Dec. 1, 1869.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



265 



WILD FLOWEBS FOE DECGBATIVE PUEPOSES. 



AM very glad that 

 Mr. Holland has 

 directed atten- 

 tion to this sub- 

 ject, which is one 

 of interest to the 

 botanist, as well 

 as of importance 

 to the gardener. By way of 

 furthering his object, I will 

 supplement his remarks by 

 naming a few additional 

 claimants among our wild 

 flowers to a place in the gar- 

 den, and by hinting at another 

 way in which they may be 

 made to contribute to our 

 enjoyment. 



Not long since I was visit- 

 ing the gardens at Dropmore, 

 | Bucks, and was pleased to see 

 a large space of rockery and border devoted to wild 

 and old-fashioned flowers. Perhaps the most orna- 

 mental was the Welsh Poppy {Jfecouopsis Cambrica), 

 with glaucous foliage and pale yellow poppy-like 

 flowers, which sprang up among the rock work and by 

 the sides of the paths in great luxuriance ; but there 

 were also the Bloody and Meadow Cranesbills in 

 masses, with Foxgloves, Campions, Bellflowers, 

 Wild Pansies, Aaron's Beard {Hypericum calycimtm) , 

 Heaths, and many more which have escaped my 

 memory. 



I am a great admirer of " foliage plants," and I 

 do not at all overlook the advantages attendant on 

 the modern system of " ribbon bordering," especially 

 as the contrasting yellow Calceolarias with scarlet 

 Geraniums is now left to the vulgar, to whom such 

 a meretricious mixture commends itself. But it 

 seems hard that, in large gardens at any rate, there 

 should not be some space reserved for our old 

 favourites, who gladdened the hearts of our fore- 

 fathers long before the many-shaded Coleus and the 

 No. 60. 



red-veined Iresene, and the funeral-plume-like 

 Perilla were known or thought of. What can afford 

 greater variety and brilliancy of colouring than a 

 row of Snapdragons ? which seem inexhaustible in 

 their variations, but which are at present sadly ne- 

 glected. Phloxes, Fraxiuella, Pentstemons, Michael- 

 mas Daisies,and a host of others seem dismissed from 

 many gardens ; yet what is there to take their place? 



Among the wild flowers which Mr. Holland re- 

 fers to but slightly, I find the Columbine, for which 

 I must put in a special word. What a splendid 

 effect would be produced by clumps of this lovely 

 flower placed at short distances along the back of a 

 long border ! The shades of colour in the flowers 

 are so beautifully distinct that, in this respect, 

 Columbines are preferable to Snapdragons ; for in 

 them we have every variety of blue — from pale 

 slate-colour up to a rich purple -black,— and this is 

 entirely wanting in the latter plants. Columbines, 

 too, are certainly more graceful than Snapdragons 

 in their mode of growth. I have seen in a small 

 garden clumps of Columbines, with pure white, 

 stone-blue, azure, purple, brown, pink, red, crimson, 

 and almost black flowers. When the blossoms are 

 faded, the tall stems may be cut down, and the leaves 

 hidden by the plants which may be placed in front 

 of them. 



Mr. Holland mentions the Bird'sfoot Trefoil 

 {Lotus corniculatus) as a plant of merit ; but resi- 

 dents in chalky districts will confirm my assertion 

 when I say that it is in no way to be compared with 

 the Horse-shoe Vetch {Hippocrepis comosa). This 

 latter plant grows in masses in suitable situations, 

 and the handsome chaplets of orange flowers, far 

 richer iu colour than those of the Lotus, are sur- 

 passingly handsome : its habit of growth, too, is 

 preferable to that of the latter plant, being more com- 

 pact, and the blossoms are much more numerous. 

 On the chalky slopes at Hughenden Manor, Bucks, 

 the Hippocrepis grows intermingled with the blue 

 and red-flowered varieties of the Larger Milk- 

 wort {Polygala eu-vulgaris of "English Botany"), 



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