602 IPOM.^A. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



IRIS. 



flourish on a hard gravel walk. It flowers 

 a couple of months after sowing, and often 

 produces a second crop of blossoms 

 in the autumn. Portugal and Morocco. 

 Cruciferae. 



IPOIOI! A (Morning Glory}. Beautiful, 

 slender, twining plants of the Convolvulus 

 family, for the most part tropical. A 

 few succeed in the open air when treated 

 as half-hardy annuals. The most popular 

 of these is 



I. purpurea, or Convolvulus major as 

 it is called, which is too well known to 

 need description, as it is one of the 

 oldest cultivated plants. Its varieties are 

 numerous ; there are white, rose, and deep 

 violet varieties, while Burridgei is crimson, 

 Ditksoni deep blue, and tricolor striped 

 with red, white and blue. A mixed packet 

 of seed would contain most of these. This 

 beautiful though common plant deserves 

 much attention, as its uses are various. 

 It may be used for the open border, for 

 festooning branches, for covering arbours, 

 trellises, and the like, or for rambling over 

 shrubs, growing freely in any good 

 ordinary garden soil. Seeds should be 

 sown in heat in early spring, and the 

 seedlings transplanted in May as soon 

 as large enough. In some localities seed 

 may be sown at once in the open border, 

 but as a rule plants raised under glass 

 succeed best. It is known also as Phar- 

 bitis hispida. Tropical America and 

 Asia. 



I. hederacea (Ivy-leaved Morning 

 Glory) is somewhat similar to the 

 common Morning Glory (I. purpurea), 

 but has lobed leaves like Ivy. Its flowers, 

 too, are smaller, of a deep blue striped 

 with red. The varieties grandiflora (light- 

 blue), superba (light-blue, bordered with 

 white), and atroviolacea (dark-violet and 

 white) are all worth cultivating, and so are 

 the Japanese variety, Huberi, and its 

 variegated-leaved form. The Ivy-leaved 

 Morning Glory is somewhat hardier than 

 I. purpurea, and seeds may be sown in 

 the open border in April, in light rich 

 soil, where it will flower from July to 

 September. It is also known as I. Nil. 

 North America. Other kinds of I pomaeas 

 for open-air culture are I. rubroccerulea, 

 a half-hardy annual, and I. leptophylla, a 

 hardy perennial from North America, but 

 neither is so pretty as those mentioned 

 above. 



IPOMOPSIS. Graceful biennials from 

 California, thriving in light, dry, and warm 

 soils in the milder districts. There are 

 three kinds ; each forms a tuft of finely- 

 cut feathery foliage, and has slender 

 flower spikes from 2 to 3 ft. high thickly 



set with flowers that open in succession. 

 In I. elegans the flowers are scarlet and 

 thickly spotted, and in I. superba they 

 are much the same, while in the rosea 

 variety they are a deep pink. The seeds 

 should be sown in spring in pots in the 

 open border in ordinary soil. During 

 the first year the plants make growth, 

 and early the following summer they 

 flower. If planted out to stand the 

 winter it is advisable to give a little pro- 

 tection. Other kinds mentioned in cata- 

 logues belong to Gilia, of which Ipomopsis 

 is really a synonym. On light soils early 

 autumn-sowing should be tried. These 

 plants are very seldom well grown. 



IRESINE. Dwarf half-hardy plants, 

 remarkable for their foliage, and much 

 used in the flower garden with other 

 tender plants in summer. There are two 

 types, from which have sprung several 

 varieties. I. Herbsti grows from I to 2 

 ft. high, and has crimson stems and rich 

 carmine-veined foliage, the brilliancy of 

 which continues until late in autumn, and 

 is more effective in wet than in hot dry 

 seasons. It requires a moist rich soil, 

 and is readily increased by cuttings taken 

 in September and wintered in a green- 

 house. In early spring the plants should 

 be repotted, and grown on in heat, and 

 fresh cuttings taken in March and April 

 will make them fit to put out in May. I. 

 brilliantissima and Wallisi are two varie- 

 ties possessing more brightness of colour 

 in their foliage. Lindeni is quite distinct 

 from the foregoing, having more pointed 

 leaves, which are of a deep blood-red. 

 It is compact and graceful, and bears 

 pinching back and pegging down to any 

 height. It makes a good edging plant, 

 and requires the same treatment as I. 

 Herbsti. Amarantaceae. 



IRIS (Flag). Beautiful bulbous or 

 tuberous plants numerous in kind and won- 

 derfully varied in beauty, more than most 

 flowers. By some, Irises have been com- 

 pared to Orchids, and those who delight in 

 singular and beautiful colour, and to whom 

 greenhouses and hothouses are denied, 

 may find a substitute for Orchids in Irises. 

 The plants are for the most part hardy 

 and have much diversity of habit and 

 colour, varying in height from a few 

 inches to 6 ft. They may be conveni- 

 ently divided into two classes those 

 with bulbous roots, which are now called 

 Xiphions, and those (the greatest number) 

 with creeping stems. In treating of cul- 

 ture it is well to consider these separately. 

 The bulbous kinds should have a warm 

 and sheltered situation, such as the pro- 

 tection of a south wall, and succeed in 



