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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS digitalis 



slightly incurved with a rather broad 

 inflated tube ; limb oblique, 2-lipped, 

 spreading ; upper lip deeply 2-oleft ; lower 

 lip 3-oleft. Stamens 4, didynamous. 

 Capsule broad, somewhat enclosed by the 

 calyx. 



R. chinensis (S. ghiUnosa). — A hand- 

 some Chinese perennial 1-2 ft. high, often 

 with purplish stems. Lower leaves mostly 

 alternate, shortly stalked, 1-3 in. long, 

 becoming smaller upwards. Flowers in 

 April, about 1 in. long, whoUy or partially 

 of a dull purple colour, with darker 

 stripes. 



Culture and Propagation. — This is 

 the only species grown. It thrives in 

 moist peaty soil, in a warm sheltered 

 border having a west aspect. It is best 

 protected in cold frames in winter, except 

 perhaps in the mildest parts of the 

 southern coast. It is increased by im- 

 ported seeds or by cuttings inserted in 

 sandy soil in spring under handlights. 



DIGITALIS (Foxglove; Faiey 

 Thimble). — This genus contains about 

 18 species of smooth, hairy, or wooUy 

 biennial or perennial herbs, with alternate 

 leaves, the lower ones often clustered and 

 elongated, quite entire or toothed. Flowers 

 in long terminal and often one-sided 

 racemes, purple, yellowish- white, or white, 

 often showy, the corolla sometimes spotted 

 within and bearded in the throat. Calyx 

 5-parted. Corolla bent down, with an 

 inflated or bell-shaped tube, often con- 

 tracted above the ovary; limb obliquely 

 4-lobed, the upper lip being much shorter 

 than the lower one. Stamens 4, didyna- 

 mous. Capsule ovate, many-seeded. 



Culture and Propagation. — The Fox- 

 gloves or Fairy Thimbles are not only 

 among the best and most handsome of 

 hardy herbaceous plants, but they are 

 also very easily grown. Indeed the 

 common British species D. purpurea 

 cannot be said to require any cultivation 

 at all, as it seeds and increases freely in 

 any ordinary garden soil without requir- 

 ing any attention whatever. The other 

 species may be grown like it, and only 

 the choice varieties require a little care. 

 Seeds may be sown as soon as ripe, in 

 autumn, in the open border or wherever 

 the plants are required to bloom the 

 following year. Seeds sown in spring 

 will not produce flowering plants until 

 the following year. The seedlings may 

 either be pricked out to about 6-9 in. 



apart or thinned out if in great numbers. 

 Ail easy way to increase the stock is by 

 dividing the tufts in autumn when the 

 leaves and flowers have withered. 



D. ambigua (D. granddfiora; D. 

 ocJiroleuca). — A pretty hairy European 

 perennial 2-3 ft. high, with ovate lance- 

 shaped, toothed, and sessile leaves, downy 

 beneath. Flowers in July and August, 

 yellowish or sulphur-coloured, veined 

 with brown, 2 in. long, in spikes 12-18 

 in. long. The variety fuscescens has 

 brown flowers smaller than in the type. 



Culture Ac. as above. 



D. purpurea. — This is the Common 

 Foxglove or Fairy Thimble found wild 

 and luxuriant in all parts of the British 

 Islands. It grows 2-5 ft. high, with large 

 ovate oblong or lance-shaped, crenate, 

 wrinkled leaves, 6-12 in. long. Flowers 

 from July to September, drooping, 1^2J 

 in. long, purple, spotted with eye-like, 

 deeper purple spots in the centre of a 

 white ring, and borne in dense one-sided 

 racemes 1-2 ft. long. Cultivation and 

 constant raising from seeds have produced 

 many charming varieties of the Common 

 Foxglove, and there are now forms with 

 flowers varying from the purest white to 

 the deepest rose and purple, aU vigorous 

 and free-flowering. Of late years a strain 

 has been developed in which the flowers 

 have become almost regular like those of 

 the cultivated Gloxinia, and the name 

 gloxinioides or gloxiniceflora has been 

 aptly applied to them. The flowers are 

 more open and bell-shaped than those of 

 the ordinary varieties, and are always 

 spotted and ocellated with purple. Very 

 often both kinds are produced on the 

 same spike, the upper ones being erect 

 and Gloxinia-like, the lower ones drooping 

 as in the ordinary forms. 



Culture do. as above. 



There is hardly a vacant spot in the 

 garden that would not look all the better 

 for a clump of beautiful Foxgloves in it, 

 no matter how wUd or rough it may be. 

 Owing to their height Foxgloves should be 

 placed in the back parts of borders and in 

 shrubberies in front of those plants only 

 which are naturally taller than them. 

 "Where there ai-e bare walls or fences, 

 Foxgloves make an excellent flower screen 

 in front of which dwarfer plants may be 

 grown. Once established in a garden, it 

 is not a question of how to increase them, 

 but rather how to prevent them from 



