648 LOBELIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



LOXICERA. 



tant, being much used among half-hardy 

 Iding plants. The chief points to 



portant, 

 bed( 



start with are good soil and well-grown 

 established plants. The soil should be 

 light and rich, and rest on a dry bottom 

 perfectly drained. On a porous bottom 

 it may be plentifully watered during a dry 

 time in summer without fear of injuring 

 the roots. The roots cannot make way, 

 nor can the plants thrive in a strong ad- 

 hesive soil of clay or heavy loam, and if 

 the soil be heavy, it must be lightened by 

 a plentiful addition of leaf-mould, sand, or 

 peat. This Lobelia thrives admirably in 

 equal parts of some sandy loam and leaf- 

 mould with a sand to keep it open. 

 Charcoal dust and peat form good ad- 

 ditions to loam, as also does spent manure 

 from Mushroom beds. A slight mulching 

 of one-year-old sifted hot-bed manure will 

 be found useful for keeping out the drought 

 and nourishing the roots through a dry 

 season. One of the difficulties in carrying 

 dwarf Lobelias in full beauty through the 

 season is the freedom with which they 

 seed, and the moment the flowers fade they 

 should be picked off every week through- 

 out the season. Dwarf Lobelias may be 

 propagated by seeds or cuttings, or by 

 lifting the plant, potting it, and placing it 

 in a gentle bottom-heat until established ; 

 then setting it on a light airy greenhouse 

 or forcing-house shelf, when it may be in- 

 creased by cuttings and root-division in 

 the spring. Increase by cuttings, and 

 potting a few old plants in autumn, is the 

 best method of preserving and increasing 

 special varieties. They strike freely in a 

 brisk heat in a moist pit or frame in spring. 

 The cuttings should be potted by the end 

 of May in the same way as seedlings sown 

 in heat in September, October, or February. 

 Those who want early Lobelias from seed 

 should sow in the autumn, and prick the 

 seedlings off in boxes or pans, or shift 

 them into 2^-in. pots before winter ; store 

 them on shelves near the light, and well 

 exposed to air ; shift them again in March 

 into 6-in. pots of equal parts of leaf-mould 

 and loam, and they will be perfect for 

 planting by the end of May. Spring-sown 

 seedlings may go into smaller pots, and be 

 planted rather more closely, but will not 

 flower so early nor so well. On the whole, 

 autumnal propagation, by cuttings or seeds, 

 is preferable to sowing in spring. 



The varieties are numerous, and it is 

 difficult to make a selection to suit every 

 locality. L. Erinus is divided into five 

 sections viz. compacta, of which there is 

 a white form ; speciosa, of which the best 

 are Blue Stone, Ebor, Blue Beauty, 

 Emperor William, Blue King, Lustrous, 



Brilliant ; ramosoides ; pumila, of which 

 grandiflora and magnifica are fine forms, as 

 is also the pure white Mrs. Murphy ; and 

 Paxtoniana, which is a lovely blue. The 

 double variety is also beautiful where it 

 succeeds but it is hardly to be depended 

 upon. Sometimes it forms a sheet of 

 bloom, and at others the shoots run up 

 through it, as it were, and prevent it from 

 blooming, giving it the appearance of tufts 

 of Grass. 



Other dwarf Lobelias are ramosa, with 

 large light-blue flowers, and coronopifolia, 

 also with large blue flowers. Both are 

 half-hardy annuals, requiring the same 

 treatment as L. Erinus. L. ilicifolia is 

 another dwarf trailing species, a native 

 of the Cape, and is best suited for grow- 

 ing in suspended pots in greenhouses, 

 though in some localities it succeeds as a 

 rock-garden plant. 



LOISELEURIA. A wiry little shrub, 

 L.flroatm fans, growing close to the ground, 

 the plants forming tufts with small reddish 

 flowers in spring. Its bloom is never at- 

 tractive, and the plants transferred to 

 gardens from the mountains usually perish, 

 because perhaps the strongest specimens 

 are selected instead of the younger ones 

 Its true home is the rock-garden, and it 

 prefers deep sandy peat. Heath Order. 

 Arctic and alpine Europe and Asia and 

 higher Scottish mountains. Syn. Azalea 

 procumbens. 



LOMABIA. Ferns, for the most part 

 tropical, and requiring artificial heat ; but 

 in mild parts two or three thrive in the 

 open air. L. alpina, a native of New 

 Zealand, is dwarf and produces, from a 

 creeping rhizome, abundance of dark 

 shining green fronds, 4 to 6 in. in height. 

 It is specially adapted for the rock-garden, 

 should receive similar treatment to the 

 Ceterach (to which it forms a charming 

 companion), and should, like it, be as- 

 sociated with Sedums and alpine plants. 

 L. crenulata is similar, but not quite so 

 hardy, though it succeeds in the mildest 

 localities, as will also the Chili L. chilensis, 

 a Tree Fern of noble growth. These 

 Ferns should be placed in the snuggest 

 quarters of the hardy fernery, and care 

 should be taken to protect them during 

 severe cold. 



LONICEEA (Honeysuckle). QiriM&A 

 and fragrant woody climbers and bushes 

 precious for gardens. The Twining 

 Honeysuckles form a distinct group 

 of species with whorled clusters of 

 flowers terminating the young shoots. 

 The Erect-growing or Bush Honeysuckles 

 have the flowers axillary and generally 

 in pairs. Among the twining species 



