706 PENNISETUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PENTSTEMON. 



Prince of Orange, Rollison's Unique, 

 Crimson Unique. Most of the sweet- 

 scented sorts, when planted out-of-doors 

 during the summer, succeed admirably, 

 and furnish abundance of fragrant flower- 

 ing slioots for cutting for the house. 

 P. G. 



PENNISETUM. P. longistyhun is 

 one of the most elegant of Grasses, i to i^ 

 ft. high ; the flower-spikes are borne on 

 slender stems ; they are from 4 to 6 in. long, 

 of singular twisted form, and enveloped in 

 a purplish feathery down. It is useful for 

 cutting, as it lasts a long time, is perennial 

 and hardy, growing in free garden soil. 

 P. fimbriatum is a similar species, equally 

 desirable. 



PENTSTEMON (Beard Tongue). 

 Varied in colour, profuse in flower and of 

 graceful habit, Pentstemons have a value 

 for our flower-beds and rock-gardens, that 

 few other plants possess, especially as their 

 blooming season extends five months, 

 commencing in June with the charming 

 blue P. procerus, and finishing with the 

 endless varieties of P. Hartwegi, in all 

 shades of rose, scarlet, and crimson, whose 

 beauty holds its own even in November, 

 long after the more fragile plants of the 

 flower garden have perished. Within the 

 past few years also much has been done to 

 improve the Pentstemon by selection of 

 varieties of P. Hartwegi and P. gentian- 

 oides, which, however, with all their wide 

 range of colour, lack the beautiful clear 

 blue of some of the species, and have a 

 somewhat monotonous effect. The garden 

 varieties, or so-called hybrids, resulting 

 from this selection, may be ranged under 

 two series of colours those from P. 

 Hartwegi belonging to the red-flowered 

 set, and those from P. gentianoides to the 

 purple-flowered. As regards culture, the 

 species have the reputation of being diffi- 

 cult to manage, as some of the shrubby 

 section die when they are apparently in 

 robust health. To ensure success, often 

 drainage is essential, as they suffer more 

 from excessive moisture at the roots than 

 from cold. The soil best for Pentstemons 

 is friable loam, with a mixture of well- 

 decayed leaf mould and sharp sand. It 

 is well to have a few plants in cold frames, 

 to fill any vacancies in the borders. They 

 may be propagated either by cuttings or 

 seeds. The former mode applies chiefly 

 to the shrubby kinds, which strike freely 

 in spring ; and, in favourable seasons, 

 seeds are borne by those from which it is 

 not practicable to obtain cuttings. Any 

 attempt to multiply some kinds by divid- 

 ing the tufts will result in the loss of the 

 plants, but P. barbatus and P. procerus 



endure this mode of propagation. Seed 

 should be sown in February or March on 

 a gentle hot-bed under a frame, in seed- 

 pans well drained with broken plaster and 

 filled with a compost of peat soil and sand. 

 In April the seedlings should be pricked 

 out under a frame, and these, planted out 

 in May, will usually come into flower by 

 autumn. Another mode is to sow in May 

 or June in the open air, in ground enriched 

 with leaf-mould. The seed-beds should be 

 covered with chopped Moss, to preserve 

 a uniform temperature and humidity. 

 In August the seedlings should be 

 potted and removed to a greenhouse 

 or conservatory for the winter. It is 

 necessary to observe that the seed sown 

 at either of these seasons frequently 

 does not germinate until the following 

 year. Foxglove order. 



The following are some of the best 

 cultivated species. Many are excluded, 

 however ; some on account of their rarity, 

 and others, such as P. antirrhinioides, 

 cordifolius, and Lobbianus, because they 

 are not sufficiently hardy for border 

 culture, though they succeed well enough 

 against a warm wall. 



P. azureus is a very pretty dwarf, 

 branching kind, with numerous branches, 

 bearing many blossoms in whorls, clear 

 violet-blue, towards the end of summer, 

 and lasting a long time. California. 



P. barbatus. A tall handsome plant, 

 often named Chelone barbata, with under- 

 ground stems forming tufts, whence rise, 

 to a height of 3 ft. or more, several grace- 

 ful stems, supporting many rosy-scarlet 

 flowers, in long succession. There is a 

 white variety. The variety Torreyi is a 

 fine robust plant, of greater height and 

 without the beard on the lower lip of the 

 flower which characterises the species. 

 Being a native of Colorado and Northern 

 Mexico, it is hardier than the older plants, 

 and is a showy border perennial of easy 

 culture. 



P. campanulatus is an old inhabitant 

 of our garden borders, a slender plant, 

 about 1 8 in. high, branching freely, and 

 in southern districts having an almost 

 shrubby character ; the rose-coloured 

 flowers in one-sided racemes blooming for 

 a long period. Mexico. P. pulchellus is 

 a variety. 



P.Cobsea. -Oneofthehandsomest kinds, 

 bearing late in autumn long leafy racemes 

 of flowers, nearly 2 in. long, pale purple, 

 pencilled with red streaks and delicately 

 suffused with yellow, the base of the tube 

 being a creamy-white. P. Cobaea thrives 

 generally without protection, but it is 

 difficult to increase. The name is used 



