July 20, 1901 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
751 
and where an old frame is available it is advisable 
to make a sowing for this purpose. 
Shallots. —It is time that they were out of the 
ground now. A good place to ripen them is on a 
gravel walk, but if the crop is only a small one they 
can be placed on trays and sheltered if the weather 
is damp.— K. 
- »■» 
THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
North and south alike the weather has been exces¬ 
sively hot, and in some districts it would not take a 
very elastic imagination to picture cannibals round 
you and fancy you were in the wilds of New Cale¬ 
donia or Borneo. Which is suffering the most, the 
fauna or flora, it is difficult to say, as both are 
looking, in the majority of cases, in a dejected sort 
of way. 
Nymphaeas. —There is only one class of vegetation 
that seems to look fairly happy, and that is the 
aquatics, especially the Nymphaeas. They seem to 
be exceptionally fine this season, and are much more 
often met with, as every garden now, where there is 
a good lake, goes in for the Nymphaeas and other 
bright aquatics. To those who intend to plant their 
lake with Water Lilies next season, I advise them to 
employ every means to exterminate voles or water 
rats, for they seem to be causing much annoyance 
in many places through persistently eating the buds 
as they come to the surface. Another thing must be 
decided upon, and that is whether the water is to be 
for water fowl or water plants Many people try to 
use it for both, but unless it is a large expanse it. 
generally means disastrous results to the plants. 
Many people protect the Lily patches by encircling 
them with wire netting, although this is an effective 
means of preventing ducks, water hens, &c., paddling 
on the foliage, it has a very deteriorating effect on the 
beauty of the water. I know of many places, one 
especially, which ought to be devoted to plants, but 
is overrun by, not small specimens of water fowl, 
but such ideal Lily crushers as black geese, swans, 
pelicans, &c., so that the water has more the 
appearance of a department in the zoological garden 
than a hardy aquatic lake. 
Dictamnus. —Many gardeners have a difficulty in 
finding showy plants to grow on dry, light soils. 
One of the most showy families of plants which are 
adapted to this sort of condition is the old Fraxi- 
nella. It grows best when in a rather dry soil. It 
is not at all difficult to propagate, and may be 
quickly increased either by divisions of the plants in 
the autumn, or by seed, which requires sowing as 
soon as it is ripe Like many others of the Rutaceae 
order, it is very rich in volatile oils, and when 
rubbed emits a very pleasant balsamic odour. When 
the flowers are fully open they emit these oils in 
such quantities that when a lighted match is thrust 
amongst them they become visibly ignited in the 
air. Many new species or varieties have been 
brought out recently and show great improvement 
on the old types. 
Cosmos.— The very name means beautiful; from 
the Greek kosmos, beautiful. For late autumn dis¬ 
plays there are few annuals to equal these showy 
subjects. They will grow on any herbaceous border, 
and from now until late in the autumn those people 
who choose them in the spring will be gratified with 
a fine display of beautifully-coloured flowers. They 
may be had in the brightest scarlet and the most 
chaste white, and when cut and arranged in light 
vases, they have a most refined, artistic effect, as 
they are light and graceful. They come very freely 
from seed and should be raised in a gentle heat and 
planted out when fit in the same manner as other 
tender annuals. Some people grow them as peren¬ 
nials, but there is not much gained by this, as they 
require protection in the winter. 
Lychnis. —From a plant whose generic name 
means lamp we look for something bright, and in 
this instance we get it, for no plants are making a 
more brilliant patch of colour on the borders at the 
present time than some of the Lychnis. Not only 
are they brilliantly coloured, but they will grow 
with very little attention on almost any soil; they 
do best on a rich sandy loam. One of the best 
species is L. chalcedonica. Its flowers are borne in 
corymbose clusters, and are a very bright scarlet. 
Russia is its native country, so it is perfectly hardy. 
There are several varieties of it, all worth growing. 
* 
It seeds very freely, and if left alone will sow itself. 
The double kinds only come true from divisions, 
which should be made about March. L. fulgens, as 
the name denotes, is another very showy species. 
L. f. grandiflora, introduced from China in 1774, has 
rich scarlet flowers fully 2 in. across. It is a little 
more particular about its position, and needs a warm 
sheltered border to grow it satisfactorily. 
Nemophilas. —This is a genus of plants that does 
not meet the favour it deserves. Some of the species 
are small and inconspicuous, but such as N. 
insignis, which has flowers of a sky-blue colour with 
a white eye and over 1 in. in diameter, are well 
worth growing. It is indigenous to North America, 
from which continent it was brought over to 
England in 1822. There are several pretty varieties 
of this species, one especially deserves a place in 
every garden ; it bears the name of N. marginata. 
and is bright blue with a white margin. There is 
another variety whose colour is given in the name 
N. purpurea rosea. For a show of flowers in the 
spring, the seeds should be sown now in the place 
where they are to flower. For a display of flowers 
from this time of the year onwards they ought to be 
sown not later than April. 
Oenotheras. —There are few gardens in which 
Evening Primroses do not figure, but there are many 
in which only just one or two of the most common 
species are found. People who neglect to provide 
their garden with a good selection of Oenotheras 
lose a good floral treat. They may be had bushy 
and light, tall and dwarf, and in many colours 
besides the orthodox primrose shade. For instance, 
what can look more striking than a clump of O. 
amoena rubicunda, which has rosy lilac flowers with 
a deep coloured blotch at the base of each petal. It 
is the parent of many handsome varieties, and has 
found more favour with florists than any other 
species. One of the best results obtained from it is 
the variety known as The Bride, which has crimson 
flowers suffused with lilac. They are all very easy 
of culture if given a sandy but rich soil and a light 
and roomy position. 
Acroclinium roseum. — Australia and South 
Africa have provided us with many showy genera of 
flowers, and none are making a better and more 
successful effort to represent the flora of their 
native country than this is at the present time. It 
is very useful for pot culture, but when grown under 
that confinement, half its beauty is lost when com¬ 
pared with a patch of the same species grown in the 
open ground. The flowers, which are freely pro¬ 
duced, are borne on slender, graceful branches, and 
are of a pretty rose and white shade. They do not 
require sowing until early in June, and then the 
sunniest spot possible should be selected for them. 
If they are to be used for winter decoration they 
should be sown now in pans and placed in a cold 
frame. There is a very good variety of roseum 
known as grandiflorum. The colour and habit are 
the same, but the flowers are twice the size.— P. R. 
A FASCIATED LILY. 
Our readers who grow their Lilies strongly may 
have seen some such example as is represented in 
the accompanying figure, which carried 145 flowers 
all crowded together at the top. Lily stems which 
behave in this way as the result of excessive vigour 
of growth seem as if they consisted of several stems 
all grown together, and are either greatly thickened 
or are much corrugated or flattened, facts which 
also indicate the cohesion of many stems, each with 
its quota of flowers all crowded together in ore 
mass. Another Lily which often behaves in the 
same way is L. auratum, the golden-rayed Lily of 
Japan. It cannot be said that these forms are 
either elegant or graceful, but they are certainly 
very curious, and serve as instances of the strange 
forms that may be met with in the vegetable 
world. 
In Limerick there are 543,606 acres of pasture 
land. 
Fasciated Lilium Harrisii with 145 Flowers. 
