THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
150 
some botanists; the “blue-bell” hyacinth of the observant 
rustic. This plant will grow in any soil or situation, as its 
frequent appearance in splendid trim in damp and dark town 
gardens proves. It is certainly one of the best of wildings to 
introduce in wilderness walks and woodland scenes. There 
are several varieties, all of them good, comprising white, pink, 
flesh-coloured, and deep blue flowers. There are many more 
pretty squills in cultivation, and a few of them are employed 
for massing in the parterre. The best for general use are—■ 
S. sibinca , azure blue ; 8. bifolia , deep blue; and 8. b. Candida , 
a white-flowering variety of the last. 
Sedum (Stonecrop).—From this hardy and useful genus 
the amateur may select almost at random, with the certainty 
of obtaining plants worth a place in any garden. Our old 
friend, 8. acre , the com¬ 
mon stonecrop, offers one 
of the best garments 
wherewith to clothe a 
sunny knoll, or to make 
a close mat-like edging 
on a somewhat dry soil. 
There is a remarkably 
beautiful variety of it, 
adapted for the spring 
garden, called S . a. au- 
reum; its peculiarity is, 
that from Christmas to 
the end of May, the 
points of the shoots are of 
a bright gold yellow, pro¬ 
ducing almost as gay a 
effect as if the plant for nearly six months continuously was 
covered with flowers. 8. rhodiola , the “ roseroot,” has a dis¬ 
tinctive character which fits it for the border. 8. spurium is a 
first-rate border and rock plant; the leaves are roundish and 
flat, fringed with transparent hairs, the flowers in loose corymbs 
of a bright rose colour. S. telephium , or orpine, is another 
good one, though common ; when in flower, a great mass of 
it has a fine appearance. 8. fabaria or 8. sjpectabilis —the 
latter being the more correct name—is a large-leaved glaucous 
plant, growing freely in a bold tuft like a shrub, and pro¬ 
ducing fine heads of pale pink flowers in October. Neither 
'4mm 
Will ’'I'" 
SEDUM SPURIUM. 
