CENTAURIDIUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



CERCIS. 



475 



sure means of obtaining them ; but for 

 ordinary use autumn-struck cuttings are 

 the best. J. M. 



C. suaveolens ( Yellow Sweet Sultan\ 

 A pretty citron-yellow hardy annual 

 and favourite border flower, thriving 

 best in light dry soil. Sow in beds in 

 April, raising one batch in frames, and 

 sowing another in the open air in light 

 rich earth where it is to remain. Syn., 

 Amberboa odorata. 



CENTAURIDIUM. A showy half- 

 hardy annual from Texas, C. Drummondi 

 being from i\ to 3 ft. high, and flowering 

 from July to September. It should be sown 

 in a frame on slight heat in April, and 

 planted out in May. It has large citron- 

 yellow flowers, much resembling those of 

 Centaurea. Composite?. 



CENTRANTHUS, C. macrosiphon is 

 a hardy Spanish annual of the Valerian 

 order with pretty rose-coloured flowers, is 

 useful for the rock-garden or flower 

 border. It may be sown in September 

 and pricked off into pots for winter for 

 transplanting in spring, or again in the 

 open ground in March and April, the 

 seedlings being thinned out about I ft. 

 apart. There are several varieties 

 white, red, and two-coloured, and a 

 dwarf form. 



C. ruber (Red Valerian}. A handsome 

 hardy border plant from the Mediter- 

 ranean, and an old inhabitant of gardens, 

 often also naturalised. There are two 

 or three varieties white, purple, and red 

 or crimson. It has stout stems, woody at 

 the base, and bold clusters of flowers, 

 blooming in June and through the 

 summer. It is often naturalised on walls, 

 ruins, and on rocky or stony banks. 

 Seeds, division, and cuttings. 



CEEASTIUM (Mouse-ear Chickweed]. 

 Dwarf herbaceous or alpine plants of the 

 Pink order, containing few garden plants 

 of value, and these mostly used as edgings, 

 among the best being Biebersteini, tomen- 

 tosum, and grandiflorum, all hardy plants 

 of easy culture, and increase in ordinary 

 soil. 



Cerasus. See PRUNUS CERASUS. 



CERCIDYPHYLLUM.- A very beauti- 

 ful tree, so far hardy in Britain, and always 

 pretty for its graceful and distinct leaves. 

 It is a forest tree abundant in certain 

 parts of Japan on the slopes of hills and 

 mountains, reaching a height of between 

 80 and 100 feet, and forming a stately 

 and beautiful tree. We read that it can- 

 not be grafted, which is a blessing, as the 

 natural way of producing it is much better. 

 It is likely to make a beautiful lawn tree, 

 though the flowers are not conspicuous. 



CERCIS (Judas Tree}. Flowering- 

 trees of much beauty of bloom and form 

 of tree. Of the three different kinds of 

 Judas Tree in gardens, the most beautiful 

 is C. Siliquastrum from South Europe, 

 which for nearly 300 years has been a 

 favourite in English gardens. It is from 



Celsia cretica (Cretan Mullein). 



15 ft. to 30 ft. in height, and thrives in 

 a light deep loam soil. There are several 

 varieties, differing chiefly in the colour of 

 the flowers. It is of slow growth, and 

 though young specimens flower profusely, 

 only very old ones show the picturesque 

 growth of the tree. Other kinds are C. Chi- 

 nensis, and the better known canadensis^ 



