ALYSSUM. 



10 



AMARYLLIS. 



are planted along with round-headed 

 plants — for example, with the French 

 honeysuckle, the annual chrysanthe- 

 mums, or any of the sweet peas, if 

 trained to form a bush : but the Hol- 

 lyhock produces its best effect when 

 each plant rises by itself from a circu- 

 lar patch in a lawn. An avenue of 

 Hollyhocks, without any other flower- 

 ing plants, is also very grand and or- 

 namental, especially if the back- 

 ground on each side of the avenue be 

 a hedge of laurel or some other ever- 

 green shrub. The fine effect of the 

 Hollyhock with such a background, is 

 no where better seen than at Drop- 

 more. The seeds of Hollyhock, which 

 is a biennial, should be sown in 

 March ; in April, when the plants are 

 up, they should be thinned out, and 

 then suffered to remain till Septem- 

 ber, when they should be transplanted 

 to the place where they are to flower. 

 As the Hollyhock requires a rich and 

 strong soil, it will be advisable, if the 

 general soil of the garden be not of 

 that nature, to dig a pit two feet in 

 diameter, and two feet deep, which 

 should be filled with equal parts of 

 good strong loam, and thoroughly 

 rotten dung, chopped up and well 

 mixed together with the spade. When 

 the pit is filled, the earth should be 

 allowed a few days to settle, and then 

 filled up to the general level of the 

 garden ; after which the young Holly- 

 hocks should be planted in it, singly, 

 if the plants be very strong, and three 

 together if they should be weak. 

 When the flower-stem appears, it 

 should be tied to a stake, if not strong 

 enough to support itself. 



Althaea Frutex. — See Hibiscus. 



Alyssum. — Cruciferce. — Mad- 

 wort. Herbaceous plants, both peren- 

 nial and annual, of low growth, and 

 with showy flowers; chiefly natives of 

 Europe. A. saxatile, which grows 

 about a foot high, and which produces 

 its yellow flowers in April, is one of 



the most ornamental of the perennial 

 species, and well adapted either for 

 rock-work or pots; as is A. deltoi- 

 deum, L., Aubrietia deltoidea, Dec, 

 which has purple flowers. The Sweet 

 Alyssum, A. halimifolium, or A. 

 calycinum, now called Konigamari- 

 tima, which has white flowers, is well 

 adapted for edgings to beds. All the 

 species are of the easiest culture in 

 common soil, if not kept too moist, 

 but they thrive best in saud or gravel. 

 The perennial species are readily in- 

 creased by cuttings planted under a 

 hand-glass, and the annual ones by 

 seeds. Though the perennial species 

 are very hardy, yet as they are in 

 truth not true perennials but plants 

 with half - shrubby or suffruticose 

 stems, they are apt to be injured by 

 either severe winters or very hot sum- 

 mers, (for, though injured by much 

 wet, the roots will soon wither if they 

 are kept too dry), and consequently 

 they require to be renewed every 

 three or four years. (See Suffruti- 

 cose Plants.) 



Amarantus. — Amaranthacece. 

 — An extensive genus of annuals, 

 chiefly natives of warm climates, most 

 of which will flower in the open air in 

 this country, if sown in February on a 

 hot bed, and planted out in May. 

 The most common species are A. hy- 

 pochondriacus, the prince's feather; 

 and A. caudatus, love-lies-bleeding, 

 both old inhabitants of British gar- 

 dens, and of the easiest culture. A. 

 tricolor is a greenhouse annual, 

 chiefly remarkable for the red and 

 white blotches in the centre of its 

 leaves. The leaves of all the species 

 may be used as spinach, and they are 

 so employed in China. 



Amaranth. — The amaranth of the 

 poets is generally supposed to be the 

 globe amaranth. — See Gomphrena. 



Amaryllis Amaryllidaceee. — 



Bulbous plants, chiefly natives of the 

 Cape of Good Hope and South 



