, Brilliant, 

 King of Roses, Canarybird, Golden 

 Queen, and Scarlet Gem. 



ACACIA (Tassel Tree}. Beautiful 

 shrubs and trees, mostly thriving in 

 warmer countries than ours, but some 

 few are grown out of doors in the warmer 

 parts of our country. A . Julibrissin. By 

 confining this to a single stem and using 

 young plants, or those cut down every 

 year, one gets an erect stem covered with 

 leaves as graceful as a Fern, and pretty 

 amidst low-growing flowers. The leaves 

 are slightly sensitive : on fine sunny days 

 they spread out fully and afford a pleasant 

 shade ; on dull ones the leaflets fall down. 

 It is better raised from seed. A. lophantha, 

 though not hardy, grows freely in the open 

 air in summer, and gives graceful verdure 



among flowers. It may easily be raised 

 from seed sown early in the year to give 

 plants fit for putting out in early summer. 

 Plants a year old or so, strong and well 

 hardened off for planting out at the end 

 of May, are best. A. dealbata may be 

 grown in gardens in the south, and 

 against walls. And other kinds, such as 

 armata and vertidlata are hardier, and 

 being closer in habit, better fitted for open 

 air culture away from walls in southern 

 sheltered gardens. 



AC^ENA. Alpine and rock plants be- 

 longing to the Rose family. Though not 

 pretty in their flowers, if we except the 

 crimson spines that give a charm to the 

 little New Zealand A. micropJiylla, these 

 plants have a neat habit of growth that 

 fits them for very dwarf carpets in the 

 rock garden, and now and then, to cover 

 dry parts of borders and tufts on the 

 margins of borders, they are very useful ; 

 among the most useful being argentea, 

 millefolia, pulchella, ovalifolia, and sar- 

 mentosa, all of free growth and increase. 



ACANTHOLIMON (Ptickly Thrift). 

 Dwarf mountain herb plants of the Sea 

 Lavender order, extending from the east 

 of Greece to Thibet, and having their 

 headquarters in Persia. The flowers re- 

 semble those of Statice and Armeria, but 

 the plants form branching, cushion-like 

 tufts ; the leaves are rigid and spiny. 

 They are dwarf evergreen rock-garden 



Acaena microphylla. 



and choice border plants. We have had 

 the following species for years, but have 

 not been very successful in propagating 

 any except A. glumaceum, which is the 

 freest in growth, the others being very 

 slow. Cuttings -taken off in late summer 

 and kept in a cold frame during winter 

 make good plants in two years, but 

 by layering one gets larger plants sooner. 

 All are hardy, and prefer warm, sunny 



