COMMON GARDEN FLOWEES. 



371 



^growth, or they will prove useless. The growth from 

 these buds in spring produce flowers. 



It is well known that the flowers of Hydrangeas 

 win frequently turn blue. This is entirely owing to 

 a certain condition of the soil, which means the pre- 

 sence of oxide of iron. In some districts of Ireland, 

 where the oxide abounds in the soil, the Hydrangeas 

 take on very rich tints of blue, and the plants attain 

 to a great size. It is said that where iron-filings and 

 a solution of alum are used, in some soils the blue 

 colour is produced, while the same means will not 

 produce it in others ; and other soils will invariably 

 produce this blue colour without any peculiar matter 

 whatever being added. The loams at Kenwood, at 

 Hampstead Heath, and Stanmore Heath, and the peats 

 ■at Wimbledon, as 

 well as some bogs 

 near Edinburgh, 

 are famous for 

 producing this 

 blue in the Hj-- 

 drangea. Cut- 

 tings have fre- 



•^quently been 

 taken from plants 

 bearing blue 



flowers, but the 

 plants generally 

 produce pink- 



■coloured blos- 



soms. 



H. Thomas 

 Sogg is a very 



fine imd distinct white-flowered form of hortensis 

 obtained from America. H. stellata prolifera and 

 H. paniculata grmiAijiora are two Japanese types that 

 should be treated as ordinary greenhouse plants, 

 though in warm positions both wiU succeed in the 

 -open air. The last-named is a fine object in the 

 •conservatory when bloomed in pots. 



Tlie Pseony. — There are two distinct sections of 

 Paeonies — one is the Tree, or Moutan, the other the 

 Herbaceous. " Pseony" is derived from Pseon, a phy- 

 sician, who used the plant medicinally, and at that 

 time the roots of the common Pseony (P. offiemalia), 

 which was introduced to Europe some 350 years ago, 

 were held in high repute as powerful antispasmiodics, 

 and as one of the most efficacious remedies against 

 epilepsy, convulsions, and hysteria; but they are 

 now totally disregarded for any medical properties 

 they may have been supposed to possess. It would 

 appear that about the time that the common crimson- 

 flowered P. officinalis — or, as it is sometimes termed, 

 . T. herbacea — was introduced to England, P. albiflora, 

 n white-flowered form, came at the same time. From 



Thee PaioNV (SiuGiE Fobji). 



these two have sprung mauy varieties, but the crim- 

 son-flowered types are most common in gardens. Of 

 varieties there are a large number, and of many 

 shades of colour, from white to deep purplish- 

 crimson. One catalogue gives quite 160 varieties,' 

 classed under the name of P. herbacea. They 

 are nearly aU double ; a few single. The Paeony 

 is a plant that does weU in the open border, 

 flourishing in any good loam where it can root firmly 

 and find moisture during the summer months. When 

 planted, they should be put in rich soU, and some 

 mulching with manure will be found very useful 

 during winter and spring. Some have richly frag- 

 rant flowers. 



The following is a selection of choice varieties : — 



Alba sulphurea, 



creamy-white. 

 An e m o n £e fl o r a, 



crimson. 

 ArtemiBe, rosy- 



pink. 

 Candidissima, pure 



white. 

 Charles Binder, 



lilac-]jui'ple. 

 Duchess of Or- 

 leans, lake and 

 salmon. 

 Doyen d'Enghien, 

 red, margined 

 white. 

 Eugfene Verdier, 

 rosy - pink and 

 blush. 

 Humea alba, rosy- 

 white. 

 Jeanne d'Arc, rosy. 



pink. 

 Lutea pleniseimi^ 



pale yellow. 

 Madame Ohaumy, 

 satiny rose. 

 Queen Victoria, blush. 

 Bosainond, bright rosy 



pink. 

 Speciosa striata, rose and 



white. 

 Splendida, bright rose. 

 Surpasse Pottsii, purplish- 

 crimson. 

 Tenuifolia, deep blood-red. 

 Versicolor, rich rose. 

 Vii-ginie, blush and pink. 

 Whitleyi, single white. 



Madame Vilmorin, blush- 

 white and crimson. 



Magnifica, delicate pink. 



Oberlin, rosy-lilac. 



Prince Prosper, deep crim- 

 son. 



Prolifera tricolor, white and 

 yellow. 



Pulcherrima, satin-rose and 

 white. 



Queen Perfection, white 

 and yellow. 



Tree Pssony. — This is Pceonia Moutan, perhaps 

 better known as the Moutan or Chinese Tree Pseony. 

 This and several others, mainly varieties, were intro- 

 duced from China between 1789 and 1846. The 

 flowers of these Pseonies must be truly magnificent 

 in their own country, for we are informed on high 

 authority [The Gardener's Chronicle, of June ith, 

 1864) that " the common varieties — that is, those which 

 have been in cultivation in our gardens for many 

 years — beautiful though they are, give but a faint 

 idea of the beauty of these other kinds which have been 

 lately introduced. The flowers of the older sorts are 

 mostly light-coloured — white, blush, or pink — and 

 they are generally only semi-double. It used to bft 



