Aristolochia Sipho.—This well-known huge-leaved plant is capable of being used with excellent effect where large and distinct foliage is desired. Generally it is used as a wall plant; but it is far finer when used to cover bowers or any like structure. I have seen a most effective object formed by making the framework of a tent loosely with rough boughs, and then planting the Aristolochia around it. It formed a dense green and singular-looking wigwam. A. tomentosa is smaller, but distinct in tone of green, well worthy of a place, and to be employed in like manner. N. America.
*Artemisia anethifolia.—A hardy perennial species about 4 ft. high, with a simple round stem, woody at the base, and branching vertically above, clothed from about a foot above the ground with much-divided leaves, the segments of which are almost thread-like. Flowers very numerous, small, in a dense, large, terminal panicle, with erect branches. Useful in groups, or as isolated specimens in beds or borders. Division.
*Artemisia annua (Annual Wormwood).—An exceedingly graceful kind of wormwood, with tall stems reaching to a height of 5 ft. or 6 ft. in a season; the foliage is small and fine, and the flowers inconspicuous but arranged in not inelegant panicles. The hue of the plant is a peculiarly fresh and pleasing green, and it forms an elegant object in the centre of a flower-bed or group with plants of like character. Raised from seed as easily as any half-hardy annual.
*Artemisia gracilis.—An exceedingly graceful plant, 3 or 4 ft. high, with leaves cut into very fine hair-like segments, having some resemblance to fennel or other umbelliferous plants with minutely-cut leaves, and of a deep grass-green, except in the hearts of the shoots, where the young leaves are unfolding, where there is a slight hoary pubescence. The flowers are in compound panicles, quite obscure, of a pale green, not at all ornamental in the common sense, but forming a not ungraceful inflorescence. However, the plant is only likely to be grown for its graceful foliage and habit, and the flowers, which only appear in autumn, may be pinched off if not admired. Similar positions to those recommended for the preceding species. Seed.
*Arum crinitum.—The appearance of this plant when in flower is very grotesque from the singular shape of its broad, speckled, contorted spathe. The leaves are divided into five or seven deep segments, the central division being much broader than the others, and the leaf-stalks, overlapping each other, form a sort of spurious stem a foot or 14 ins. high, marbled and spotted with purplish-black. The treatment for this plant is similar to that given for A. Dracunculus; but as it is rather more tender, it will require more care and shelter in winter. Warm borders, fringes of shrubberies, or beds of the smaller subtropical plants, will suit it best. The appearance of the flower is almost too repulsive for the nerves of some persons. Division. S. of Europe.
*Arum Dracunculus.—A strange-looking but handsome plant, with a white stem curiously marbled with black, about 3 ft. high, and very deeply cut palm-like leaves, broadly veined and spotted with white. The spathe is of a pale green colour on the outside and of a deep purple-violet within, and, as well as the flowers, exhales a powerful carrion odour. Requires a light, deep, and dry soil, and does best in half-shady positions. Easily multiplied by division in spring or autumn. It is best fitted for the fringes of shrubberies, etc., or among the vegetation that sometimes starts from the bottoms of warm walls. S. of Europe.
*Arum italicum.—This plant, which is a native of the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands, resembles the common A. maculatum in habit and in the shape of its leaves, which are, however, of a dark bluish-green colour, handsomely spotted with white, and marked with yellow veinings. Although it is a very hardy plant, and will thrive almost anywhere in moist soil and a shady position, it will be better to place it in sheltered positions along the sunny fronts of shrubberies, amidst low-spreading evergreens, and in cosy spots about the flanks of rock work and ferneries, to prevent its handsome foliage from being disfigured by cold wintry winds. One great merit of this is that it may be used to ornament positions in which few other plants will thrive,—as, for instance, under trees, groups of shrubs, etc. Easily multiplied by division in the end of summer and in autumn. S. of Europe.
*Arundo conspicua.—A companion for the Pampas grass, though by no means equal to it, as has been stated by some writers. In some very fine deep and free sandy loams it attains a height of nearly 12 ft., but this is rare. As a conservatory subject it is fine in flower, and it will be often seen in large conservatories after a few years. A large pot or tub will be necessary if it is grown indoors. The drooping foliage will always prove graceful, and it sends up long silvery plumes, drooping also, and strikingly beautiful. Judging by its different appearance when freely grown in a tub indoors, and when planted out even in favourable spots, my impression is that it by no means takes so kindly to our northern climate as the Pampas grass. However, it is well worth growing, even in districts where it does not attain a great development. It comes into flower before the Pampas grass, and may be considered as a sort of forerunner of that magnificent herb. New Zealand.
*Arundo Donax.—This great reed of the south of Europe is a very noble plant on good soils. In the south of England it forms canes 10 ft. high, and has a very distinct and striking aspect. It will grow higher than that if put in a rich deep soil in a favoured locality; and those who so plant clumps of it on the turf in their pleasure-grounds will not be disappointed at the result. Nothing can be finer than the aspect of this plant when allowed to spread out into a mass on the turf of the flower-garden or pleasure-ground. It seems much to prefer deep sandy soils to heavy ones; indeed, I have known it refuse to grow on heavy clay soil, and flourish most luxuriantly on a deep sandy loam in the same district. Like all large-leaved plants, it loves shelter. No garden or pleasure-ground in the southern parts of England and Ireland should be without a tuft of it in a sheltered spot. But, fine as it is for effect and distinctness, its variegated variety is of more value for the flower-garden proper.
*Arundo Donax versicolor.—We have already noticed several fine things for grouping together, or for standing alone on the turf and near the margin of a shrubbery-border, and this is as well suited for close association with the choicest bedding-flowers as an Adiantum frond is with a bouquet. It will be found hardy in the southern counties, and, considerably north of London, may be saved by a little mound of cocoa-fibre, sifted coal-ashes, or any like material that may be at hand. In consequence of its effective variegation, it never assumes a large development, like the green or normal form of the species, but keeps dwarf, and yet thoroughly graceful. It is of course best suited for warm, free, and good soils, and abhors clay, though it is quite possible to grow it even on that with a little attention to the preparation of the ground. But it is in all cases better to avoid things that will not grow freely and gracefully on whatever soil we may have to deal with: and it is to those having gardens on good sandy soils, and in the warmer parts of England, that I would specially recommend this grand variegated subject. For a centre to a circular bed nothing can surpass it in the summer and autumn flower-garden, while numerous other charming uses may be made of it. Not the least happy of these would be to plant a tuft of it on the green turf, in a warm spot, near a group of choice shrubs, to help, with many other things named, to fill up the gap that is now nearly everywhere observed between ordinary fleeting flowers and the taller tree and shrub vegetation. It is better to leave the plant in the ground, in a permanent position, than to take it up annually. Protect the roots in the winter, whether it be planted in the middle of a flower-bed or by itself in a little circle on the grass. Increased by placing a shoot or stem in a tank of water, when little plants with roots will soon start from every joint; they should be cut off, potted, and placed in frames, where they will soon become strong enough for planting out.