SUBTROPICAL GARDEN. 



215 



grow freely and gracefully on whatever soil we may have to 

 deal with ; and it is to those having gardens on good sandy 

 soils^ and in the warmer parts of England^, that I would 

 specially recommend this grand variegated subject. For a 

 centre to a circular bed^, nothing can surpass it in the 

 summer and autumn flower garden^ while of course many 

 other charming uses may be made of it. Not the least 

 happy of these would be to plant a tuft of it on the green, 

 grass^ in a warm spot,, near a group of choice shrubs^ to 

 help, with many other things named, to fill up the gap 

 between ordinary fleeting flowers, and the taller shrub and 

 tree vegetation that is now nearly everywhere observed. It 

 is better to leave the plant in the ground, in a permanent 

 position, than to take it up annually. Protect the roots in 

 the winter, whether it be planted in the middle of a flower 

 bed or by itself in a little circle on the grass. 



Akundo conspicua is a worthy companion for the Pam- 

 pas^ though by no means equal to it, as has been stated by 

 some writers. As a conservatory subject it is fine in flower, 

 and it will be seen often in large conservatories after a few 

 years. A large pot or tub will be necessary if grown 

 indoors. The drooping leafage will always prove graceful, 

 and then it sends up long silvery plumes, drooping also, and 

 strikingly beautiful. Judging by its difiPerent appearance 

 when freely grown in a tub indoors, and when planted out 

 even on favourable spots, my impression is that it by no 

 means takes so kindly to our northern climate as the 

 Pam|)as grass. However, it is well worth growing, even in 

 districts where it does not attain great development ; it 

 comes in flower before the Pampas, and may be considered 

 as a sort of forerunner of that magnificent herb. 



Bambusa viRiDis-GLAUCEscENs, and others. — I wish to call 

 the attention of all horticulturists who live in the southern 

 and more favoured parts of these islands to the fact that 

 there are several bamboos and bamboo-like plants from 

 rather cool countries that are well worth planting. Nothing 

 can exceed the grace of a bamboo of any kind if freely 

 grown ; but if starved in a dirty hot-house, or grown in a 

 cold dry place, where the graceful shoots cannot arch forth 



