AQUILEGIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ARABIS, 



431 



It comes true from seed, which is most 

 safely raised under glass, and the plant 

 grows 4 ft. in height in good soil. 



A. ccerulea (Rocky Mountain Colum- 

 bine}. This is very beautiful, the green- 

 tipped spurs of the flower being as slender 

 as a thread, and having a tendency to 

 twist round each other. It is hardy, flower- 

 ing early in summer, from 12 in. to 15 in. 

 high, worthy of the best position on the 

 rock-garden, and in choice mixed borders, 

 where the soil is free and deep. Unlike 

 the Golden Columbine, it is not perennial 

 on many soils, though longer-lived in cool 

 hill-gardens. To get healthy plants that 

 will flower freely, seeds should be sown 

 annually. 



A. glandulosa (Altaian Columbine). 

 A beautiful plant of tufted habit, flowering 

 in early summer a fine blue, with tips of 

 petals creamy-white, the spur curved 

 backwards towards the stalk, the sepals 

 dark blue, large, with a long footstalk. 

 It is a native of the Altai Mountains, and 

 one of the most precious flowers for the 

 rock-garden, in deep sandy soil. Seed 

 and division. 



A. Skinneri (Skinners Columbine). 

 A distinct plant, the flowers produced 

 later on slender pedicels, the sepals 

 greenish, the petals small and yellow; the 

 spurs are 2 in. long and bright orange- 

 red. Though from Guatemala, it comes 

 from mountain districts, and is nearly 

 hardy. While the name is often seen, 

 the true plant is rare. 



A. viridiflora. A charming Siberian 

 Columbine, the sage-green of the flower 

 and the delicate tint of the leaf offering a 

 delicate harmony. In the border it may 

 not be noticed, but if a spray or two are 

 put in a glass its beauty is seen. It has a 

 delicate fragrance, and is raised from 

 seed. 



A. vulgaris (Common Columbine}. 

 There are many forms of this, and double 

 kinds, flowering from May till towards the 

 end of summer. One may often see a 

 variety of the common Columbine nearly 

 as handsome as any of the finest alpine 

 species. Its varieties, and some hybrid 

 forms, may well be used in the wilder and 

 more picturesque parts of large pleasure- 

 grounds, by streams, in copses, or among 

 Foxgloves, Geraniums, or long Grasses. 

 The ground should be well dug if the 

 vegetation is dense, and the seed sown on 

 the spot. Where bare places occur, and 

 seedlings have a chance of coming up 

 without being strangled by other plants, 

 seed may be scattered as soon as ripe. 



Known species. A. advena, Hab? alpina, Siberia; 

 .Amalice, Thessaly ; aragonensis, Spain; arbascensis, 



Europe ; Bertoloni, Europe ; Brauni, Europe ; brevis- 

 tyla, N. America; Buergeriana, Japan; californica, 

 N. W. America ; campylocentra, Europe ; canadensis, 

 N. America ; chrysaniha, N. Mexico ; ccerulea, N. W. 

 America ; dichroa, Europe ; dioica, Europe ; discolor, 

 Spain ; Einseleana, Europe ; eximia, Europe ; 

 flabellata, Japan ; fiavescens, California ; formosa, 

 Kamtschatka; fragrans, Himalayas; Gaertneri, 

 Europe ; Gebleri, Europe ; glandulosa, Siberia; glauca, 

 Himalayas ; grata, Europe ; Haynaldi, Europe ; 

 Huteri, Europe ; Jonesi, N. America ; Kareliniana, 

 Hab ? Kitaibeli, Armenia ; lactiflora, Siberia ; 

 leptoceras, Siberia ; longisepala, Europe ; longissuna, 

 N. America; lutea, Hab? lutescens, Europe; macro- 

 centra, Europe ; mollis, France ; Moorcroftiana, 

 Himalayas ; nemoralis, France ; nevadensis, Spain ; 

 olympica, E. Europe ; orthantha, Europe ; Ottonis, 

 Greece ; oxysepala, E. Asia ; parviflora, Siberia ; 

 pubiflora, E. Indies ; pycnotricha, Europe \pyrenaica, 

 S. Europe ; ruscinonensis, France ; Schotti, Europe ; 

 sibirica, Siberia ; sinensis, China ; Skinneri, Mexico ; 

 stenopetala, Europe ; sulphurea, Europe ; Szabpi, 

 Europe ; iriridiftora, Siberia ; volubilis, Manchuria ; 

 is, Europe. 



Siberian Columbine. 



ARABIS (Rock Cress). A large family 

 of hill-plants, few of which are grown, 

 though some are worth a place. A. albida 

 (White Rock Cress) is a popular plant 

 in gardens, and in the barrows of every 

 London flower-hawker in spring. It will 

 grow in any soil, where its sheets of 

 snowy bloom may open in early spring. 

 It is easily increased by seed, or cut- 

 tings, and is useful for the mixed 

 border the spring garden, and for 

 -naturalising in bare or rocky spots. It is 

 closely allied to the alpine Rock Cress 



