JULY 93 



quite four inches under the surface, and have a thick 

 bed of leaves or some other mild mulching material 

 over them in winter to protect them from frost, for 

 they are Chilian plants, and demand and deserve a 

 little surface comfort to carry them safely through the 

 average English winter. 



Sea-holly {Eryngium) is another family of July- 

 flowering plants that does well on poor, sandy soils 

 that have been deeply stirred. Of these the more 

 generally useful is E. oliverianum, the E. amethystinum 

 of nurserymen, but so named in error, the true plant 

 being rare and scarcely known in gardens. The whole 

 plant has an admirable structure of a dry and nervous 

 quality, with a metallic colouring and dull lustre that 

 are in strong contrast to softer types of vegetation. 

 The black-coated roots go down straight and deep, and 

 enable it to withstand almost any drought. Equalling 

 it in' beauty is E. gigaTitewm, the Silver Thistle, of the 

 same metallic texture, but whitish and almost silvery. 

 This is a biennial, and should be sown every year. 

 A more lowly plant, but hardly less beautiful, is the 

 wild Sea-holly of our coasts {E. maritimum), with leaves 

 almost blue, and a handsome tuft of flower nearly 

 matching them in colour. It occurs on wind-blown 

 sandhills, but is worth a place in any garden. It comes 

 up rather late, but endures, apparently unchanged, 

 except for the bloom, throughout the late summer 

 and autiimn. 



But the flower of this mouth that has the firmest 



