448 



HELLIS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



BERBERIS. 



are many varieties, and as easily and 

 -similarly raised as the tuberous kinds. 

 The plants are, when in beauty, a mass of 

 bloom, the small flowers almost hiding | 

 the leaves. But many of the kinds are ! 

 -very dull in colour, and get shabby to- 

 wards the end of summer. There are 

 many uses for them in gardens as 

 distinct groups, or as a groundwork to 

 beds filled with taller plants. 



Bellevallia. See HYACINTHUS. 



BELLIS (Daisy}. B. perennis, daisies 

 raised from our Wild Daisy are among the 

 most popular of garden flowers, although 

 not used so much as formerly. They 

 need only simple culture, increase rapidly, ! 

 and in the spring garden are of great 

 service in large clumps or masses. Though \ 

 we have numerous kinds, growers have ad- 

 hered most closely to the old flat-petalled j 

 white and the old quilled red, both of which 

 are grown by millions as market plants. 

 Besides these are the flat-petalled Pink 

 Beauty, a charming pink of the quilled 

 class ; a deep rich red or crimson quilled 

 kind, called Rob Roy; White Globe, 

 with large white quilled petals ; and many 

 others. The yellow-blotched or Aucuba- 

 leaved kinds have originated by sporting, 

 and one named aiicubcefolia is a pretty 

 kind, but rather tender, though it will do 

 well in winter on a free porous soil, and 

 in summer in a cool shady border, if 

 transplanted there. The giant or crown- 

 flowered Daisies almost form a distinct ; 

 section, and, though vigorous, are much 

 less free of bloom than the better-known 

 kinds. These have large and usually 

 mottled red flowers upon long stalks, and 

 are best suited for mixed borders. A 

 -very old favourite is the Hen-and-Chickens 

 Daisy. It differs in no respect of habit or 

 foliage from the double kinds, except that 

 when the flowers are at their best they 

 send out small ones from the axils of the 

 scales hence the name. 



Propagation is simple, and may be 

 done in spring and autumn. Well-dug 

 soil suits well, and pull the plants to pieces, 

 dibbling them in six inches apart, or a 

 little closer. Where the soil is good 

 the Daisy inci eases so rapidly that it 

 may be transplanted twice in the year. 



BELLIUM. Plants belonging to the 

 same order as the Daisy (Compositae), 

 of which some three or four forms are in 

 cultivation. Although from the south of 

 Europe, they are hardy on the rock- 

 garden, but are apt to exhaust them- 

 selves in flowering. B. bellidioides, B. 

 crassifolium, and B. minutum, are much 

 alike and are easily grown in light soil. 

 .B. rotundifolium ca?ru/escens (Blue Daisy) 



is a native of Morocco, and a pretty rock- 

 plant. Division or by seed. 



BERBERIDOPSIS (Coral Barberry. 

 />. corallina is a beautiful evergreen 

 climbing shrub from Chili, hardy enough 

 for open walls in the southern counties. 

 It has large spiny leaves very much like 

 some Barberries, the flowers bright coral- 

 red, hanging in clusters on slender stalks, 

 and borne for several weeks in summer. 

 It is charming for a wall, preferring 

 partial shade, such as that of a wall facing 

 east or west, and does best in peaty or 

 sandy soil. Seed or layers. 



BERBERIS (Barberry) A valuable 

 group of hardy shrubs, among the most 

 beautiful of which is Darwin's Barberry 



Berberis nepalensis. 



(B. Darwini], B. stenophylla is a hybrid 

 between B. Darwini and the small 

 B. empctrifolia. B. dulcis is a pretty 

 Barberry, whose slender shoots are hung 

 with tiny yellow flowers. The common 

 Barberry (B. vulgaris) is brilliant when 

 in fruit in autumn, and it has several 

 varieties, some of which differ con- 

 siderably in habit of growth and colour 

 of the berries. A beautiful shrub-group 

 could be formed of the fruiting Bar- 

 berries alone, using B. vulgaris, B 



