SYRINGA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



829 



summer erect twin racemes of brilliant 

 reddish-purple flowers. The variegated- 

 leaved form of the common Comfrey (S. 

 officinale) has striking variegation. S. 

 officinale is effective in a garden of hardy 

 flowers, although generally seen only in 

 mixed collections of hardy variegated 

 plants. Like S. bohemicum it succeeds 

 in any ordinary garden soil in open sunny 

 borders. 



SYRINGA (Lilac]. Beautiful flower- 

 ing shrubs, thriving well in Britain, though 

 not so well in some cold soils and places 

 where late frosts are frequent. Most of the 

 common Lilacs may be classed in three 

 species, viz. the common Lilac (S.vulgaris), 

 the Chinese Lilac (S. chinensis), and the 

 Persian Lilac (S. persica). There are 

 several sorts of the first two. Of the 

 white varieties the best are Marie Le- 

 grange, Alba grandiflora, Alba magna, and 

 Alba virginalis. If only one white kind is 

 selected, it should be Marie Legrange. 

 The finest of the coloured sorts is Souvenir 

 de L. Spath, which has massive clusters of 

 large richly-coloured flowers. Charles the 

 Tenth is a first-rate sort, and usually 

 forced into early bloom, when its flowers 

 are white. Other kinds of good colour 

 are Alphonse Lavallee, Louis Van Houtte, 

 Rubra de Marley, Le Gaulois, and Aline 

 Mocquery. Some double sorts have 

 recently come into cultivation, the chief 

 ones being Lemoinei, Ranunculiflora, 

 Renoncule, Hyacinthiflora plena, and 

 Rubella plena. These have denser flower- 

 clusters, and usually last longer than the 

 single varieties. An indispensable Lilac 

 is the small Persian (S. persica) which is 

 distinct from the others, and, being dwarf 

 and erect, is well suited for the outskirts 

 of a group of Lilacs or a shrubbery. Its 

 small flower-clusters are of a pale lilac, 

 or are nearly white. The pretty variety, 

 with deeply-cut leaves (laciniata), must not 

 be overlooked. The Rouen or Chinese 

 Lilac (S. chinensis), also known as S. 

 dubia and S. rothomagensis, is inter- 

 mediate between the common Lilac and 

 the Persian Lilac, and, like the latter, is 

 desirable. The large S. Emodi, from the 

 Himalayas, is coarse in growth, and not 

 remarkable for its flowers, which are pale 

 purple. They come after those of the 

 common Lilac are past. There is a 

 variegated form. The Hungarian Lilac 

 (S. Josikaea) is a pretty shrub, different 

 from other Lilacs. It reaches a height of 

 nearly 6 ft., and bears erect spikes of 

 small pale mauve flowers. S. japonica, 

 known also as S. amurensis and Ligustrina 

 amurensis, bears in summer large dense 

 clusters of creamy-white flowers, which 



somewhat resemble those of the Japanese 

 Privet. Though a native of Japan, it is 

 suitable for English gardens. Though 

 deep loamy soil best suits Lilacs, they will 

 grow in almost any ground. Attention 

 should be given to pruning, especially to 

 removing root-suckers as they appear. 

 The shrubs are often grafted on the 

 Privet, but die on it. All who care for 

 Lilacs should get plants from layers of all 

 the finer sorts. 



The species of syringa are amurensis, Manchoo ; 

 chinensis, China ; Emodi, N. India ; josik&a, Trans- 

 sylvania ; oblata, China ; persica, Persia, Caucasus ; 

 rotnndifolia, Manchoo ; tnllosa, China ; vulgaris, 

 Transsylvania ; pnbescens, N. China ; velutina, China ; 

 yunnanensis, W. China. 



Very interesting as these species are 

 from a botanical point of view little is 

 yet known of their beauty in our country, 

 and such of them as have been tried have 

 less beauty than the finer hybrid forms of 

 the old Lilac. 



TAGETES. The beautiful half-hardy 

 French and African Marigolds have been 

 for centuries favourite garden annual 

 flowers. There are also perennial Tagetes, 

 but they are not hardy enough to make 

 satisfactory plants out-of-doors, though 

 one or two, such as T. lucida and T. 

 Parryi, are desirable. The annuals in 

 cultivation are all natives of Mexico. The 

 following are the best : 



T. erecta (African Marigold) is easily 

 known by its stiff, erect habit, and massive 

 double yellow blooms. A peculiarity of 

 the African Marigold is that one-third of 

 the seeds saved from the finest double 

 flowers always produce single ones, while 

 the rest are invariably double. A bed 

 of them on the turf is finer when the 

 deep orange and pale yellow forms are in 

 association. Sow seed under glass in 

 April, for then, even without bottom-heat, 

 they will germinate freely. When the 

 young plants are 3 in. in height, dibble 

 them out again either into a frame or 

 under hand-lights, as slugs are partial to 

 the young plants. Where very large 

 flowers are desired, the soil must be rich, 

 and the buds on the branches should be 

 thinned out. 



T. pa tula (French Marigold] is a 

 charming summer annual, the colours, 

 not so limited as in the African Mari- 

 gold, as there are many varieties striped, 

 mottled, and coloured with yellow, orange, 

 chestnut, and other hues. The older 

 forms are coarser, spreading yet tall, and 

 in good soil make huge plants, carrying 

 scores of flowers of medium size, and if 

 good, are double, rounded, sometimes 

 partly reflexed, and invariably pretty. 

 The striped forms can be kept true only 



