A YEAR'S GARDENING 



SEDUM (Stonecrop). In this family there are many varieties 

 well suited for the Rock G^den, while others are suiBciently tall and 

 stately to serve as handsome border plants. S. speefabile, for in- 

 stance, is a fine plant, with broad leaves and dense heads of reddish- 

 purple flowers, appearing in August and continuing for two months 

 or more; while its variety called atropurpureum is, perhaps, still 

 more handsome, with darker blooms of rich purple. Among the 

 dwarf kinds S. sempenivoides is one of the most beautiful, having 

 leaves like those of the Houseleek, with dense heads of brUliant 

 scarlet flowers, but it cannot withstand cold wet weather. How- 

 ever, it grows rapidly from seed, and by sowing in gentle heat in 

 January good-sized plants may be obtained by the summer. S. 

 stoloniferum has large flat leaves and purple flowers which appear 

 in late summer, and is well suited for border edgings, as is S. ibericum, 

 with its dainty stems and white flowers. 5. rupestre is the native 

 Stonecrop, too well known to need description here; and there are 

 various forms of it well worth cultivation, such as the crested variety 

 called monstrosum and the kind named album, with leaves of peculiar 

 green and pinky- white flowers. 



SEMPERVIVUM (Houseleek). There are several varieties of 

 this plant, but aU bearing a strong family likeness, their differences 

 being chiefly confined to variation in the tint of leaves and the colour 

 of flowers. They are useful additions to the contents of the Rock 

 Garden, flourishing in chinks and crevices where few plants could 

 find sustenance, and maintaining life and beauty in dry and sunny 

 positions — on an old roof or the top of a wall — ^where nothing else 

 could live. S. tectorum, the common Houseleek, is, of course, well 

 known, and some of its varieties, such as rusticum and Royeni, are 

 useful. S. calcareum is an excellent plant; quite hardy, easily 

 grown, and suitable either for border edgings or for the Rock Garden. 

 S. fimbriatum is justly popular for the profusion of its bloom — dark 

 rose-coloured flowers borne on stems some six or seven inches high — 

 and for its fringed leaves tipped with purple. S. arachnoideum is a 

 wonderful Alpine species, having leaves covered with a delicate 

 tracery of white down which gives the appearance of the web of a 

 spider (hence its name arachnoideum), and with which, in summer, 

 its pretty pink flowers make a delightful contrast. Though needing 

 plenty of root moisture it should be placed in a sunny, open spot of 

 the Rock Garden. 



SENECIO. For general usefulness in the garden there are only 

 two of this family which are of much value, viz., S. cineraria (well 



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