49 2 COLEUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



COLUTEA. 



plant, readily distinguished from any of 

 the foregoing by the peculiar chequered 

 markings of its violet-purple flowers. 

 Its flowers come in autumn and its 

 leaves in spring. Similar kinds are 

 Bivonce, variegatum, agrippinum, chio- 

 nense, tcssellatum, all of which have 

 the flowers chequered with dark purple 

 on a white ground. 



C. speciosum, from the Caucasus, is 

 large and beautiful, and valuable for the 

 garden in autumn, when its large rosy- 

 purple flowers appear nearly I ft. above 

 the ground. Like the rest of the Meadow 

 Saffrons, this is as well suited for 

 the rock-garden as the border, thriving 

 in any soil ; but to have it in perfection, 

 choose a situation exposed to the sun, 

 with sandy soil in fact, a spot likely to 

 dry up during summer. 



COLEUS. A few kinds of these pretty- 

 leaved plants, of the Sage Order, 

 succeed in the open air in summer, 

 and, when used judiciously, give a fine 

 effect. In some of the London parks 



Collet ia cruciata (C. bictoniensis). 



they are arranged by themselves in 

 large masses, generally of one kind only. 

 Though there is a host of varieties, few 

 succeed in the open air. Mr. Wildsmith, 

 of Heckfield, wrote : " We have tried at 

 least a score of varieties for bedding-out, 

 with the result that the first kind recom- 

 mended (Verschaffeltt) is still the only 

 one that succeeds well. The culture of all 

 the varieties is of the simplest nature ; 

 cuttings strike freely in any sandy soil, in 

 a moist heat of 70. 



COLLETIA. Curious shrubs of the 

 Buckthorn Order from Chili, some species 



of which are hardy enough for the open air 

 in all but the coldest parts of the country, 

 in free sandy soils. They have spiny 

 branches with a few minute leaves. C. 

 cruciata is the commonest ; its stems are 

 armed with stout flattened spines, its 

 flowers white and small, making a bush 

 about 4 ft. high. C. spinosa has its 

 spines round or awl-shaped, the white 

 flowers, though small, are very numerous 

 in summer. Under favourable conditions 

 it makes a formidable hedge in the 

 southern counties, where it flourishes. 



COLLINSI A. Pretty N. American an- 

 nuals. If sown in autumn, they will, on 

 some soils, survive the winter, and flower 

 much better than spring-sown plants, the 

 flowers coming early. They are of the 

 easiest culture. Plants from seed sown in 

 spring flower in twelve weeks. There 

 are from nine to a dozen species or 

 varieties in cultivation and enumerated 

 in the catalogues, the only one requiring 

 special treatment being C. verna, which 

 must be sown in autumn. The prettiest use 

 for these plants is for the spring-garden 

 in beds, or occasionally as abroad edging. 

 COLLOMIA. C. coccinea is a bright an- 

 nual,! ft. to 1 8 in. high, flowering in summer 

 and autumn. Sow it in April in open 

 ground ; or else in a frame in autumn 

 and protect it during winter, if good 

 plants are desired either for pots or plant- 

 ing out. On warm soils it grows best 

 and sows itself every year, surviving the 

 winter, and growing much stronger. 



GGI33TEJL(BladderSenna). The Blad- 

 der Sennas cannot be called choice flower- 

 ing shrubs, but theyare very useful for poor 

 hungry soils, particularly for dry sunny 

 banks where few other plants can exist. 

 Like the Gorse and a few other shrubs of 

 the Pea family, 

 they delight in a 

 dry sandy soil,and 

 when in flower, 

 which is during 

 several weeks in 

 late summer and 

 in autumn, they 

 have a pretty ap- 

 pearance, their 

 foliage being light 

 and elegant. 

 They have num- 

 erous names, but 

 there are only one 

 or two distinct 

 kinds. The com- 

 monest is C. ar- 



borescens, which, under favourable con- 

 ditions, grows 6 or 8 ft. high, has large 

 flowers, varying in different varieties from 



Colute.i arboi'escens. 



