ANTIRRHINUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



AQUILEGIA. 429 



should be protected from slugs and cater- 

 pillars. Division of the roots in autumn, 

 or it may be raised from seed. The 

 major variety of the St. Bruno's Lily 

 has much larger flowers (2 in. across) 

 coming up from the root, these opening 

 before the flowers on the spike. It grows 

 3 ft. high in good soil, and is a fine border 

 plant. 



ANTIRRHINUM (Snapdragon). ^ 

 numerous family of rock plants and peren- 

 nial herbs, mostly hardy and many 

 of them from mountainous regions, 

 but none so popular in gardens as the 

 handsome Snapdragon (A. majus) which 

 like the wallflowers often grows on walls 

 and stony places. There are many species, 

 but they do not take a large place in gar- 

 dens, among the best being A. Asarina 

 and A. rupestre. Of the common Snap- 

 dragon, the garden varieties are now 

 numerous, and often showy in effect, the 

 best being the pure colours (i.e., not 

 striped). 



CULTIVATION. Snapdragons are easy 

 of cultivation, sandy and free soils 

 suiting them. They are sown : (i) In 

 August in the place where they are to 

 grow, or preferably in seed-beds, in which 

 latter case plant close to a south wall, 

 sheltering from continued frosts with dry 

 leaves or straw, planting out in spring 16 

 in. to 24 in. apart. (2) In June or 

 July in seed-beds in a well-exposed posi- 

 tion, planting out the seedlings in the 

 spring. (3) In seed-beds (March to April) 

 at the foot of a south wall. Transplant 

 when the plants are sufficiently developed, 

 and they may also be transplanted to 

 seed-beds and planted out when the 

 flowers commence to show themselves. 

 By means of successive sowings it is 

 possible to obtain an almost uninterrupted 

 bloom from June until frost comes. Snap- 

 dragons are also propagated by cuttings 

 made in the spring or summer, and even 

 during the whole of flowering time. As 

 with a great number of plants, the colour 

 of the stems and leaves of the young 

 plants may to a certain point indicate to 

 us what the colour of the flowers will be. 

 Thus, kinds with green or light-coloured 

 stems and leaves will have in nearly all 

 cases white, or mainly white flowers, or 

 of which the colour is undecided ; whilst 

 of the plants which produce flowers of a 

 decided colour the stems and the leaves 

 are of a pronounced green tint, more or 

 less purple or ruddy also. 



APONOGETON(C^ Pond-flower}. 

 A. distachyon is a beautiful and fragrant 

 water-plant from the Cape of Good Hope, 

 hardy in many parts of these islands. 



About London during the late severe 

 winters there has been no more interest- 

 ing sight than the profuse bloom of 

 this plant in springs, and in cold districts it 

 is necessary, for the perfect culture of this 

 plant in the open air, to grow it in spring 

 or other water that does not freeze ; but 

 in mild districts this is not needed. It 

 may be flowered in an inverted bell-glass 

 in a room. In Devonshire it is grown to 

 greater perfection than in the home 

 counties. Failures often result from put- 



Aponogeton (Cape Pond-flower.) 



ting it in too shallow water. There is a 

 variety (roseus) with rosy tinted blossoms. 

 A. spathaceum is a poor form with flowers 

 tinged with rose. Naiada-cece. 



AQUILEGIA (Columbine). Alpine 

 rock and meadow perennials of the But- 

 tercup order, often beautiful and widely 

 distributed over the northern and moun- 

 tain regions of Europe, Asia, and 

 America. They are of great variety in 

 colour white, rose, buff, blue, and purple, 

 and also stripes and intermediate shades, 

 the American kinds having yellow, scarlet, 

 and most delicate shades of blue flowers. 

 The Columbines are frequently taller than 

 most of the plants strictly termed alpine, 

 but are nevertheless true alpine plants, and 

 among the most singularly beautiful of 

 the class. Climbing the sunny hills of the 

 sierras in California, one meets with a 

 large scarlet Columbine, that has almost 

 the vigour of a lily, and in the mountains 

 of LTtah, and on many others in the 

 Rocky Mountain region, there is the Rocky 

 Mountain Columbine (A. cosrulea\ with 

 its long and slender spurs and lovely 

 cool tints, and there is no family that 

 has a wider share in adorning the 

 mountains. Although our cottage gardens 

 are alive with Columbines in much beauty 

 of colour in early summer, there is some 

 difficulty in cultivating the rarer alpine 



