Trees and Shrubs for English Gardens Part 26

METROSIDEROS ROBUSTA.--New Zealand. An evergreen tree, bearing cl.u.s.ters of brilliant crimson flowers at the extremities of the shoots; in this it differs from Callistemon, whose flowers encircle the branchlets some distance below the extremities. Tresco; 30 feet in height.

MITRARIA COCCINEA.--Chili. An evergreen shrub, bearing bright-scarlet flowers. This is to be found 6 feet in some gardens.

MYOPORUM LaeTUM.--Australia. Native name, Guaio. An evergreen tree, bearing small white flowers, and having lanceolate leaves dotted with countless transparent spots. Two mainland gardens.

NERIUM OLEANDER.--Mediterranean. The Oleander. This is established, and flowers in sheltered nooks on the mainland.

OZOTHAMNUS ROSMARINIFOLIUS.--Australia. An evergreen shrub, bearing countless, minute, white flowers. Sprays, if cut when the flowers are fully expanded, will retain their decorative qualities for a year. It is common in the south-west, and at Trewidden there are bushes 8 feet in height.

PAULOWNIA IMPERIALIS.--j.a.pan. A hardy deciduous flowering tree, bearing erect panicles of large, lilac, gloxinia-like flowers. Owing to the spring frosts, it rarely perfects these except in sheltered sites in mild springs, but when in good bloom it is marvellously beautiful.

PENTSTEMON CORDIFOLIUS.--California. A tall-growing species, bearing bright-scarlet flowers in the summer. With the shelter of a wall it grows to a height of 5 feet or more. Trewidden.

PHILESIA BUXIFOLIA.--Chili. A dwarf evergreen shrub, rarely exceeding 2 feet in height, bearing drooping, pink lapageria-like blossoms. To be found in many gardens.

PHOTINIA j.a.pONICA.--j.a.pan. The Loquat. This hardy, ornamental-foliaged tree is practically hardy, and at Enys flowers annually. We believe, however, that it has not fruited. The finest specimen we know of, 15 feet in height with a head 12 feet through, is at Saltram.

PIERIS FORMOSA.--Himalayas. This so-called Andromeda is widely met with.

The finest example is at Pentillie Castle, and is 20 feet in height with a spread of 30 feet. When this is white with its cl.u.s.tering flower-sprays it is a lovely sight.

PIMELEA DECUSSATA.--Australia. An evergreen shrub, bearing rose-red, globular flower-heads at the extremities of the branches. Tresco.

PINUS MONTEZUMae.--Mexico. A n.o.ble and distinct Pine, good specimens of which are at Tregothnan and Menabilly, where it has fruited.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _PINUS MONTEZUMae AT FOTA._]

PIPTANTHUS NEPALENSIS.--Nepaul. An evergreen shrub, bearing numbers of bright-yellow laburnum-like flowers. It seems indifferent to soil, and may be seen flourishing under adverse circ.u.mstances. Common.

PLAGIANTHUS BETULINUS.--New Zealand. Ribbon tree. Bears small white flowers in cl.u.s.ters. A splendid example 50 feet in height is at Abbotsbury.

PITTOSPORUM.--New Zealand. Evergreen shrubs. _P. Mayi_, at Tregothnan, is about 30 feet in height; while we have seen _P. bicolor_ over 20 feet, and many fine examples of _P. undulatum_, _P. tenuifolium_, of which last a hedge has been made at Falmouth, and other species. All bear their little flowers in profusion in the south-west. The j.a.panese _P. Tobira_ is a hardy shrub, bearing spreading flower-heads of fragrant white blossom.

PODOCARPUS ANDINA.--Chili. A handsome evergreen tree to be found in most gardens. At Penjerrick there is a specimen 40 feet in height.

POINCIANA (CaeSALPINA) GILLIESI.--South America. An evergreen shrub with acacia-like foliage, bearing cl.u.s.ters of large yellow flowers with bright-red stamens. Mr. Fitzherbert says, "The finest specimen I have seen was in the late Rev. H. Ewbank's garden at Ryde, but I know of smaller ones in the south-west."

POLYGALA GRANDIFOLIA (syns. _grandis_, &c.).--Bahia. An evergreen flowering shrub, the finest of its race, bearing large rose and white flowers. Tregothnan.

PSEUDOPANAX CRa.s.sIFOLIUM.--New Zealand. An evergreen shrub with dark-green thick leaves 2 feet in length, with orange midribs. Ludgvan Rectory.

PUNICA GRANATUM.--The Pomegranate is a neglected shrub in English gardens. Planted at the foot of a south wall, and treated generally like a well-groomed Peach tree, it will flower from June to September. It is not a shrub for cold climates, but Mr. Watson, writing in the _Garden_, October 26, p. 283, says, "At Kew three varieties are grown outdoors, namely, the type, the big double-white flowered variety, with petals margined with white, Picotee-like, and the dwarf variety known as Nana.

There are other forms beside these, including a white-flowered one which I have seen in Paris gardens, where old--very old--standard plants are grown and treasured. The dwarf variety is cultivated as a pot plant in some continental countries. I have seen it in the Hamburg florists'

shops, pretty little pyramids in 5-inch pots, covered with flowers.

Fruits are rarely produced by the Pomegranate in England."

RHAPITHAMNUS CYANOCARPUS.--Chili. An evergreen tree, bearing pale-blue flowers, followed by violet-blue berries. A fine specimen 20 feet in height is at Menabilly.

RUBUS AUSTRALIS.--A Bramble, the only form of which is worth growing, and that merely as a curiosity, is a practically leafless one. The leaves are indeed there, but they consist merely of three midribs armed with curved spines, and terminated by leaflets less than an inch in length of an inch in breadth. A large plant at Bishop's Teignton has smothered a Euonymus bush, and climbed into an adjacent Fir.

SENECIO.--Many of the newer evergreen exotic species, such as _S.

Grayii_, _S. Fosterii_, _S. Heretieri_, and others are grown, while in Rosehill garden is a fifty-year-old plant of the Mexican _S. Petasitis_, 8 feet in height.

SOLANUM CRISPUM.--Chili. An evergreen flowering shrub, bearing lavender yellow-centred flowers in profusion, often reaching a height of 8 feet.

Quite common.

SPARMANNIA AFRICANA.--Cape of Good Hope. African Hemp. An evergreen shrub, bearing ma.s.ses of white flowers with ruby-tipped anthers; a well-known greenhouse plant. At Tres...o...b..th the single and double forms are grown, and attain a height of 10 feet. The single form is also met with in mainland gardens, where it is often in flower in February.

VERONICA HULKEANA.--New Zealand. An evergreen shrub, bearing branching panicles of pale-lilac flowers, doing best with the support and protection of a wall. To be found in many gardens.

WESTRINGIA TRIPHYLLA.--Australia. Evergreen shrub, bearing blue flowers in summer. Tregothnan.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Probably all the trees and shrubs mentioned in this and the following chapter will succeed in Ireland.

CHAPTER XXV

TENDER WALL PLANTS IN THE SOUTH-WEST

The notes on tender shrubs and trees grown in the south-west are fittingly supplemented by a pa.s.sing reference to plants used for covering walls, mostly of climbing habit, but a few of shrubby growth.

BIGNONIA.--_B. (Tecoma) radicans_ is a hardy climber, and _B.

capreolata_ may also be considered so. Other members of the family grown in the open are _B. capensis_, Cape of Good Hope, orange; _B. Cherere_, Guiana, orange scarlet; and _B. speciosa_, Uruguay, pink. Greenway on the Dart.

BERBERIDOPSIS CORALLINA.--Chili. Drooping crimson flowers borne in racemes in the autumn. This evergreen plant does best in peat or leaf-mould in a partially shaded position. Common.

BOUGAINVILLEA GLABRA.--Brazil. This climber cannot be considered a success in the open in the south-west, but in two gardens it has been grown and flowers, but in neither case has it exhibited a t.i.the of the freedom of growth displayed by it under gla.s.s.

BUCKLANDIA POPULNEA.--Himalayas. A handsome evergreen foliage plant, said to grow to a height of 100 feet in its native habitat. Its large heart-shaped leaves are tinted with bronze and maroon. Tregothnan.

CALLICARPA PURPUREA.--India. An evergreen shrub bearing small inconspicuous flowers, followed by violet-coloured berries. Trewidden, Penzance.

Ca.s.sIA CORYMBOSA.--Buenos Ayres. A rambling shrub, almost invariably grown against a wall, though it has been met with planted against a wire fence, and spreading out on either side. In August it is a ma.s.s of golden-yellow bloom, some of which it often retains until Christmas.

With wall protection it reaches a height of 12 feet or more, and when in flower is a striking object in the garden. It is fairly common in the south-west.

CHORIZEMA.--Australia. Well-known evergreen greenhouse plants, bearing pea-like flowers of orange and red. Ma.s.ses 7 feet in height and more in breadth grow against the walls at Trewidden, and begin to flower in March. _C. cordatum_ and _C. Lowii_ are the species generally grown.

CISSUS DISCOLOR.--Java. A climber, bearing greenish-yellow blossoms.

CLEMATIS INDIVISA LOBATA.--New Zealand. This beautiful white-flowered Clematis grows well in many gardens, and commences to bloom in March.

CLIANTHUS PUNICEUS.--New Zealand. A brilliant-flowered evergreen climber, bearing large flowers, somewhat resembling lobsters' claws, scarlet crimson in hue. It sometimes comes into flower as early as Christmas, the number of its blossoms increasing until mid-May, when it is a glowing sheet of colour. The finest plant Mr. Fitzherbert knows is at Stoke Fleming, near Dartmouth, where it covers the side of a large house.

DIPLACUS (MIMULUS) GLUTINOSUS.--California. Another popular greenhouse plant, bearing buff flowers, which succeeds admirably against walls in many gardens, growing some 5 feet in height.