DAPHNE. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



in the same way as cuttings. To propa- 

 gate from layers the lowest branches of 

 the plant should be pegged down. If 

 the soil be sandy they will root freely, but 

 in the absence of sandy soil a quantity 

 of leaf-mould with a mixture of sand 

 may be laid down for them to root into. 

 Pure white sand alone is best suited for 

 striking them in, and a mixture of leaf- 

 mould and sand is very good to start the 

 crowns in. 



WINTERING. As long as the weather 

 keeps mild Dahlia roots are best in the 

 soil, and need not be taken up till the end 

 of November ; but should sharp frosts 

 be followed by heavy rain they should 

 be promptly removed from the ground. 

 Lift the roots on a dry day, and cut off 

 the stems to within 2 or 3 in. of the 

 crown. Remove the greater portion of 

 the soil from the tubers and lay the 

 latter out in the sun to dry before storing. 

 The floor of a greenhouse where frost 

 can be excluded, or a dry cellar, is a 

 good place to store the roots in. A little 

 ventilation is necessary to keep them 

 from getting mouldy ; but a hot dry 

 atmosphere must also be avoided, as the 

 tubers might shrivel in it. By lifting the 

 roots with some soil adhering to them, 

 they are kept plump during the winter, 

 which is best when they are required for 

 early forcing. They will generally keep 

 well on the floor of a greenhouse, as it 

 is light and airy, and during mid-winter 

 much water should not, as a rule, be 

 given. The tubers of some sorts are 

 more difficult of preservation than others, 

 and choice varieties are frequently bad 

 keepers. 



The species of Dahlia are natives of Mexico 

 and adjacent regions : I, arborea ; 2, astrantiae- 

 flora ; 3, coccinea ; 4, excelsa ; 5, gracilis ; 

 6, imperialis ; 7, Maximiliana ; 8, Mercki ; 

 9, platylepis ; 10, pubescens ; n, scapigera ; 

 12, variabilis ; 13, Juarezi. 



DAPHNE (Garland-flower']. Beauti- 

 ful dwarf flowering shrubs. There is a 

 group of small-growing species among 

 them that claims a place in the 

 rock-garden. The best-known and the 

 most popular Daphne is the old Mezereon 

 (D. Mezereum), whose leafless branches 

 are often wreathed with fragrant blossoms 

 before winter is past. The common sort 

 has reddish-purple blooms, but there are 

 pink and white, single and double-flowered 

 forms. It is indispensable for every 

 garden, and should always be planted 

 where its beauty can be enjoyed in early 

 spring, and it does best in an open sunny 

 place in almost any soil. In some seasons 

 it flowers from the end of January until 



April. The pretty D. Cneorum (the Gar- 

 land-flower) is a favourite little shrub, 6 

 to 12 in. high, more suited for the rock- 

 garden than the shrubbery. The deep- 

 pink flowers are deliciously fragrant, and 

 appear in dense clusters at the tips of the 

 snoots, the unopened buds being crimson. 

 It flowers in April and September, often 

 twice a year, the fragrant flowers being 

 borne in dense terminal umbels. It is a 

 native of most of the great mountain chains 

 of Europe, and is suitable for the rock- 

 garden, for the front margin of the mixed 

 border, or as an edging to beds of choice 

 low shrubs, being of trailing growth, and 

 forming dense cushion-like masses of ever- 

 green leaves a few inches high, thriving 

 best in an open situation in sandy peaty 

 soil. Increased by layers. D. rupestris 

 (Rock Daphne) is a neat little shrub, 

 with erect shoots forming dense, com- 

 pact tufts, 2 in. high and I ft. or more 



Garland-flower (Daphne Cneorum). 



across, which are covered with bloom 

 which sometimes almost eclipses the 

 plant. Its colour is a soft-shaded pink 

 or rose, and its flowers are larger and 

 more waxy than those of D. Cneorum, 

 but form clustered heads in the same 

 way. It is essentially a rock-plant, 

 growing wild in fissures of limestone in 

 peaty loam. In cultivation it is of slow 

 growth, and it takes some years to form 

 a moderate-sized tuft, but the plant is a 

 gem worth waiting for. It seems to 

 thrive in very stony and peaty earth with 

 abundance of white sand, and should be 

 planted in a well-drained but not in a 

 dry position. D. Blagayana is a beauti- 

 ful dwarf alpine shrub, 3 to 6 in. 

 high, also suitable for the rock-garden. 

 It is of straggling growth, the leaves 

 forming rosette-like tufts at the tips of the 

 branches, and encircling dense clusters of 



