P^ONIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PANICUM. 699 



a pit 1 1 ft. deep and 2 ft. in diameter ; 

 put in a few inches of half-decomposed 

 cow manure, and mix it well with the 

 soil, insert the plants with the grafts 

 buried a few inches under the ground, 

 where they will, in time, throw out roots 

 of their own. The plants do not flower 

 well until the third year after planting, 

 but they afterwards blossom freely in 

 profusion. Being of slow growth, they 

 are not propagated by division to any 

 great extent, but are multiplied chiefly by 

 grafting upon the roots of the herbaceous 

 varieties. This grafting is performed in 

 August. The grafts are placed in frames, 

 where they unite, and in the succeeding 

 year are transplanted in rows in the 

 nursery. 



September and October are the best 

 months for planting Moutans, but if 

 planted in pots they may be put out in 

 spring, when all danger of frost is over. 

 Good plants set in autumn produce many 

 flowers the second or third year after 

 planting. Each year they increase in 

 size and beauty, and soon become the 

 most attractive features of the garden. 

 They flower the first of any Pasonies, and 

 put forth their blooms early in May. 

 Until the second half of this century only 

 white, rose, salmon, and lilac sorts were 

 known ; and we are indebted to Mr. 

 Fortune for his Chinese varieties, most 

 of which have scarlet, violet, and magenta 

 flowers. Von Siebold, too, introduced a 

 number of Japanese varieties, which, 

 however, form a different race, and are 

 mostly single or semi-double. The 

 following list contains some of the best 

 varieties : Athlete, large, double, lilac ; 

 Bijou de Chusan, pure white ; Carolina, 

 bright salmon ; Colonel Malcolm, violet ; 

 Comte de Flandres, very large, rose ; 

 Confucius, deep pink ; Elisabeth, deep 

 scarlet, very double ; Farezzii, large, pale 

 lilac striped with violet ; Fragrans maxima 

 fl.-pl, pale rose ; Lambertiana, blush 

 rose petals, tipped with violet ; Louise 

 Mouchelet, large, double, pink ; Madame 

 de Sainte - Rome, bright lilac - rose ; 

 Madame Stuart Low, bright salmon-red ; 

 Marie Ratier, large, rose ; Odorata Maria, 

 pale rose ; Prince Troubetskoy, very large, 

 double, deep lilac or violet ; purpurea, 

 a deep amaranth, semi - double kind ; 

 Ranieri, bright amaranth ; Rinzii, very 

 large, bright rose ; Rosini, a semi-double, 

 brilliant rose - coloured variety ; Rubra 

 odorata plenissima, very large, double, 

 lilac-rose ; 'Souvenir de Madame Knorr, 

 large, double blush ; Triomphe de Malines, 

 large, violet, a colour which deepens at 

 the base of the petals ; Triomphe de 



Vandermaelen, very large, and double 

 violet-shaded rose ; Vandermaeli, blush, 

 almost white ; Van Houttei, large, double, 

 carmine ; and Zenobia, white. Some of 

 the most strikingly beautiful, such as 

 Gloria Belgarum, Elisabeth, and Souvenir 

 de Gand, are well worthy of glass that is, 

 having a sash or two put over them in 

 spring to save them from late frosts and 

 rainy weather. Plenty of air must be 

 admitted, and the flowers gain in an 

 astonishing degree, both in size and 

 colour. 



Species P. albiftora, Siberia ; anomala, do. ; Bieber- 

 steiniana, Caucasus ; Brownii, N.W. Amer. ; coral- 

 Una, Europe and Asia Minor ; coriacea, Spain ; decora, 

 As. Minor ; fimbriata, Eastern regions ; mollis, Sibe- 

 ria ; moutan, China ; obovata, Manchuria ; officinalis, 

 Europe ; paradoxa, S. Europe ; peregrina, East ; sub- 

 ternata, ; tenuifolia, E. Europe, N. Amer. ; triter- 

 nata, Russia ; Wittmanniana, Caucasus. 



PANCRATIUM. Graceful Lily-like 

 plants of the amaryllis order, the only really 

 hardy kind being the South European P. 

 illyricum, I to 2 ft. high, which bears in 

 summer umbels of large white fragrant 

 blossoms. It thrives in a warm exposed 

 border of sandy loam soil, well drained, 

 the bulbs protected by litter in winter. The 

 plants are better for transplantation about 

 every third year in autumn as soon as the 

 leaves are decayed. Increased by offsets 

 from the parent bulbs. The hardiest of 

 the other species are P. parviflorum, 

 maritimum, littorale, and rotatum, but 

 these only succeed on warm soils in mild 

 localities, and are best grown in a frame 

 or a cool greenhouse. 



PANICUM. Grasses, chiefly tropical, 

 though a few are hardy enough for out- 

 door cultivation and easy to grow in 

 ordinary garden soils. 



P. altissimum is a very handsome 

 hardy perennial Grass, very much like P. 

 virgatum, forming dense erect tufts, 3 to 

 6% ft. high, according to climate and soil, 

 the flowers being a dark chestnut-red. 



P. bulbosum. A strong species, with 

 a free and beautiful inflorescence, about 

 5 ft. high ; the flowers spread gracefully. 

 It is suited for grouping near the 

 margins of shrubberies. 



P. capillare. A hardy annual, growing 

 in tufts from 16 to 20 in. high, pretty in 

 full flower, the tufts being then covered 

 with large pyramidal panicles, borne at the 

 ends of the stems and in the axils of the 

 stem-leaves. It grows in any soil, often 

 sows itself, and is suited for borders or 

 beds, being one of the most graceful 

 plants in cultivation. 



P. virgatum. A handsome hardy 

 Grass from North America, 3 to 4 ft. high, 

 forming close tufts of leaves, I ft. or more 

 long, and with many graceful tall branch- 



