292 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[OOTOBEE, 



rhinums are still as gaudy as Petunias, and of the 

 pretty little Dicentra eximia some plants in leaf 

 and flower are now better than ever, whereas 

 others in the same border are done for a season. 



It is not on our altogether-hardy plants, how- 

 ever, that we are too look for a show at this sea- 

 son, when we have annuals of every color, 

 amongst which as blues Wahlenbergia gracilis and 

 Browallia viscosa are particularly floriferous, 

 fresh, lasting, and handsome; also, the mass of 

 everybody's plants as Dahlias, Daturas (D. me- 

 teloides especially), Cannas, Caladium esculen- 

 tum. Gladioli, Tigridias, Salvias, Verbena venosa. 

 Marvel of Peru, Coral Plants, Century Plants, and 

 many others that may be wintered in a dry cel- 

 lar and transplanted thence to the open ground 

 on the approach of summer. Besides, our gar- 

 dens are all aglow with Morning Glories, Man-of- 

 the-Earth Creepers, Cypress Vines, Calystegias, 

 Wild Balsam-Apple Vines and Clematises, that 

 need neither protection nor care beyond thinning 

 and training. 



Phlox paniculata and vars., perhaps the finest 

 plant of the season. From two to four feet high, 

 of every shade of color, from the purest white 

 to the deepest red, and thrives almost anywhere 

 but in bogs — in the field or the garden. Consid- 

 ering the great perfection of some of the im- 

 proved varieties now in cultivation, surely ama- 

 teurs generally might give tbem place to the 

 old purple. They propagate easily by dividing 

 the old stools just as they begin to grow, when 

 a little leaf-soil or light, rich earth helps them 

 greatly. 



P. Drummondii, a Texas annual and a perpetual 

 bloomer. Sown in the open ground towards 

 the end of May or raised under glass and trans- 

 planted thence it thrives equally well. In the 

 South it self-sows itself. It is hard to fix the 

 true species, colors, as I have seen as many varie- 

 ties of it growing wild in Texas as I ever saw 

 cultivated in Northern or European gardens. 

 The Texans are fond of the brilliantly colored 

 and variegated-flowered kinds which they per- 

 mit a place in their yards, but the others they 

 ruthlessly chop out. 



Liilium speciosum, a Japanese lily, from two to 

 four feet high, ofte»i grown in pots, but perfectly 

 hardy. The flowers are rosy-white, spotted with 

 purplish red, from three to twelve on a stem, 

 and sweet-scented. Amongst dwarf shrubs, in 

 the borders or choicest flower-beds it is equally 

 applicable and deserving. On Craigie street, 

 close by, is an old neglected garden round a 



" house to let " with a large bed of these lilies all 

 ablaze amongst the weeds, a splendid sight. 



Funkia subcordata, the White Day Lily is now 

 in its hey-day. It has long, funnel-shaped, pure 

 white, fragrant flowers, and large, pale green 

 leaves. It likes a free, well-drained soil. 



F. ovata albo-marginata, somewhat like a me- 

 dium-sized blue day lily, but blooms later. 



Lobelia cardinalis, a most beautiful late-bloom- 

 ing native perennial, some two feet high, in erect 

 racemes of brilliant red flowers. Our plants are 

 in a very damp, shady spot, where they do well, 

 but they would also thrive in an ordinary moist 

 border. They are best divided and replanted 

 every year. 



L. syphilitica, also a native, nearly as tall as L. 

 cardinalis, blue-flowered, on a leafy raceme. Re- 

 quires treatment like the preceding. 



Aqnilrgia chrysantha, that best of all of Co- 

 • lumbines — the Rocky Mountain Yellow, is still 

 in bloom. Some of the old plants are densely 

 flowered and well-leaved, whilst others are 

 sparsely bloomed and shabbily foliaged. This 

 year's plants and those early cut back are good 

 and fresh. 



Euphorbia marginata, a western annual two to 

 three feet high and very showj'. The leaves are 

 margined with white, and those crowded amongst 

 the flower-cups are very broadly white, and the 

 corolla-like appendages are purely white. It 

 seeds freely and grows so readily from seeds 

 that it self-sows itself 



E. corollata, a perennial and a little dwarfer 

 than the preceding, also a native. The leaves 

 are linear and green and the flowers in corymbose 

 umbels are surrounded with five pure white cor- 

 olla-like appendages. A verj' showy plant. 



Campamdas are past their best, still C. Carpathi- 

 ga is very fine ; C. rotundifolia moderately good ; 

 C. rapunculoides blooming wherever it can get a 

 chance to exist — as a weed anywhere ; and the 

 C. persicsefolia, blue and white, that were trans- 

 planted last spring. In reference to C. Carpa- 

 thica, INIr. Patterson, of Watertown, tells me that 

 it is one of the best pot plants for conservatories 

 in early spring, he having grown it for that pur- 

 pose for many yeai-s. 



Statices, — S. latifolia, the great sea lavender, 

 from twenty to thirty inches high, in tall, broad 

 panicles of greyish-blue flowers, arising from a 

 rosette of deep green leaves ; S. incana, the hoary 

 sea lavender with broad corymbose panicles of 

 red and grey flowers; and S. Limonium var. 

 Carolinianum about fifteen to eighteen inches 



