PLANTS FOR VARIOUS SITUATIONS 85 



bit of ground. It is easily. raised from seed, which 

 may be sown in the hotbed in spring and will make 

 an effective plant the first season. 



The Gvmnera scabra, or Chilian rhubarb, is a mag- 

 nificent omamentjal plant when "well grown — ^well- 

 established plants forming a clump five feet in height 

 and fifteen to twenty feet in diameter. To produce 

 this superb growth, however, it must receive liberal 

 treatment; rich soil, abundant water supply and a. 

 sunny but sheltered position and winter protection. 



The large varieties of garden rhubarb make hand- 

 some plants under favorable conditions. One growing 

 in a comer of my own garden in rich soil and a pro- 

 tected position throws up annually flower heads far 

 above my own head and produces enormous tropical 

 looking leaves of nearly three feet in diameter. 



The Eodgersia podophylla is another stately plant 

 requiring about the same conditions as the Gunnera. 

 Grown in rich soil in a sunny situation and given 

 abundant water it produces its five-lobed leaves from 

 two and a half to three feet in diameter, which change 

 from bright green to a metallic-brown hue. In addi- 

 tion to its ornamental value as a foliage plant it is 

 crowned in mid-summer with fluffy sprays of Bpirea- 

 like white flowers. Another form of the Eodgersia 

 — ^the tabularis — ^has an attractive, pale green foliage 

 eighteen inches in diameter on three to four foot 

 stems. During mid-summer it bears six-foot stems 



