152 THE FLORIST. 



A WORD FOR HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 

 In the midst of our great anxiety to procure new varieties of what are 

 termed bedding out plants, I should like to see more interest taken in 

 herbaceous or perennial plants for the flower garden ; for if the present 

 rage for grouping plants (as they are called) continues, I much fear my 

 favourites will go out of cultivation in the majority of gardens, for there 

 are yet a few good old-fashioned places where collections of herbaceous 

 plants are still grown. To my mind (which, however, may have in 

 the opinion of some of your readers an old-fashioned turn about it) 

 herbaceous plants are much too valuable adjuncts to a gay garden to be 

 neglected ; for, when well arranged and treated, they present a 

 continuous &how of gay flowers from very early spring till near 

 Christmas. My garden, though limited in extent, is scarcely ever 

 without plants in bloom, and from June onwards we manage to have it 

 certainly gay. In this neighbourhood I am nearly alone in growing 

 such things as Monkshood, Columbines, Lychnis, Larkspurs, Bell 

 Flowers, Bachelors' Buttons, Fraxinellas, Rockets, Foxgloves, 

 Michaelmas Daisies, and the like, which are now not ofl:en seen except 

 in the nooks and corners of the country, where in the gardens of some 

 old grange or parsonage house they may yet be found, remnants of what 

 in our forefathers' time were the choicest ornaments of the garden. 

 This should not be ; and as a lover of them I hope you will insert my 

 note in their favour in your useful work, in the hope it may help to 

 bring into notice flowers which are closely associated with our true 

 English garden scenery. 



As before stated, I cultivate this class of plants in my garden 

 exclusively, not but that I admire Geraniums, Verbenas, Calceolarias, 

 and many other modern plants, but, having only a limited space, I much 

 prefer my favourite perennials, and have the satisfaction of knowing 

 my garden is duly admired by good judges. As I have some little 

 experience in their cultures, I will briefly state how we manage them. 

 My residence is near Wells, Somerset ; the soil a strong loam resting 

 on clay and marl, and we therefore dress the borders with the scrapings 

 and parings obtained from the road-sides. About the end of February 

 or early in March most strong growing kinds, as Phloxes, Asters, 

 Lythrums, Delphiniums, &c., are taken up, and if the patches are 

 become too large we divide them with the spade ; as the labels give 

 the height and colour of each, we re-arrange them. After having forked 

 the beds over deeply, half a spadeful of good rotten dung is placed in 

 the hole and worked in with the earth in which we replant the roots. 



The bulbous plants are only taken up once in three years to remove 

 offsets, &c., and this is done in the summer when the leaves die off 

 Afi;er replanting the former roots, half a pot of water is poured over 

 them, to settle the earth ; we then leave the beds rough for two or three 

 weeks, and when the plants appear above ground the borders are neatly 

 raked over, and merely require cleaning a few times in the season. 

 By this plan, I find I get strong blooms, and my plants do not get too 

 spreading. I practise one thing worth noticing, which is, that, growing 

 many duplicate plants, I cut back some of each at two different stages 



