HYDRANGEA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



HYPERICUM. 



597 



is the commonest species in Japan, 

 growing throughout that country both in 

 the mountains and the plains, being more 

 abundant in the northern parts, and it is 

 said to vary very much. It is commonly 

 cultivated by the Japanese. The massive 

 clusters of pure white blossoms, terminat- 

 ing every shoot in autumn, are very 

 beautiful, and there are few finer autumn 

 effects than a well-flowered mass of this 

 shrub. It must have a good soil, and be 

 well mulched with manure in winter. To 

 encourage the new growth the old and 

 useless shoots must be cut away. It is 

 from 3 to 4 ft. high, and spreads its 

 branches gracefully and widely on all 

 sides. The clusters are often i ft. long 

 and half as much in diameter, but to 

 get such flowers we must cultivate 

 well and prune the shrubs hard down in 

 winter. 



H. hirta (Nettle-leaved #!) A dwarf 

 shrub, 3 or 4 ft. high, with slender hairy 

 branches and Nettle-like leaves. The 

 leaves and branches become nearly or 

 quite glabrous with age. This, although 

 not a showy species, seems to be a pretty, 

 compact dwarf shrub, with numerous 

 clusters of white flowers. A. native of the 

 mountains of Japan. 



H. virens (Changing H.} This is a 

 remarkable and elegant shrub, varying in 

 height from 2 to 6 ft. The branches, 

 straight, slender, and polished, bearing 

 small, thin, deeply-toothed leaves, 2 to 

 3 in. long, yellowish-green above, and 

 pale beneath, with small clusters of 

 flowers, some of which are sterile. 

 Altogether this is a pretty little shrub, 

 and it is somewhat surprising that it has 

 not been introduced, as it is common in 

 the neighbourhood of Nagasaki in 

 Japan. 



H. chinensis (Fortune's H.} Near 

 the last, but of more robust habit, with 

 leaves 3 to 5 in. long, and with cymes of 

 flowers much larger. It differs from H. 

 virens in the leaves being green on both 

 sides, and in the enlarged sepals being 

 nearly equal in size, much thicker, in fact 

 almost fleshy in substance, and remaining 

 on the branches until the fruit of the 

 fertile flowers is ripe. This species 

 was collected by Mr. Fortune in N. 

 China. 



H. Thunbergi. A small shrub with 

 slender branches, small leaves, and small 

 cymes of flowers. A few only of the outer- 

 most ones are sterile, and these are not 

 more than \ in. in diameter. Accord- 

 ing to the Gardeners' Chronicle, Messrs. 

 Cripps, of Tunbridge Wells, flowered this 

 species in June 1870. They describe it as 



hardy, though not so showy as some of 

 the varieties of H. paniculata and H. 

 Hortensia. The sterile flowers are of 

 a delicate Peach-blossom colour. It is a 

 native of the mountains of Sikok and 

 Nippon, Japan. 



H. quercifolia (Oak-leaved H.} This 

 is a fine distinct kind, and though not 

 showy like the popular kinds, it is an 

 excellent shrub, and one I have noticed 

 growing with fine vigour in sea-shore 

 gardens. The leaves have a good deep 

 colour in the autumn, and the flowers are 

 beautiful, while old plants have a pictur- 

 esque habit. 



The whole family is in want of look- 

 ing up by some enthusiastic admirers 

 who have good soil and other favourable 

 conditions. Although there is a large 

 range of land in Great Britain in which 

 Hydrangeas seem happy, there are other 

 inland and cold districts in which they 

 make poor growth, or are cut down so 

 frequently that experiments come to little. 

 I made a trial myself on a cool hill-side 

 in Sussex without getting any bloom or a 

 healthy growth ; but on the other hand we 

 see, especially in the South of England and 

 Ireland, beautiful results in warm valleys 

 and on sandy and alluvial soils even from 

 the use of one kind, so that I have often 

 thought that any one who should take up 

 the Hydrangeas in earnest, and grow them 

 and group them well, might have some 

 very interesting results. 



HYDROCHARIS (Frog-bit\ H. 

 Morsus-rance is a pretty native water- 

 plant, having floating leaves and attractive 

 white flowers, and well worth introducing 

 in artificial water. It may often be 

 gathered from ponds or streams in spring, 

 when it floats after being submerged in 

 winter. 



HYPEEICUM (St. John's Wort}. - 

 Often handsome plants, for the most part 

 shrubs and under-shrubs, but including a 

 few herbaceous perennials and annuals. 

 The Rose of Sharon (H. calycinum) is 

 probably the most familiar, but there are 

 other shrubby species of some beauty. 

 Some of the perennials are good border 

 and rock-garden plants, and the best of 

 these is H. olympicum, one of the largest 

 flowered kinds, though not more than i 

 ft. high. It is known by its very glaucous 

 foliage and erect single stems, with bright 

 yellow flowers about 2 in. across. It 

 forms handsome specimens that flower 

 early, and its value as a choice border 

 plant can scarcely be over- rated. It may 

 be propagated easily by cuttings, which 

 should be put in when the shoots are 

 fully ripened, so that the young plants 



