ESCAI.LONIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



EUCALYPTUS. 



553 



grow the larger American kinds as well 

 as the European Dens-canis very success- 

 fully in grass. Writing of them in spring, 

 he says, ".Many Dog's-tooth Violets are 

 in bloom on the northern grassy slopes of 

 the rock-garden ; they were thickly 

 dibbled in, here and there, when the turf 

 was first laid, and, being placed in all 

 exposures, a longer flowering season has 

 been obtained. In such places they do not 

 multiply fast, as only single flowers pro- 

 ceeding from the two or three spotted 

 leaves are produced. On grass banks 

 with a southern aspect the leaves are all 

 ripened off before the first grass cutting, 

 which is not the case on grass slopes with 

 a northern aspect." 



I have planted them largely in grass, 

 and find they thrive in every soil in that 

 way, and are very early and pretty both 

 in leaf and flower, scattered in groups and 

 colonies in turf. 



Little known or rarer kinds are E. 

 revolutum, albidum, purpurascens, pro- 

 pullans, and Hartwegi. 



Known species. E. albidum, N. Amer. 

 americaimm, do. Dens-canis, Europe, N. 

 Asia, grandiflorum , N. W. Amer. Hartwegi, 

 N. W. Amer. propiillans, do. purpiirascens, 

 Calif. 



ESCALLONIA. The Escallonias in 

 cultivation are often beautiful shrubs, un- 

 fortunately sometimes perishing in hard 

 winters save in favoured districts. In 

 mild places the common E. macrantha 

 succeeds in the open, but, as a rule, it 

 must be regarded as a wall shrub. Even 

 in the mild districts it is cut down during 

 severe winters, but it usually shoots up 

 again strongly in the returning spring. 

 There is a variety called sanguinea with 

 deeper - coloured flowers. Somewhat 

 similar to E. macrantha is E. rubra, but 

 the foliage is less handsome and the 

 flowers are paler. E. Philippiana is very 

 beautiful and hardy, as it may be grown 

 as a bush in the neighbourhood of London. 

 It is an Evergreen with small leaves, and 

 bears a profusion of large panicles of small 

 white flowers. It is a first-rate shrub, and 

 one of the best of the Escallonias. E. 

 pterocladon is very free-flowering, the 

 small flowers being white and pink, while 

 E. punctata has dark red flowers, some- 

 what similar to those of E. rubra. Another 

 species, E. montevidensis, also known as 

 E. floribunda, bears large loose clusters 

 of white flowers, and there are varieties 

 usually seedling forms known under 

 different names, especially in seaside 

 gardens. Among these, that called E. 

 Ingrami is one of the best, being hardier 

 than E. macrantha, though not so hand- 



some. Escallonias are mostly natives 

 of S. America, chiefly Chili, Brazil, and 

 Peru. 



ESCHSCHOLTZIA (Califomian 

 Poppy}. Brilliant annuals, long and 

 favourably known. The beautiful new 

 forms recently seen are acquisitions ; the 

 rich reddish-orange of Mandarin and the 



| unique form of double crocea are of real 



1 value, and they make, with crocea alba, 



j and the orange aurantiaca, most attractive 

 plants. To have these showy flowers in all 

 their beauty, they should be sown in 

 August and September for early summer 

 bloom. They may be sown even later 

 and should then be allowed to bloom 

 where they are sown. They get deeply 

 and firmly rooted, and flower much longer 

 than if sown in spring. They are very 

 hardy, and snails and slugs do not molest 

 them. There are some half a dozen kinds, 

 well worth growing, viz. E. californica, 



J orange, very strong ; E. crocea, saffron 

 colour ; E. c. alba, white ; E. c. Mandarin, 

 orange and crimson, very fine ; E. c. 



j fl.-pl., double ; E. c. rosea, and E. tenui- 

 folia ; and new forms are raised from time 

 to time. 



Known species. Nearly all natives of Cali- 

 fornia. E. Austinae, californica, elegans, 

 glyptosperma, mexicana, minutiflora, Parishii, 

 peninsularis, rhombipetala. 



EUCALYPTUS (Gum Tree}. Large 

 and handsome Australian trees and shrubs, 

 of which a number of species grow to 

 a great height. The leaves are thick and 

 leathery, and vary much in shape. In the 

 south of England and Ireland a few of the 



| species live in the open air. About London 

 some grow them for their aspect in the 

 open air after a single year's growth, and 

 in that case they should be put out about 

 the middle of May. Some letters in the 

 Times ^ by persons unaware of the results 

 of planting the tree in this country, in- 

 duced many to plant the common Gum 

 tree, which perished with the first severe 

 frost. Only in the more favoured districts 

 have these trees any chance, and they 

 never present the graceful and stately 

 port which they show in countries that 

 really suit them, such as parts of Italy 



I and California. What the higher moun- 

 tain species may do remains to be seen, 

 and the common Gum tree is sometimes 



j made fair use of in the London parks 

 among the larger plants put out for 

 summer. I think these trees are unfitted 



j for our climate, and even in Algeria, 

 where many species were planted by the 

 French Government, the result, as I saw 

 it some years ago, was anything but 

 good. 



