4 i6 



ALXUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ALSTROMEKIA. 



crispus is a beautiful little British Fern 

 found m mountainous districts. It re- 

 quires abundance of air and light, but 

 should be shaded from the hot sun. In 

 the rock-garden it does well between large 

 stones, with broken stones about its roots, 

 and its fronds just peeping out of the 

 crevice. 



ALNUS (Alder). A somewhat 

 neglected group of trees which have some 

 value in moist places and to help to bind the 

 banks of streams. Of the native kind A. 

 glutinosa there are several varieties, and of 

 the cut-leaved one there are fine specimens 

 at Wynnstay and many other places. A. 

 incana has also several varieties seldom 

 of more value than the wild tree. Among 

 other cultivated kinds are japonica, cordi- 

 folia, barbata, occidentalis, Oregona, and 



l&ff* 



Alnus ar'.utinosa 



serndata : all of easy culture. None are 

 of greater value as to effect than our own 

 native kind. 



The common Alder does not seem to 

 have been regarded with much favour by 

 many writers, but Gilpin places it, after 

 the Weeping Willow, as the most pic- 

 turesque of all. With Gilpin Sir Thomas 

 Dick Lauder fully agrees. He says : 



It is always associated in our minds with 

 river scenery, both of that tranquil description 

 which is most frequently to be met with in the 

 vales of England, and with that of a wilder and 

 more stirring character which is to be found 

 among the glens and ravines of Scotland. In 

 very many instances we have seen it put on so 

 much of the bold, resolute character of the 

 Oak, that it might have been mistaken for 

 that tree but for the depth of its green hue. 

 The river Mole may doubtless furnish the 

 traveller with very beautiful specimens of the 

 Alder, as it may also furnish an example of 

 quiet English scenery, but this is too high a 

 value to place on the tree, but nowhere will 

 the tree be found in greater perfection than on 

 the banks of the river Findhorn and its tributary 

 streams. 



An advantage the tree possesses is its 

 tendency to retain its foliage. There is, 

 however, a great deal of difference in this 

 respect among the species and varieties. 

 Although in a state of Nature most of the 

 Alders are found where their roots have 

 an abundant supply of moisture, they 

 will grow well in Britain in all but the 

 lightest soils. 



ALONSOA (Mask-flower}. Mostly 

 Peruvian annual plants, of the Snapdragon 

 order, of which the best species are A. 

 lVarscewiczi,'ha\\r\g small bright orange- 

 red flowers ; A. linifolia, and A. acutifolia, 

 a slender-growing herb ; A. incisifolia, 

 also a pretty kind ; similar to this is A. 

 myrtifolia of vigorous habit with flowers 

 larger than any other kind, and of a more 

 intense scarlet than those of A. linifolia ; 

 A. rt/&/?0r has pure white flowers, yellow 

 in the centre, and A. linearis has a pro- 

 fusion of light scarlet flowers. All the 

 species are easily grown, both in pots and 

 the open ground : from seed in spring 

 and also by cuttings in the spring. 



ALOYSIA (Sweet Verbena]. A. citrio- 

 dora is a fragrant-leaved bush with 

 small and not showy flowers. Its pale 

 green foliage goes well with any flower, 

 and it may be grown against a sunny wall, 

 where, if protected by a heap of ashes 

 over its roots and a warm straw mat over 

 its branches, it will pass through the 

 winter safely. If uncovered too soon in 

 spring, the young growths get nipped by 

 late frosts. It is increased from cuttings 

 and is a hardy wall plant in mild seashore 

 districts, but not so common, owing to the 

 cold, in inland districts. Verbena order, 

 Chili. Syn. Lippia. 



ALSTROMEBIA (Peruvian Lily}. 

 Handsome tuberous plants of the Ama- 

 ryllis order, which require a richly 

 manured and thoroughly warm and well- 

 drained soil, the best .place being a south 

 border, or along the front of a wall hav- 

 ing a warm aspect, where, if the soil is 

 not light and dry, it should be made so. 

 Dig out the ground to the depth of 3 ft., 

 and spread 6 in. or so of brick rubbish 

 over the bottom of the border. Shake 

 over the drainage a coating of half-rotten 

 leaves or short littery manure, to prevent 

 the soil from running through the inter- 

 stices of the bricks, and stopping up the 

 drainage. If the natural soil be stiff, a 

 portion should be exchanged for an equal 

 quantity of leaf soil, or other light vege- 

 table mould, and a barrow-load of sand. 

 The plants should be procured in pots, as 

 they rarely succeed from divisions, and, 

 once planted, should never be interfered 

 with. Place them in rows about 18 in. 



