CLIAXTHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



COLCHICUM. 



491 



the hardy species natives of North 

 America. The Alder-leaved Clethra 

 (C. aim folia) in the wet copses of 

 Virginia reaches a height of loft, or more. 

 With us it grows from 3 to 5 ft., makes a 

 dense bush, bearing in summer white 

 sweet-scented flowers in feathery spikes. 

 C. acmninata has more pointed leaves, and 

 it also has spikes of white scented flowers ; 

 it is quite a small tree in the woods of 

 the Alleghanies. Both are valuable 

 shrubs for moist peaty places. 



CLIANTHUS (Glory Pea}. Brilliant 

 plants seldom seen out-of-doors in the 

 London district or home counties, but one 



kind is quite free as a wall plant in Irish 

 and west-country gardens, and should be 

 more frequently planted in sea-shore and 

 warm places. It is C. puniceus a native 

 of New Zealand, and as handsome a 

 shrub when in bloom as one could wish 

 to see, its splendid crimson blooms 

 borne in large bunches during summer. 

 Cuttings. 



Clintonia. See DOWINGIA. 



Cnicus benedictus. See CARBENIA. 



COB-5IA (Cups and Saucers]. In 

 favourable localities in the southern and 

 western counties C. scandens, a well-known 

 greenhouse plant, thrives against an 

 outside wall, and will cover a con- 

 siderable space of trellis-work during 

 summer. It should be planted in light 

 rich soil, and if watered liberally during 

 the growing season will soon cover a large 

 space and flower freely. With some 

 protection it will survive an ordinary 

 winter. 



CODONOPSIS. Interesting and some- 

 times pretty plants of the Bellflower 

 Order, easy to cultivate in light and warm 

 soils, C. ovata being a fine bushy plant. 

 They are suited for warm borders. Some 



are annuals, but most are hardy peren- 

 nial flowers from the mountains of India. 



COLCHICUM (Meadow Saffron). - 

 Hardy bulbs, some handsome in autumn. 

 The individual flow T ers do not, as a rule, 

 last long, but, as they come in succession, 

 there is a long season of bloom. The 

 flowers are often destroyed through 

 being grown in bare beds of soil, where 

 the splashing of the soil in heavy rains 

 impairs their beauty. In the rock- 

 garden among dwarf plants Col- 

 chicums thrive, and make a pretty show 

 in autumn, when rock-gardens are often 

 flowerless. They look better in grassy 

 places or in the wild garden than in any 

 formal bed or border. Their naked 

 flowers want the relief and grace of Grass 

 and foliage. There are about thirty kinds, 

 though only about half of them are in 

 cultivation, and among these the 

 differences are often slight. Though 

 there are so many names to be found 

 in catalogues, the distinct kinds are 

 few, and there is such a striking similarity 

 among these that they may be con- 

 veniently classed in groups. The best 

 known is 



C. autumnale, commonly called the 

 autumn Crocus. The flowers appeal- 

 before the leaves, rosy purple, in clusters 

 of about six, 2 or 3 in. above the surface, 

 flowering from September to November. 

 There are several varieties, the chief 

 being the double purple, white and 



Colchicum in Grass. 



striped ; rose-lilac ; rose-lilac, striped 

 with white ; pale rose ; and pure white. 

 C. Parkinson!. A distinct and beautiful 



