236 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



Hardy Herbaceous Plants. — The system of 

 fillin"- a whole bed with plants of one sort, which 

 is now so much practiced, has had the eflect of 

 withdrawing attention, in a great measure, from 

 this v.ery interesting class of flowers; and yet 

 upon these the beauty of our flower gardens mainly 

 depended only a few years ago. Some of the 

 kinds which bloom first in spring have already 

 been noticed, and we shall now mention a few 

 other desirable species, with the view of recalling 

 them to recollection. It may be premised that 

 the plants in the following list are unsuitable for 

 planting in masses; their proper place is in those 

 beds of mixed flowers which are still occasionally 

 seen, bordering the principal walks, or placed here 

 and there in conspicuous situations, in some plea- 

 sure grounds. One advantage attached to this 

 class of plants is, the small amount of skill or of 

 labor required in their cultivation. Once planted 

 in suitable soil, that is, common garden ground, 

 moderately enriched with manure, many of them 

 will grow and bloom for years, with little care 

 beyond the thinning and tying of the stems, and 

 an occasional reduction of size when the root stock 

 has become overgrown. But there are some spe- 

 cies which demand a little more attention in re- 

 turn for the gratification they give us, and one of 

 these is Lychnis fulgens, the roots of which fre- 

 quently perish when exposed to wet and cold 

 during winter; it is therefore necessary to raise 

 young plants from seed every spring, when this 

 species is treated as an ordinary herbaceous plant ; 

 but its splendid scarlet colour entitles it to be cul- 

 tivated in pots, in the same way as the better 

 known L. coronata. In height it seldom exceeds 

 1^ or 2 feet, and as it does not produce numerous 

 flower stems, a better effect would be obtained by 

 setting three or four plants in a patch. The 

 double flowered variety of the common scarlet 

 Lychnis (L. chalcedonica) is now seldom seen, 

 although very handsome; so likewise is the double 

 clammy Lychnis (L. viscaria,) and the double 

 Cuckoo-flower (L. Floscuculi.) The genus Del- 

 phinium (Larkspur) contains many showy species, 

 among which azureum (light blue,) mesoleucum 

 (dark blue, with white centre,) and elatum (dark 

 blue,) are suitable for the middle of large clumps 

 or the back part of borders, as they all grow 5 to 

 6 feet high. Of the shorter species, grandiflorum 

 is one of the handsomest, and when propagated 

 from seed several varieties may be obtained, va- 

 rying in colour between dark blue and white; and 

 occasionally a plant having double blossoms will 

 appear among the seedlings. The beautiful dou- 

 ble kind commonly known as grandiflorum appears 

 to belong to a difl'erent species. Another taller 

 growing double sort is called Barlowii, and this 

 also is very handsome. All these are usually in 

 bloom about mid. summer. Several of the herba- 

 ceous Ranunculuses have varieties with double 

 flowers, which are very desirable things. One 

 with bright yellow button-like blossoms is proba- 



bly a variety of Ranunculus acris ; this grows 

 about 2 feet high, and is in the height of its 

 beauty in June. Another having very pretty 

 white flowers is rather dwarfer in habit; this by 

 some botanists is referred to R. aconitifalius. Al- 

 lied to these is Caltha palustris, a marsh plant 

 with large yellow flowers, of which a double va- 

 riety, very suitable for moist places, is sometimes 

 seen in gardens. The common Columbine is well 

 known, and some of its varieties are equal in 

 beauty to many flowers of far greater pretensions ; 

 but all are eclipsed by the handsome blue and 

 white Aquilegia glandulosa, a species which ought 

 to be in every flower garden. As a spurious sort 

 is sometimes substituted, it may be as well to inti- 

 mate that the true kind has been advertised in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. In the genus Campanula 

 there are so many fine things that it is difficult to 

 make a selection. Among the most desirable, 

 however, will be found Persicifolia, of which there 

 are double and single varieties, both with white 

 and with blue flowers; the double white Throat- 

 wort (C. trachilium,) and the double while glo- 

 merata, all of which grow from 2 to 3 feet high. 

 Taller kinds are grandis (blue,) lactifiora (milky 

 white,) and pyramidalis (both white and blue va- 

 rieties;) and of very dwarf sorts there are pulla 

 (dark blue,) pumila (both blue and white,) gar- 

 ganica (blue,) and fragilis (blue.) A biennial 

 species called the Canterbury Bell (C. medium) 

 is also very ornamental. Seeds of this sown about 

 Midsummer will furnish flowering plants for the 

 following season, and amongst them there will 

 probably be different shades of blue as well as 

 while flowers. C. nobilis will be grown as a 

 novelty rather than for eflect, its large pendulous 

 purplish flowers being too dull to be showy. 

 Wahlenbergin (formerly Campanula) grandiflora 

 is a beautiful thing, but very scarce; and Sym- 

 phiandra pendula, another camjianulaceous plant, 

 with white blossoms and a dwarf, drooping habit, 

 deserves cultivation. Pentslemons are all pretty, 

 but unfortunately the best of them are the most 

 tender. Scouleri, venustus, glandulosus, ovatus, 

 and speciosus, have handsome blue flowers, espe- 

 cially the latter, which however, is so delicate, 

 that, to have it in perfection, seedling plants 

 should be grown in pots through the winter, and 

 turned out in spring; treated thus, it makes a 

 splendid bed. Campanulatus and atropurpureus 

 differ chiefly in the colour of their dull purple 

 flowers, the latter being the darkest. Digitalis 

 is more robust, growing upwards of 3 feet high in 

 good soil, and has white flowers. Hesperis ma- 

 tronalis (the Rocket) has two double varieties, 

 one with white, and the other with purple flowers, 

 which ought to be cultivated extensively, espe- 

 cially the white one. Being short-lived plants, 

 a young stock must be kept up by putting in 

 cuttings about mid-summer, after the bloom is 

 over. Hedysarum coronarium (the French Honey- 

 suckle) is one of the most showy of Papilionace- 



