Page:EB1911 - Volume 13.djvu/792

FLOWERS] 6 in., white, are both pretty plants of the easiest culture, either for borders or rockeries.

Tritoma.—Splendid stoutish-growing plants of noble aspect, familiarly known as the Poker plant, from their erect, rigid spikes of flame-coloured flowers; sometimes called Kniphofia. T. Uvaria, 3 to 4 ft., bright orange-red, passing to yellow in the lower flowers, is a fine autumnal decorative plant. They should be protected from frosts by a covering of ashes over the crown during winter.

Trollius.—Showy ranunculaceous plants, of free growth, flowering about May and June. T. europaeus, 18 in., lemon globular; T. asiaticus, 2 ft., deep yellow; and T. napellifolius, 2 to 2 ft., golden yellow, are all fine showy kinds. Rich and rather moist soil.

Tulipa.—Splendid dwarfish bulbs, thriving in deep, sandy, well-enriched garden soil, and increased by offsets. They bloom during the spring and early summer months. T. Gesneriana, the parent of the florists’ tulip, 12 to 18 in., crimson and other colours; T. Eichleri, 1 ft., crimson with dark spot; T. Greigi, 1 ft., orange with dark spot edged with yellow, and having dark spotted leaves; T. oculus solis, 1 ft., scarlet with black centre; and T. sylvestris, 12 to 18 in., bright yellow, are showy kinds.

Veratrum.—Distinct liliaceous plants with bold ornamental leaves regularly folded and plaited. V. album, 3 to 5 ft., has whitish blossoms in dense panicles, 1 to 2 ft. long. V. nigrum, 2 to 3 ft., has blackish-purple flowers, also V. Maacki, 2 ft. Rich sandy loam and peat.

Verbascum.—Showy border flowers of erect spire-like habit, of the easiest culture. V. Chaixii, 4 to 5 ft., yellow, in large pyramidal panicles; V. phoeniceum, 3 ft., rich purple or white; and V. formosum, 6 ft., golden yellow in dense panicles, are desirable species.

Veronica.—The Speedwell family, containing many ornamental members; all the hardy species are of the easiest cultivation in ordinary garden soil. The rotate flowers are in close, erect spikes, sometimes branched. V. crassifolia, 2 ft., dark blue; V. incarnata, 1 ft., flesh-colour; V. corymbosa, 1 ft., pale blue in corymbosely-arranged racemes; V. gentianoides, 2 ft., grey with blue streaks; V. spicata, blue, and its charming white variety alba; and V. virginica, 5 ft., white, are distinct.

Vinca.—Periwinkle. Pretty rock plants, growing freely in ordinary soil. V. herbacea, of creeping habit, with purplish-blue flowers; V. minor, of trailing habit, blue; and V. major, 1 to 2 ft. high, also trailing, are suitable for the rock garden. The last two are evergreen, and afford varieties which differ in the colour of their flowers, while some are single and others double.

Viola.—Violet. Charming dwarf plants, mostly evergreen and of tufted habit, requiring well-worked rich sandy soil. V. calcarata, 6 in., light blue; V. cornuta, 6 to 8 in., blue; V. lutea, 4 in., yellow; V. altaica, 6 in., yellow or violet with yellow eye; V. palmaensis, 6 to 8 in., lavender-blue; V. pedata, 6 in., pale blue; and V. odorata, the Sweet Violet, in its many single and double flowered varieties, are all desirable.

Yucca.—Noble subarborescent liliaceous plants, which should be grown in every garden. They do well in light, well-drained soils, and have a close family resemblance, the inflorescence being a panicle of white, drooping, tulip-shaped flowers, and the foliage rosulate, sword-shaped and spear-pointed. Of the more shrubby-habited sorts Y. gloriosa, recurvifolia and Treculeana are good and distinct; and of the dwarfer and more herbaceous sorts Y. filamentosa, flaccida and angustifolia are distinct and interesting kinds, the first two flowering annually.

The taste for cultivation of the class of plants, of which the foregoing list embraces some of the more prominent members, is on the increase, and gardens will benefit by its extension.

—Much of the beauty of the pleasure garden depends upon the proper selection and disposition of ornamental trees and shrubs. We can only afford space here for lists of some of the better and more useful and ornamental trees and shrubs, old and new.

The following list, which is not exhaustive, furnishes material from which a selection may be made to suit various soils and situations. The shrubs marked * are climbers.

Hardy Deciduous Trees.

Hardy Evergreen Trees.

Hardy Deciduous Shrubs.

Hardy Evergreen Shrubs.

—This term is chiefly applied to those summer-flowering plants, such as ivy-leaved and zonal pelargoniums, petunias, dwarf lobelias, verbenas, &c., which are employed in masses for filling the beds of a geometrical parterre. Of late years, however, more attention has been bestowed on arrangements of brilliant flowering plants with those of fine foliage, and the massing also of hardy early-blooming plants in parterre fashion has been very greatly extended. Bedding plants thrive best in a light loam, liberally manured with thoroughly rotten dung from an old hotbed or thoroughly decomposed cow droppings and leaf-mould.