BRITISH WILD FLOWERS IN THE GARDEN. 



427 



Helleborine, is especially conspicuous and ornamental with white flowers 

 and the faintest tinge of yellow, due to the tinting of the lip with lemon- 

 coloured lines. C. ensifolia, as its name implies, is a narrow-leaved plant 

 similar to the former, but easier of cultivation when given calcareous soil 

 to grow in. 



As in the other parts of the special Orchid bed, a carpeting of small- 

 growing British plants is essential, and on the chalky portion I would 

 suggest such plants as the Sandworts, Arenaria, Thyme (Thymus 

 Serpylluin), and Campanula hederacea. 



There are other British Orchids which I have not mentioned, simply 

 because they are not amenable to cultivation, and one naturally does not 

 wish to recommend those species that are either very rare or likely to 

 become so if their cultivation is attempted. 



Two Orchids have become almost extinct in this country, the Lizard 

 Orchid (Orchis hircina), and the Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium Calceolus), 

 and one does not want the odium of having recommended a course likely 

 to reduce other species to the same fate. 



There are comparatively few climbers in the British Flora, but as 

 these are so well known and widely distributed, little need be said to 

 advocate their claims to garden cultivation, especially as in every garden 

 the honeysuckle and ivy are to be found. Perhaps because they are so 

 common, the Wild Roses (Rosa arvensis and R. canina), are rarely 

 found inside the garden fence, yet when they are given the same care as 

 the Ramblers and other garden forms, they are really beautiful plants, 

 not of course suitable for small gardens or for the more "kept" parts, 

 but in some outlying part, on an old tree-stump, nothing more beautiful 

 can be imagined than a full grown plant of the Dog-Rose when in flower. 



Next to the Wild Roses, the most characteristic and beautiful climber 

 is the Wild Clematis, or 1 Travellers' Joy ' (Clematis Vitalba). It is 

 deserving of a place in every garden large or small, and with its mode of 

 seed distribution it may truthfully be added it usually gets a place, for 

 few pleasure grounds can be found without the ' Travellers' Joy ' draping 

 and wreathing over the boundary hedge, where, first with its flowers, and 

 then later with its silvery and feathery seed vessels, it beautifies its 

 surroundings. 



The Black Bryony (Tamus communis), is worthy of a place amongst 

 representative British plants, if only for its handsome shiny foliage 

 and attractive berries, so too is the White Bryony (Bryonia dioica), 

 which when given a good position, forms a most attractive climber 

 when the fruit is ripe. The best plant of this, our only representative 

 of the Cucurbitaceae, I have seen was growing and covering the side 

 of a house near paling, a most uncommon plant for such a position, but 

 very effective and interesting. Other British climbers worth notice are 

 the Hop (Humulus Lupulus), the woody nightshade (Solanum Dulcamara), 

 and the Wood Vetch (Vicia sylvestris). I should like to add that most 

 beautiful of flowers, the Hooded Bindweed (Calystegia sepium), but its 

 awful habit of spreading prevents one from advocating its claims to be 

 included in the garden, for, as the Hon. Mrs. Boyle says,* " Only an 



Journ. R.H.S. xxvii., p. 1G6. 



