/ETHIONEMA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



AGATH^A. 413 



The common variety is an exception as to 

 size, and one of the most beautiful of 

 flowering trees. There is at least one 

 handsome variety of it with very long 

 spikes. The red Buckeye (jE. Pavia) 

 is a handsome small tree, with dense and 

 large foliage, together with bright red 

 flowers in large loose clusters in early 

 summer. Sometimes it rises from 15 to 

 20 ft. high, but some of its varieties are 

 only low-spreading or trailing shrubs. sE. 

 humilis, pendula, arguta, and laciniata 

 are forms of sE. Pavia, and the plants 

 are useful for grouping with taller trees. 

 AZ. flava (the yellow Buckeye) is common, 

 and sometimes 40 ft. high. It has some- 

 thing of the habit of the red Horse Chest- 

 nut (;. rttbicunda), but smoother leaves. 

 A variety called purpurascens (sometimes 

 AZ. discolor) has much showier flowers, 

 larger, and of a reddish tint. The ^Esculi, 

 named in gardens and nurseries as ^E. 

 neglect a, hybrida, pubescens, Lyoni, rosea, 

 and pallida, may be included in one of 

 the foregoing species, and some differ 

 but slightly from them. They are all low 

 trees or large shrubs, coming into leaf 

 early and losing their foliage in early 

 autumn, especially in light or dry soils. 

 One of the best of all the forms is the 

 brightly-coloured sE. Brioti. A distinct 

 species is the Californian Buckeye (;. 

 californica\ which in this country does 

 not usually rise above shrub height. It 

 has slender-stalked leaves, broad leaf- 

 lets, and in early summer dense erect 

 clusters of white or pinkish fragrant 

 flowers ; a valuable hardy tree. Quite 

 different from the rest is the North 

 American AZ. parviflora (dwarf Horse 

 Chestnut), a handsome shrub, 6 ft. to 

 10 ft. high, flowering in late summer. Its 

 foliage is much like that of other ^Esculi, 

 and its small white fragrant flowers are 

 in long, erect, plume-flowers. A variety 

 of the preceding, ^E. macrostachya, is an 

 August-blooming North American shrub 

 of great beauty. The growth is spreading 

 and bushy, with creamy white flowers in 

 dense plumy spikes. A specimen on the 

 outskirts of the lawn is effective. We have 

 grouped the Pavias with the ^Esculus. 



1THIONEMA A beautiful group of 

 Alpine and rock plants found on the 

 sunny mountains near the Mediterra- 

 nean. They grow freely in borders of 

 well-drained sandy loam, but their true 

 home is the rock-garden. The tall JE. 

 grandiftorum forms a spreading bush 

 about i ft. high, from which spring 

 numerous racemes of pink and lilac 

 flowers. It also grows well in borders 

 in ordinary soil, and, when in flower 



in summer, is among the loveliest of 

 alpine half-shrubby plants. As the stems 

 are prostrate, a good effect will come 

 from planting them where the roots 

 may descend into deep earth, and the 

 shoots fall over the face of rocks at about 

 the level of the eye. Easily raised from 

 seed, and thrive in sandy loam. There 

 are many species, but few are in gardens. 

 All the cultivated kinds are dwarf, and 

 may be grouped with alpine plants. The 

 other best kinds are A. cotidifolium^ A. 

 pulchellum, A. persicum. 



AGAPANTHUS(4/m-rt;zZz7y). Beau- 

 tiful bulbous plants from the Cape, with blue 

 or white flowers in umbels on stems i8in. 

 to 4 ft. high. A. umbellatus, the old kind, 

 is hardy in some mild seashore districts, 

 and a fine plant in rich warm soil, but 

 better for the protection of leaves or 

 cocoa fibre round the root in winter. It 

 is worth growing for the flower garden 

 and vases in summer, but should be pro- 

 tected in winter by storing under stages, 

 in sheds or cellars. The fleshy roots may 

 be so stored without potting. Enjoysplenty 

 of water during out-of-door growth, and is 

 easily increased by division. Various new 

 kinds have been introduced, but their out- 

 of-door value has not been so well tested 

 as the favourite old African Lily. Of the 

 best-known kind, A. umbellatus, there 

 are several varieties ; major and maximus 

 are both larger than the type, and of 

 maximus there is a white-flowered variety. 

 There is a smaller one with white flowers, 

 one with double flowers, and variegated- 

 leaved kinds. A. Sounder sonianus is a 

 distinct variety with deeper-coloured 

 flowers than the type. 



The largest is A. umbellatus gigaiitetis, 

 the flower-spikes of which attain a height 

 of from 3 ft. to 4 ft., with umbels bearing 

 from 1 50 to 200 flowers. The colour is a 

 gentian blue, while the buds are of a deeper 

 hue. A. u. pallidus is a pale porcelain 

 blue, a short-leaved variety. A. u. minor 

 is a dwarf variety. Of A. timbellatus 

 there is a double-flowered variety, a dis- 

 tinct plant. There is, moreover, A. u, 

 atrocceruleus, a dark violet variety. A. 21. 

 maximus has flower-stalks 4 ft. long, and 

 full heads of flowers, one set opening while 

 a second is rising to fill up the truss as 

 the first crop fades. A. u. Mooreanus 

 deciduous and hardy ; it grows from 12 in. 

 to 1 8 in. high, has narrow leaves, and 

 conies true from seed. A. u. albiftorus, 

 a pure white kind, also is deciduous, the 

 leaves turning yellow in autumn and dying 

 off. It forms a stout root-crown. 



AGATH^EA (Blue Daisy}. A. ccelestis 

 is a tender spreading Daisy-like plant, with 



