ightness to the stiffer spring flowers,
such as tulips, narcissi, and hyacinths. Rockwork suits it admirably; it
also does well in borders; but in any position it pays for liberal
treatment in the form of heavy manuring. It seeds freely, and may be
propagated by the seed or division of strong roots in the autumn.
Whether rabbits can scent it a considerable distance off, I cannot say,
but, certain it is, they find mine every year, and in one part of the
garden eat it off bare.

Flowering period, March to May.

Ourisia Coccinea.

_Nat. Ord._ SCROPHULARIACEAE.

A hardy herbaceous perennial from South America, as yet rarely seen in
English gardens, and more seldom in good form. As may be judged by the
illustration (Fig. 71), it is a charming plant, but it has beauties
which cannot be there depicted; its deep green and shining leaves
constitute wavy masses of foliage, most pleasing to see, and the
short-stemmed, lax clusters of dazzling scarlet flowers are thereby set
off to great advantage. I have no fear of overpraising this plant, as
one cannot well do that. I will, however, add that it is a decorative
subject of the highest order, without a single coarse feature about it;
seldom is it seen without a few solitary sprays of flowers, and it is
never met with in a seedy or flabby state of foliage, but it remains
plump throughout the autumn, when it sometimes shows a disposition to
indulge in "autumnal tints." Though seldom encountered, this lovely
plant is well known, as it is pretty sure to be, from notes made of it
and published with other garden news; but it has the reputation of being
a fickle plant, difficult to grow, and a shy bloomer. I trust this
statement will not deter a single reader from introducing it into his
garden; if I had found it manageable only with an unreasonable amount of
care, I would not have introduced it here. It certainly requires special
treatment, but all the conditions are so simple and practicable, in even
the smallest garden, that it cannot be fairly termed difficult, as we
shall shortly see.

The flowers are 11/2in. long, in form intermediate between the pentstemon
and snapdragon, but in size smaller, and the colour an unmixed deep
scarlet: they are produced on stems 9in. high, round, hairy, and
furnished with a pair of very small stem-clasping leaves, and where the
panicle of flowers begins there is a small bract, and less perfectly
developed ones are at every joint, whence sp