THE HARDIER CORDYLINES. 



41 



THE HARDIER CORDYLINES. 



Wherever conditions are favourable to them 

 in the open there are few plants more effective 

 in gardens than the Cordyline or Club-Palm. 

 Upon sheltered spots of the southern coast, 

 from Hastings and Worthing to the Isle of 

 Wight, throughout the south-west of England, 

 and in many parts of Ireland, the Club-Palm 

 grows freely, flowering and ripening seed year 

 after year. The tall straight stem bearing its 

 massive crown of ribbon-leaves, 

 divided it may be into as many as 

 a score or more of different heads, 

 is unlike any other plant, and al- 

 ways suggestive ot the tropics. In 

 such mild climates as the warm- 

 est parts of England, Ireland, and 

 the South of Europe, there are 

 few things more impressive than 

 a fine cluster, or a winding way, 

 planted with mature plants. They 

 make rapid growth — as much as 

 1 5 feet in ten years from seed — in 

 some parts of our own country, 

 and when, after flowering, the 

 trunks branch, their beauty is en- 

 hanced. Fine old trees may some- 

 times be seen on the Riviera, with 

 a much-divided spreading cano- 

 py, but foolish gardeners too often 

 cut them down to start afresh be- 

 fore they reach their full growth. 

 A walk which I remember, pass- 

 ing through scores of these plants 

 collected for their beauty and care- 

 fully grouped, proved an ideal re- 

 treat on a hot day and the best of 

 places for growing a rich variety 

 of climbers. In light rich soil 

 such as it loves, the roots of the 

 Cordyline pieice deep in a long 

 straight pivot, which (in case of removal) 

 should on no account be injured. The sur- 

 face soil may therefore be freely worked, and 

 the tall bare stems form natural pillars for 

 twining plants, protected overhead by the 

 clustered crowns, which are yet too small to 

 cut off air or sunlight. That walk, with its 

 Solanums and its Cape Plumbago, its showy 

 Hardengergias and Climbing Dahlias, with 

 many beautiful Tropasolums and the glowing 



Cantua, toned down with trails of filmy As- 

 paragus and the dainty Eustrephus, was a pic- 

 ture the season through, and, allowing for 

 differences of climate, some adaptation of the 

 idea is not impossible in places where single 

 plants of the Club-Palm are often seen to 

 perfection. Few plants are more easily pro- 

 tected when sharp frost surprises ; a twist ot 

 one of its own ribbons will secure the crown 

 with the tough outer leaves sheltering the 

 more tender core, while an encircling mat 



with a lining of straw or litter will keep at 

 bay all but themost piercingfrost. Such winter 

 costume may be unsightly, but the beauty 

 of the plant is worth this safeguard in places 

 where it cannot be trusted to do without. In 

 plants raised from seed there occur endless 

 variations in texture, length and width of leaf, 

 in habit, and, more rarely, in colour. The com- 

 monest colour variety shows a slightly glaucous 

 green, but the veins are often more or less 



