LONICERA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



LUPINUS. 



6 5 I 



Dutch Honeysuckle, as its flowers are 

 decidedly redder than those of the type. 

 Another variety, belgica, is popularly 

 known as the Dutch Honeysuckle, as 

 distinguished from the Late Dutch, and it 

 is a stronger growing plant than the type. 

 Its branches are purplish and its flowers 

 are reddish outside, yellowish within. 



L. semperflorens is probably a variety 

 of Peridymemim, though Koch places it 

 as a variety of the allied species L. etrusca. 

 The Oak-leaved Honeysuckle (querci- 

 folia] is a variety of the common form, 

 having leaves sinuated like those of the 

 Oak. 



L. sempervirens (Trumpet Honey- 

 suckle] the most beautiful Honeysuckle 

 that has come to us from America, both 

 for the greenhouse and the open garden, 

 where it flour- 

 ishes well in 

 the southern 

 counties, and 

 none of the 

 Honeysuckles 

 have such bril- 

 liant flowers. 

 It is a robust- 

 growing clim- 

 ber, quite ever- 

 green when 

 protected. 

 From the be- 

 ginning of 

 summer till the 

 end it bears 

 loose clusters 

 of long, tubular flowers, which are scarlet 

 outside, yellow within. It is best against 

 a warm wall in the cooler parts of the 

 country. There are several named varie- 

 ties of this plant but not very distinct 

 W. G. 



L. fragrantissima (The Winter 

 Honeysuckle}. Among the earliest of 

 all hardy shrubs whose flowers greet the 

 new year are this species and its close 

 ally, L. Standishi. Neither of them can 

 be called showy, yet they are both well 

 worth growing, because their flowers, 

 although small, are abundant, and have 

 besides a fine fragrance. L. fragrantis- 

 sima is one of Fortune's introductions 

 from China. It is a deciduous shrub (not 

 evergreen, as the books so frequently have 

 it), of low spreading growth, with short 

 leaves, which, except when young, are 

 nearly or quite devoid of hairs (L. Stan- 

 dishi, on the other hand, has hairy ciliated 

 leaves). The flowers are in several pairs 

 from the joints of last year's wood, and 

 they are creamy white or pale yellow. 

 This Honeysuckle is useful for early 



Lonicera sempervirens. 



forcing, a few plants in flower filling the 

 greenhouse with their fragrance. In the 

 open it likes a sunny, sheltered spot, not 

 because it is tender, but because it blooms 

 more freely, and the flowers, appearing 

 as they do in these inclement January 

 days, deserve all the protection that can 

 be conveniently given them. B. 



LOPHOSPERMUM. L.scandens\* a 

 tender climber with long slender stems, 

 pale green hairy leaves, and large pink 

 flowers. It thrives in the open air in sum- 

 mer, and is a beautiful plant for festooning 

 old stumps, or for trailing over dead 

 branches placed against a warm south 

 wall. It may be easily raised from seed in 

 heat in early spring or autumn and kept 

 through the winter, but the best plan is to 

 lift the plants in autumn and to winter 

 them in a greenhouse. 



LOTUS (Bird's-foot Trefoil}. Trail- 

 ing or half shrubby herbs, the one 

 best worth growing being the native 

 L. corniculatus, which occurs in almost 

 every meadow, or pasture, forming tufts 

 of yellow flowers with the upper part 

 often red on the outside. Though so 

 common, it is worthy of a place in the 

 garden. The double-flowered variety is 

 the best, as the flowers continue longer 

 in perfection. L. creticus, maroccanus, 

 sericeus, are found in botanical gardens, 

 but are not so pretty. L. Jacobaeus, a 

 tender species with almost black flowers, 

 succeeds in the open air in summer, and 

 is all the better for planting out. The 

 Lotus is best planted so that its shoots 

 may fall in long and dense tufts over the 

 face of stones. 



LUNARIA (Honesty]. When well 

 grown this old-fashioned plant L. biennis 

 is beautiful, not only on account of its fra- 

 grant purple blossoms, but from the silvery 

 flat seed-pods that succeed them. In 

 borders, on the margins of shrubberies, 

 and in half-shady situations, it is effective 

 in April and May, in any ordinary light 

 garden soil. Honesty is charming in a 

 semi-wild state on chalky or dry banks 

 and in open bushy places. Seed should 

 be sown every spring, and the plants 

 should be thinned out during growth in 

 order to make good ones for the next 

 year. L. rediviva is a perennial similar 

 to the Honesty, but with larger and more 

 showy flowers. It is 2 or 3 ft. high, and 

 flowers in early summer, doing best in 

 half-shady borders of good light soil. 

 Division or seed. Mountain woods of 

 Europe. Cruciferae. 



LUPINUS (Lupine]. Beautiful an- 

 nuals, biennials, and perennials, chiefly 

 from N. America. The species in culti- 



