THE MEXICAN ORANGE-FLOWER. 



'35 



THE MEXICAN ORANGE- 

 FLOWER [Choisya ternatd). 



Though the Salvias, Dahlias, Cluster Flowers, 

 and similar plants of Mexico are common 

 enough in our summer borders, there are few 

 indeed of Mexican plants that one may risk in 

 the open the year round. This beautiful shrub 

 is an exception. Everywhere throughout the 

 south, and in the warmer parts of the mid- 

 land counties, it succeeds as a wall shrub, 

 growing and flowering freely in all save the 

 coldest seasons. 

 InCornwall,De- 

 von, and other 

 partsof the south 

 coast, it may be 

 seen as a bush or 

 forming thick 

 hedges beauti- 

 ful in leaf and 

 flower; at Kewa 

 group of bushes 

 near the lake is 

 nearly as much 

 at home and but 

 seldom touched 

 by frost ; while 

 inland districts 

 as far north as 

 Stourbridge and 

 York can show 

 plants thriving 

 in the open upon 

 sheltered walls. 

 Grown in this 

 way Choisyas endured weeks of frost in the 

 terrible winter of 1 880-81, coming through 

 with very little real damage, and in sharp spells 

 since then have stood 17 degrees of frost quite 

 unharmed, while near at hand the Hairy Vi- 

 burnum {V. p/icatum), Laurels, Hydrangeas, 

 Ivies, Aucubas, and the Sweet Bay, have 

 suffered severely. While, therefore,the Choisya 

 cannot claim to be perfectly hardy, under 

 favourable conditions it is fully as much so as 

 many shrubs far less beautiful that are planted 

 without hesitation in gardens. ( 



As a Wall Plant. — This beautiful ever- 

 green does best when trained against a sunny 

 wall facing south or south-west, but will do 

 well even in colder aspects if protected from 



frost and cold winds. It should be planted 

 in light rich soil, raised somewhat above the 

 general level if the subsoil is cold and heavy. 

 A mixture of peat, loam, sand, and charcoal 

 is often recommended, but it does well enough 

 without such preparation where the soil is good 

 andlight. So placed it spreads fast, easily reach- 

 ing a height of 8 or 10 feet, covering a wide 

 space with its dark green leaves, and bearing 

 in profusion its white clusters of flowers, like 

 those of the Orange (to which it is nearly 

 allied) but clustered differently, and sweetiwith 



CUT SPRAYS OF THE MEXICAN ORANGE-FLOWER. 



a strong fragrance as of Hawthorn. Growing 

 as either a bush or as a wall plant it is vigorous 

 and well formed, renewing freely by new shoots 

 from the base as old stems decay or are injured 

 by frost. A member of the Rue family, to some 

 the smell of its leaves is unpleasant, but it is not 

 even noticeable unless the foliage is bruised. In 

 warm southern gardens the plant often begins 

 to flower early in the winter but comes intofull 

 beauty during April and May, when the flowers 

 cover the plant, lasting for several weeks. A 

 second crop of flowers often appears in Au- 

 gust and September, while in some seasons the 

 plant is almost constantly in bloom. It forms 

 a beautiful companion to such a shrub as the 

 large-flowered Escallonia (E. macrantha) , the 



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