826 STAUNTONIA 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



STERNBERG1A. 



the half-hardy annuals and biennials the 

 best are : S. Bonduelli (yellow), a biennial 

 if protected in winter ; S. spicata, with 

 spikes of small rosy flowers ; Thouini 

 (violet), very free flowering ; and sinuata 

 (purple and white), pretty, and easy to 

 grow. There are several varieties of S. 

 sinuata hybrida which have varied colours, 

 and make pretty border flowers. All the 

 annual and biennial Statices should be 

 raised from seed in early spring, and 

 planted out when large enough. The 

 half-hardy biennials need protection 

 during winter, and should not be planted 

 out until the spring after they are raised. 



STAUNTONIA. S. hexaphylla is afine 

 evergreen twining pinnate-leaved shrub 

 from China, hardy enough in the south and 

 in the warmer parts of these islands for 

 wall-culture. Its small flowers are whitish, 

 fragrant, and produced in early summer. 

 It must have a sheltered sunny wall, and 

 during severe frosts be protected in a 

 simple way. 



Stenactis. See ERIGERON. 

 STEPHANANDRA. Graceful shrubs 

 allied to the Spiraeas, these need good 

 soil for one to see them at their best. 

 They like a good loamy soil, well drained, 

 but still moist, and are some of the most 

 easily propagated of shrubs. Cuttings 

 taken towards the end of the summer 

 before the wood is too hard root readily ; 

 they can also be increased by division. 

 I have noticed that when plants of S. 

 flexuosa which have been growing long 

 in one spot are removed, quite a little 

 thicket of young plants will spring from 

 the roots left in the ground. 



S. FLEXUOSA. Although the earlier intro- 

 duced of the two species, this has not long 

 been in cultivation. It grows 3 ft. to 4 ft. 

 high with us, but will probably get to be quite 

 twice as high in more favourable climates. It 

 forms a thick bush, suckering freely from the 

 base like a Spircea or a Kerria, and, like those 

 plants, is improved by an occasional thinning 

 out of the older growths. As it is chiefly for 

 the graceful arching shoots clothed with the 

 prettily cut foliage that it is grown, this shrub 

 is seen to greatest advantage as an isolated 

 bush or in a small group. Its branches are 

 thin, wiry, and crooked, and it blossoms in 

 June, the flowers being crowded on short 

 branching panicles, small and greenish white. 

 Japan and Corea. Syn. Spiraa incisa. 



S. TANAK^E. From S. flexuosa this new 

 species is readily distinguished by its coarser, 

 more succulent growth and by its larger, but 

 much less-divided leaves. The flowers are 

 small and greenish, and, being less crowded on 

 the longer, lax panicles, add even less to the 

 attractiveness of the plant than do those of S. 

 tiextiosa. Japan. W. J. BEAN. 



STERNBERGIA (Lily-of-the- Field}. 



Pretty and interesting hardy bulbs, the 

 flowers of much firmer texture, and able 

 to withstand a far greater amount of bad 

 weather than those of the autumn-bloom- 

 ing Crocus, and are thus better adapted for 

 our climate. One source of failure with 

 Sternbergias is moving them at the wrong 

 time or before growth has fully developed. 

 What they want is thorough ripening in 

 summer and a slight protection, such as 

 dry litter, during the winter. In sanely 

 loams, and fully exposed to the sun, the 

 bulbs will get the necessary ripening 

 without being lifted, and the best plan 

 will be to leave them undisturbed until 

 they attain flowering size. We have them 

 thriving on stiff soils and blooming freely 

 every year, and for many years in the 

 same border. 



S. colchiciflora. This is one of the 

 old garden plants, having been cultivated 

 by Clusius and Parkinson. It is described 

 as fragrant, and perfuming, with its Jessa- 

 mine-scented flowers, the fields of the 

 Crimea about the Bosphorus. The leaves 

 are narrow, and come with the fruit in 

 spring : and the sulphur-yellow flowers 

 appear in autumn at about the same 

 time as those of S. lutea. It is found 

 on dry exposed positions in the Cau- 



Sternbergia lutea. 



casus and Crimea, and is hardy in this 

 country. S. dalmatica and S. pulchella 

 are varieties. 



S. Fischeriana is nearly allied, hardy, 

 and has the habit of S. lutea, from which 

 it differs chiefly in flowering in spring 



