750 PUSCHKINIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PYRETHRUM. 



also a yellow-flowered sort and a white or 

 almost white kind (albescens) with single 

 and double forms, but these are rare. The 

 flowers are borne freely on the young 

 slender shoots of the previous year's 

 growth, and in pruning these must be left 

 untouched. 



PUSCHKINIA (Striped Squill). P. 

 scilloides is one of the most beautiful of 

 spring bulbous flowers. In its growth it is 

 like some of the Scillas, but its flowers 

 are delicate blue, each petal being 



Puschkinia scilloides. 



marked through the centre with a 

 darker colour. The flower spikes are 4 

 or 5 in. high. There are two forms of the 

 plant the ordinary one and P. compacta. 

 Compacta is so called from its denser and 

 more numerous flowers, and is therefore 

 the handsomer of the two. P. scilloides 

 is also known as P. libanotica and P. 

 sicula. The Puschkinia delights in a 

 sunny border with a southern aspect near 

 a wall, or an open border slightly raised 

 will suit it. The soil should be light and 

 friable, and about i ft. in depth ; and the 

 bulbs planted about 4 in. deep. It will 

 not thrive when mixed indiscriminately 

 with plants of coarse growth, for their 

 shade and consequent dampness injure 

 the bulbs. During winter protect with a 

 mulch, but this should be removed as soon 

 as the severe cold is past. After the 

 flowering season, which is late in spring, 

 quite expose the soil so that it gets warm 

 and dry, and to ripen the bulbs well. 

 Shady situations in sub-alpine districts of 

 Asia Minor. 



PYRETHRUM (Feverfew}. Vigorous 

 perennial or rock-plants, by far the most 

 important of which is the Caucasian P. 

 Roseum, which has yielded the in- 

 numerable varieties, both single and 

 double, that have now become such 

 popular border flowers. These varieties 

 have much to recommend them ; they 



are extremely showy, are very hardy 

 and easy to grow, are little affected by 

 sun or rain, and are invaluable as cut 

 flowers for several months in summer and 

 autumn. The blossoms are continually 

 becoming more varied in colour and more 

 refined in shape. Though Pyrethrums 

 are in their fullest beauty in June, they are 

 seldom altogether flowerless throughout 

 the summer ; and a succession can easily 

 be kept up by judicious stopping and 

 thinning. They are also invaluable for 

 autumn decoration, for if they are cut 

 down after flowering in June they flower 

 again in autumn. They are easily pro- 

 pagated by division or seed. The proper 

 time for propagation is in spring. Take 

 the plants up, shake off all soil, pull them 

 to pieces, put them in small pots, and 

 place them in a cold frame for a few weeks 

 until they become established. Do not 

 keep them too close, as they are apt to 

 damp. When they are established they 

 may be planted out. A good rich loam 

 suits them best, though they will grow and 

 flower freely in any good garden soil, 

 and the more we incorporate well-rotted 

 manure with the soil the better they grow 

 and the more luxuriantly they flower. 

 Mulching, especially in dry soils, is very 

 advantageous, as it keeps the ground 

 moist and cool. The varieties are so 

 numerous that it is difficult to make a 

 selection, and new sorts are continually 

 being raised, but the following are some of 

 the best : White and white-shaded 

 Boule de Neige, Delicatum, Madame 

 Billiard, Nancy, Niveum plenum, Olivia, 

 Argentine, Prince de Metternich, and Ne 

 Plus Ultra. White with yellow centre 

 Bonamy, Imperatrice Charlotte, La Belle 

 Blonde, Virginale, and Voie lactee. Purple 

 and red Mrs. Dix, Rubrum plenum, 

 Mons. Barral, Brilliant, and Wilhelm 

 K ram per. Crimson Michael Buckner, 

 Miss Plinkie, Modele, Multiflorum, Prince 

 Teck, Progress, Emile Lemoine, and 

 Marquis of Bute. Carmine and pink 

 Carmineum plenum, Charles Baltet, Flori- 

 bundum plenum, Gloire de Stalle, 

 Imbricatum plenum, Nemesis, Fulgens 

 plenissimum, Haage et Schmidt, Iverya- 

 num, J. N. Twerdy, and Rev. J. Dix. 

 Yellow Sulphureum plenum, Solfaterre. 

 Lilac and rose Comte de Montbrun, 

 Delicatissimum, Dr. Livingstone, Gaiety, 

 Galathee, Hermann Stenger, Lady 

 Blanche, Lischen Minerva, Uzziel, and 

 Roseum plenum. Most of these are 

 double-flowered sorts ; but there is also a 

 great diversity of colour among the single 

 kinds, and they are quite as beautiful as 

 the heavy-headed double flowers, and are 



