THE RED ROCKERY 185 



that protects its infancy. This puccoon is a com- 

 mon weed in North America, and a mass of it 

 must be beautiful to see. Peat suits it ; but in peat 

 the cyclamen poppy disgraces itself, increases at an 

 enormous rate, and proves far too busy under- 

 ground to do anything worth mentioning above it. 

 The foliage is handsome, but not sufficiently so to 

 satisfy us without the flowers. Eomecon needs adver- 

 sity to make it bloom. Thermopsis, that lives with it, 

 also throws plenty of subterranean suckers ; but its 

 fine, yellow, laburnum-like blossoms freely brighten 

 the shade. Physostegia is also here. An American 

 friend sent me half-a-dozen varieties. But I find 

 them not specially interesting. Virginiana is perhaps 

 the best. Helonias bullata has not been pleased with 

 his place, and his rosy flower-spike refuses to gladden 

 me. Perhaps since " helos," a marsh, is the derivation 

 of his name, I do not give him all the moisture he 

 demands. I shall transfer him to a very damp spot 

 elsewhere, and hope to see him become prosperous 

 with ramondia pyrenaica, soldanella, and certain 

 primroses. Haberlea, from Mount Rhodope, calls 

 for similar treatment. It is a pretty thing, but seldom 

 seen, though it reached this country five-and-twenty 

 years ago. Asarum europaeum, of course, does well. 

 This asarabacca is not decorative, but his chocolate 

 bloom has interest. Triosteum perfoliatum is another 

 plant that excites no enthusiasm. The horse gentian 

 it is called, also the feverwort. The flowers are a 

 thought dingy, perhaps, but there is nothing obtrusive 

 or assertive about them. Lobelia syphilitica next 



