Fern Allies. 141 



of Paradise, the colour the most tender shade of emerald 

 green, no apology will be needed for calling attention 

 to it in these pages, for it is, in fact, one of the most 

 desirable of plants for the fern garden. 



Equisetum sylvaticum is a British plant, very scarce 

 generally, but plentiful enough in some districts. "When 

 met with it is usually in a peaty soil, beside a water-course 

 in a shady wood, or on a bank beside a ditch overhung 

 with trees and rank herbage ; always in a moist, shady 

 spot, and if not in peat, in some light soil of similar 

 nature. My best plants in pots are kept under a 

 stage, and have all the drip that results from the 

 watering of plants above them, besides the water given 

 them in the usual way, and their appearance is so 

 delightful, they so fascinate me that I never enter the 

 house where they are kept without having a peep at 

 them. They are to me a feast which never satiates, 

 though I sometimes become tired of flowers, especially 

 after I have for weeks constantly been visiting great 

 gardens, and comparing and criticising bedding effects. 

 We have it also planted out in the shadiest and dampest 

 part of a rockery, in a cool fernery, and also in a 

 shady part of the fernery out-of-doors. It increases 

 fast, and may, if desirable, be parted annually in spring 

 when it begins to grow ; but to make a fine specimen 

 it should not be parted, but be shifted to a larger and 

 larger pot every year, and this should be done without 

 breaking the ball when the plant is shifted ; no, not 

 even the crocks should be removed. 



Another grand species is Equisetum telmateia, which 

 is of more robust habit than the last, with regular 



