804 SCHIZANTHUS. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SCILLA. 



cient moisture without being washed by 

 rains. 



SCHIZANTHUS (Fringe -flower]. 

 Pretty annuals of elegant growth, which 

 bear in summer many showy and curiously- 

 shaped blossoms. There are in cultiva- 

 tion a few species, and these have yielded 

 numerous varieties. The hardy kinds are 

 S. pinnatus, i^ to 3 ft. high, and its rosy- 

 purple and yellow blossoms are 'copiously 

 spotted. Its chief varieties are papilio- 

 naceus (purple spotted), Priesti (white), 

 atro-purpureus (deep purple with dark 

 eye), and Tom Thumb (a dwarf compact 

 variety). S. porrigens is similar to S. 

 pinnatus, but has larger flowers. The 

 half-hardy kinds are S. retusus (deep 

 rose and orange flowers with crimson 

 tips), Grahami (lilac and orange), and 

 Hookeri (pale rose and yellow). These 

 are also beautiful, and worthy of being 

 grown well. If treated as half-hardy 

 annuals, the seed should be sown in heat 

 in spring, but if treated as biennials, the 

 seed should be sown in August, the plants 

 preserved in the greenhouse till May, and 

 then planted out. Both kinds prefer a 

 good, rich, sandy loam. Chili. 



SCHIZOCODON. S. soldanelloides was 

 introduced by Captain Torrens, who in 

 1891 found the plants growing beside 

 sulphur springs in the mountains of 

 Japan, and, after carrying them hundreds 

 of miles, succeeded at last in bringing 

 home three or four living plants. The 

 flowers of the Schizocodon are like those 

 of a large Soldanella, prettily fringed, deep 

 rose in the centre, passing into blush or 

 almost white towards the edges. It evi- 

 dently requires much the same treatment 

 as Shortia. Captain Torrens says : 

 " The plant I found in an overhanging 

 bank surrounded by Moss and moisture. 

 Since I brought it home I have kept it in 

 a pot with peat and sand. It is a hardy 

 plant, and I have had it out two winters 

 in a cold frame, and it seems to have stood 

 the climate well." 



SCHIZOPETALON. 5. Walkeri is a 

 curious Cruciferous half-hardy annual from 

 Chili, about i ft. high, with slender stems, 

 and numerous white almond-scented ele- 

 gantly fringed blossoms. If sown in April 

 or May, in light, warm, rich soil in the open 

 border, it flowers in July and August, and 

 may also be sown in pots, but the ball of 

 earth must not be broken as the plant 

 does not well bear transplanting. 



SCHIZOPHRAGMA (Climbing Hy- 

 drangea). S. hydrangeoides is a Japanese 

 climbing shrub allied to the Hydrangea, 

 with tall slender stems that send out roots 

 which will fix it to a wall. Its wood is of a 



soft character, resembling that of the 

 slower-growing Ivies, and it annually gives 

 off fresh sets of roots along its branches, by 

 means of which it clings to rocks, stone, 

 stucco, bricks, and even wooden palings. 

 Its leaves are less in size than those of the 

 common Hydrangea, of a lovely shade of 

 green, which contrasts prettily with the 

 reddish tinted young wood. It is deci- 

 duous, of free growth, and flowers freely 

 in sunny positions. I know one case 

 where it has been planted at a sunny 

 corner of the house near French windows, 

 up the sides of which there is lattice- work, 

 and so charmed were the owners with the 

 tender foliage, feathering the coign of 

 the window, that they made more lattice- 

 work in front of the window so that the 

 creeper could extend and form a natural 

 sunshade before the glass. In a few 

 years a plant had grown 1 1 ft. high, and 

 as much in width. 



SCHIZOSTYLIS (Caffre Lily\ S. 

 coccinea is a handsome bulbous plant from 

 Caffraria, with the habit of a Gladiolus, 

 from 2 to 3 ft. high. The flowers appear 

 late in the autumn on a one-sided spike 

 opening from below upward, of a bright 

 crimson colour, resembling in form those 

 of Tritonia aurea, and should be well 

 grown wherever cut flowers are desired 

 in winter. It is hardy, and in a mild 

 autumn will flower out-of-doors, but 

 should have some protection. A good 

 row planted close to a wall or fence, with 

 some temporary protection against severe 

 frosts, will give many spikes for cutting. 

 S. coccinea loves moisture both in the air 

 and in the soil. " When residing close to 

 the sea in Dorset," says West Dorset, " I 

 could grow this winter Flag splendidly 

 in a shallow trench in good rich soil. In 

 summer it was deluged with water when 

 the weather was dry, and in autumn a 

 splendid crop of strong spikes of bloom 

 resulted. In North Hants, with a hot r 

 dry, light soil, I never could grow it well, 

 although I always kept it watered at the 

 roots during summer." 



SCIADOPITYS (Umbrella Pine). PL 

 beautiful and distinct cone-bearing ever- 

 green tree, very slow-growing in our 

 country, but a hardy tree deserving the 

 best care and positions with the choicest 

 conifers. When the trees are well es- 

 tablished the growth is greater. It thrives 

 best in moist soils and where the rainfall 

 is copious, as in Cornwall. Japan, Island 

 of Nippon. 



SCILLA. Beautiful spring flowers and 

 bulbs, mostly natives of the colder parts 

 of Europe or the Alps, and some pre- 

 cious for our gardens. These all flower 



