172 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



HARDY PEA FLOWERS. 



The following notes appeared in The Garden 

 some few years ago, but they have been re- 

 vised, and, in certain cases, somewhat ampli- 

 fied, so as to embody such knowledge as I now 

 possess of plants of the order to which they 

 relate. 



There is not, I think, any large family of 

 plants that contributes greater and more di- 

 versified beauty to the hardy garden than do 

 the Pea flowers in all their forms. They are 

 found in all colours and in all shades, including 

 sky-blue (with or without Lathyrus magel- 

 lanicus) ; their habit is extremely varied and 

 the foliage is in the last degree diversified, and 

 in most cases of exceptional beauty, both in 

 form and texture. They comprise also some 

 of the best among wall creepers, and perhaps 

 most of the showiest of flowering shrubs, as 

 well as choice herbaceous and Alpine flowers. 



The following notes apply mainly to plants 

 to be found autour de mon jardin, although some 

 few are named which I either do not or can- 

 not grow here, and some others that I have 

 seen in other gardens. Everybody knows the 

 Laburnum and False Acacia, while compara- 

 tively few know the Judas Tree and the beau- 

 tiful Gcesalpinia japonica, neither of which is 

 perhaps quite hardy in all climates and situa- 

 tions. Again, everybody knows that best of 

 all wall shrubs, Wistaria sinensis ; but the ex- 

 traordinarily beautiful Australian creeper Ed- 

 wardsia grandijiora (syn. sophord) is very un- 

 common. If I had the position (in the matter 

 of a wall) and climate to give it, there are few 

 things I would rather grow than this. 



Robinia hispida (the Rose Acacia) is among 

 the most beautiful of all flowering shrubs 

 or small trees. It is perfectly hardy, but care 

 should be taken, I am told, not to plant it in 

 an exposed position, as the branches are easily 

 broken if exposed to high winds. An allied 

 tree,G/editschia triacanthos (the Honey Locust) , 

 is well worth growing, as are also another 

 very beautiful N. American shrub with pale 

 blue flowers, Amorpha canescens, and Cara- 

 gana ferox (the Siberian Pea tree) . The former 

 of these is of somewhat doubtful hardiness in 

 cold soils and positions. Cladastris amurensis 

 (a shrub which rejoices in more than one alias, 



e.g., Maakia) is a distinct and beautiful thing, 

 while Gercidiphyllum japonicum and Calophaca 

 wolgarica are two shrubs of this order which I 

 believe to be very desirable. 



The Brooms. — Probably there are people 

 in the world (at Kew possibly) who have 

 formed, in their own minds at any rate, some 

 substantial theory as to the difference, botani- 

 cal or otherwise, between Cytisus and Genista. 

 I thought at one time that I had arrived at a 

 tenable theory on this point myself, but a study 

 of gardening dictionaries and catalogues has 

 convinced me that I am as ignorant in this 

 matter as when I first began to take an interest 

 in plants. It seems to be generally accepted 

 that the common yellow Broom is a Cytisus, 

 i.e., C. scoparius, consequently the white va- 

 riety (C. a/bus), the hybrid lemon-coloured 

 variety (C. precox) , and the variety accidentally 

 discovered wild in Normandy (C. s. Andrea- 

 nus) are presumably Cytisus also, though the 

 latter is almost invariably sold as Genista An- 

 dreana. All these are too well-known to need 

 commendation. Anyone with a little room (a 

 commodity of which my garden was for many 

 years deficient) can hardly do better than make 

 a collection of Brooms. Few things are more 

 repaying ; for, apart from their extreme beau- 

 ty as flowering shrubs, they vary greatly, not 

 only in habit but in time of blooming. 



The varieties that I have here are C. vir- 

 gatus (the Madeira Broom), a tall plant, some 

 10 or 12 feet high, that flowers in June. It 

 is an evergreen, and is, perhaps, the finest of the 

 family. G. cethnensis, which I suppose myself 

 to possess, looks uncommonly like it. There 

 is also another tall Broom which I have never 

 taken the trouble to get named, but which is 

 probably C. nigricans ; it blooms in the middle 

 of the summer, in July. Among others of the 

 taller kinds are C. e/egans, a very early bloom- 

 ing species which produces its soft yellow 

 flowers along with its leaves (this, I am pretty 

 sure, has aliases) and a good Broom that comes 

 late, given to me as G. tinctoria elatior, of the 

 dwarf or Alpine species. C. purpureas is one of 

 the most beautiful of rock shrubs. There is a 

 variety called incarnatus, for which, if I recol- 

 lect right, they charge a little more, though I 



