HELIANTHEMUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. . HELIANTHUS. 583 



high, and has reddish-brown flower-heads. 

 H. Hoopesi is desirable, as it flowers in 

 early summer, but is a rather coarse 

 grower, with large yellow flowers. The 

 first-mentioned species and its varieties 

 are excellent border plants, and, though 

 vigorous, remain long in bloom. They 

 are very useful for cutting, as they remain 

 a long time fresh. 



HELIANTHEMUM (Sun Rose}. - 

 Though strictly shrubby plants for the 

 most part, these dwarf evergreens possess 

 so much the aspect of rock-plants, that 

 they cannot well be separated from them. 

 There are few 

 more brilliant 

 sights than 

 masses of them 

 when in full 

 beauty, and they 

 are of the easi- 

 est possible cul- 

 ture, dwarf and 

 compact, bear- 

 ing in great pro- 

 fusion flowers 

 with fine diver- 

 sity of colour. 

 The common 

 Sun Rose (H. 

 vulgare) is vari- 

 able in colour, 

 and from it have 

 sprung the many 

 varieties enumerated in trade lists ; 

 indeed, we need only this species to 

 represent, for garden purposes, the vari- 

 ation in all the dwarf shrubby species of 

 the family. The colours range from 

 white and yellow to deep crimson. There 

 are also double-flowered kinds and one 

 with variegated foliage. Other pretty, 

 dwarf, shrubby species, similar to H. vul- 

 gare, are H. rosmarinifolium, pilosum, and 

 croceum. There is also a herbaceous 

 perennial species, H. Tuberaria (Truffle 

 Sun Rose), which in aspect differs com- 

 pletely from the shrubby species, and is 

 second to none in beauty. It grows 6 

 to 12 in. high, with flowers 2 in. across 

 resembling a single yellow Rose, with 

 dark centre, and drooping when in bud. 

 It is suited for warm ledges o'n the rock- 

 garden in well-drained sandy or calcar- 

 eous soil. When sufficiently plentiful it 

 should be used in the mixed border. It 

 is propagated by either seed or division. 

 When a full collection is required there 

 are other species introduced, but the 

 above fairly represent the beauty of the 

 family. 



HELIANTHUS (Sunflower} PEREN- 

 NIAL SUNFLOWERS. Usually stout, 



Helianthemum lignosum. 



vigorous, and showy plants, typical of the 

 coarse yellow Composites abounding in 

 North America, of which not a few have 

 found their way into English gardens. 

 All the perennials are vigorous growers, 

 and generally attain a great height, being 

 most precious for the autumnal garden 

 when well placed. Sunflowers may be 

 cultivated with the greatest ease ; they 

 are gross feeders, and the richer the 

 soil the better the result. It is true that 

 not a few of this genus are coarse and 

 weedy, unfitted for the flower-garden, but 

 a good many, some of which are not yet 

 in general cultivation, could be utilised 

 with striking effect in the best-kept flower- 

 garden ; and for mixed borders, etc., they 

 are valuable. The Sunflowers, like the 

 Michaelmas Daisies, could ill be spared 

 from the autumn garden, where, when most 

 other hardy perennials are beginning to 

 show the sere and yellow leaf, they are 

 generally at their best and in their greatest 

 numbers. Although the flowers are some- 

 what restricted in their range of colouring, 

 the plants vary considerably in their 

 seasons of blooming, in habit, and also in 

 the positions in which the most may be 

 made of them. From their robust growth, 

 the majority of them are essentially suitable 

 for borders where plenty of scope may be 

 had, and where attention may be given to 

 the proper grouping of the different species 

 and varieties. Some few of the species 

 which may not be considered showy 

 enough for the flower border proper 

 could be planted in the woods, in isolated 

 beds or among 

 shrubs, where their 

 particular arid char- 

 acteristic habits 

 could be seen to 

 advantage. 



It would hardly 

 be policy to grow 

 the whole genus in 

 any one garden un- 

 less shrubberies 

 abound on a large 

 scale. H. multi- 

 florus and its 

 varieties, H.rigidus 



and its varieties, Helianthemum sabrosum. 



H. decapetalus, 



and a few others are essentially border 

 plants, where, when doing well and in full 

 flower, they form a feature of no mean 

 beauty. H. laetiflorus, H. orgyalis, H. 

 lasvigatus, and H. divaricatus would make 

 handsome groups in open shrubberies, 

 and giganteus, doronicoides, grosse- 

 serratus and others might with advantage 

 be relegated to the wood, where, in open 



