250 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



with long, narrow, rich green leaves, conspicuous for the numerous 

 thread-like appendages along the margins. Of this there is a distinct 

 and pretty form with cream-coloured variegation ; but it is only when 

 planted in a warm, rather dry soil that the true leaf colour is revealed. 

 Y. angustifolia is another narrow-leaved sort of much beauty. 



Zenobias. Two kinds of Zenobias are found in gardens, viz., Z. 

 speciosa, and its variety pulverulenta. Of the two the last-named is 

 decidedly the best, as it is quite as hardy as the type, and produces 

 an abundance of snow-white, drooping, bell-shaped flowers in axillary 

 clusters. It forms a much-branched shrub four feet high, and the under 

 sides of its leaves and stems are powdered with white. The flowers of 

 the type (speciosa), formerly known as Andromeda cassinefolia, are smaller, 

 and produced a week or so after those of the variety referred to above. 

 Although peaty soil is usually considered necessary for these charming 

 Heathworts, one composed of loam and leaf-mould suits them admirably, 

 provided the drainage is good and lime is not present in the soil. They 

 are sub-evergreen. Seed ripens freely in this country, from which 

 plants may be raised in quantity. Sow in fine soil in shallow pans or 

 boxes, and, as the seed is very small, be careful not to bury it too deeply. 

 With the variety pulverulenta, cuttings or layers answer best. 



Mistletoe. There is something strangely attractive about this 

 plant, something mysterious that arouses the imagination. It is attrac- 

 tive, and yet, at the same time, slightly repellent, for it has somewhat 

 of a vampire nature in that it sucks out and lives upon the life-blood of 

 some honest tree. Moreover, it is both ugly and pleasant to see, for it 

 hangs in rather ungainly bunches and masses, and yet is beautiful in 

 detail. In form it is so simply constructed that it gives one the im- 

 pression of being low in the scale of vegetable creation. It is built 

 almost as simply as a scant weed, but there is a rare and strange kind 

 of beauty in the individual twigs, and especially in the relation of colour 

 between the golden green leaf and the pearl white berry. The trees it 

 most frequents are Lime, Apple, Poplar, Thorn, and Mountain Ash. 

 The seed can be sown by fixing the berry either in an artificial slit, or 

 a crack in the bark of any likely tree, preferably on the under side of a 

 branch, and place a little strip of linen over for a time to prevent birds 

 eating the seed. Such sowings are often ineffectual, because the seed is 

 used before it is ripe. It is no use taking it from boughs and sowing 

 about Christmas time, for the seed is not ripe till quite two months 

 later. Mistletoe abounds in some English west country orchards, but 

 is in still greater profusion in those of Brittany. 



BEAUTIFUL CRABS 



The Crabs are among the most picturesque and beautiful 

 of trees for the orchard garden and lawn, and there are many 

 kinds to select from : John Downie, brilliant, with crimson 

 fruits in autumn ; the Dartmouth, Siberian, and many 

 others, all shapely trees for the outskirts of the lawn. Mr. 



