A YEAR'S GARDENING 



the tribe and seems able to thrive anjnvhere, and its white variety, 

 L. latifolms albus, is a beautiful specimen. L. Sibthorpi, with its 

 reddish-purple flowers, is valuable for its early blooming, while L. 

 grandiflorus is a double-flowered kind, bearing large, handsome 

 blossoms of rosy-purple. L. rotundif alius, with round-shaped 

 leaves (as its name indicates) and fine clusters of rose-pink flowers 

 opening early in June, is also excellent. 



LATHYRUS-ODORATUS {Sweet Pea). There is Uttle wonder 

 that the Sweet Pea is such a universal favourite — its hardiness, its 

 long-continued and prolific bloom, its manifold beauties in colour 

 and form, and the readiness with which it lends itself to indoor decora- 

 tion as a cut flower all combine to make it pre-eminent among 

 annuals. Its culture requires no special knowledge, no unusual 

 soil; it seems ever ready to do its best anj^where and under any 

 circumstances — even in a prolonged drought. An ordinary garden 

 soU, weU dug in the autumn and enriched with a fair amount of 

 manure, a little forking and pulverising of the ground in the spring, 

 is all the preparation needed for sowing, and with some protection 

 against slugs and snails and birds a bounteous crop may be relied 

 upon; while to maintain a continuance of bloom it is only necessary 

 (but this is imperative) to cut the flowers day by day and never 

 permit a single seed-pod to be formed. As to the best arrangement 

 in sowing, opinions vary; some advise clumps of three or four plants, 

 others favour a row, and certainly a hedge of Sweet Peas is an 

 attractive sight. But whatever the form adopted it is important 

 to provide the young plants at an early stage with well-branched 

 sticks of good height — say, 6 to 8 feet. For obtaining early bloom 

 the practice of sowing in late autumn is often adopted, but its success 

 is largely dependent upon the severity of the winter, and a more 

 certain plan is to sow indoors about the middle of February, gradu- 

 ally hardening the young seedlings and planting them out as early in 

 April as the weather permits. 



LEIOPHYLLUM. For the Rock Garden L. huxifolium is very 

 useful. It is a dainty little shrub from 4 to 6 inches high, with deep- 

 green leaves and clusters of small white flowers which as imopened 

 buds are of a delicate pink hue. It likes a peaty soil and is not 

 afraid of drought. 



LEONTOPODIUM. L. (Gnaphalium) alpinum is the well-known 

 Edelweiss, a pretty little Alpine plant with furry leaves and flowers of 

 pale yellow encrusted with a white, woolly substance. It thrives 



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