18t6.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



261 



HARDY RHODODENDRONS. 



BY X. 



I would remark Mith regard to j'our list of 

 probably hardy kinds of Rhododendrons, that 

 out of eleven there mentioned, commencing 

 wi'oh album grandiflorum and ending with Min- 

 nie, not half are hardy. In this I speak what I 

 know. The remainder will surely disappoint 

 those who plant them. And so of the other 

 lists, and of Mr.W.'s entire collection ; while there 

 were very many grand, hardy plants in it, it 

 must in its future results end in disappointment. 



I could know this by glancing at the leaves 

 while walking around, for the ponticum and 

 arboreum show through the whole collection. 

 I could say more, but add only that the unfortu- 

 nate feature is that the sight of so many beauti- 

 ful fiowers will lead many in their ignorance to 

 plant those half-hardy sorts, and after the first 

 winter they will condemn the whole tribe; 

 whereas, if they had planted such sorts as roseum 

 grandiflorum, album elegans, Everestianuni, &c., 

 they would have had continual enjoyment 

 from them. 



HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS FOR JULY. 



BY WILLIAM FALCONER, BOTANIC GARDEN, CAM- 

 BRIDGE, MASS. 



May and June are the hey-day of hardy herb- 

 aceous plants, but underneath I mention those 

 only that are in bloom now, July 10th, in the 

 gardens here, and which have been wintered 

 without any protection whatever beyond in some 

 cases a light mulching of leaves. Of course, 

 having confined myself to what are actually 

 growing here, I have omitted several valuable 

 seasonable plants, and at the same time I have 

 carefully avoided mentioning any that are not 

 the very cream of our collection ; everything of 

 the " botanical " nature being strictly omitted. 



Aquilegia chrysantho, the finest of all known 

 yellow Columbines, and keeps blooming some 

 weeks after the other kinds have ceased. 



Campanula rotundifolia, or common Harebell, 

 flowers, blue and pretty, dwarfish, and in the 

 rockery or border equally at home. C. Car- 

 pathica, a very fine species, in compact clumps, 

 blooms blue, widely open, and many. Not yet 

 at its best. 



Viola comuta, blue; in free, rich, moist ground, 

 with a little thinning or cutting, blooms un- 



ceasingly from June till October. Much used 

 in Europe as a summer " bedder." Not so apt 

 here. 



Dicentra eximia, charming for borders or rock- 

 work; has rosy purple flowers and fern-like 

 leaves ; nine to fifteen inches high. Amongst the 

 earliest plants to bloom in spring, and even now 

 is only at its best. 



Pentstemon barbatus, a Mexican plant, with 

 long wand-like panicles ofdrooping scarlet flowers. 

 It needs staking, otherwise it looks ragged. P. 

 argutus, two to four feet, flowers purplish and 

 blue, on long panicled stems that, if not timely 

 tied up, become prostrate. Both fine border 

 plants. 



Tradescantia, or Virginian spider-wort, of 

 which there are blue, purple and white kinds, 

 all equally hardy and showy. The white is the 

 scarcest. They are pretty, and will grow almost 

 anywhere, and become naturalized in rough 

 places. 



Aconite or Monkshood, blue, and showy bor- 

 der plants, also Delphiniums in variety. Amongst 

 the finest Delphiniums are Belladonna, pale blue; 

 Hendersoni and formosum, deep blue, and nudi- 

 caule, red. They last well as cut flowers. 



Saponaria officinalis, or common soap wort, 18 

 to 24 inches, with dense panicled bundles of 

 large white or pink-tinged flowers. Showy, and 

 a good border plant. There are variegated- 

 leaved and double-flowered kinds of the same 

 quite as hardy. 



Lychnis chalcedonica, two to three feet, with 

 corymbose clusters of scarlet flowers. There are 

 single and double-flowered varieties of this old- 

 fashioned border plant, varying in color from 

 white to scarlet, but scarlet is the best. 



Dianthus Seguieri, single pink, 12 to 15 inches ; 

 makes a compact and pretty clump, but not so 

 pretty as some of its predecessors. 



Funkia ovata, the blue day lily, makes fine 

 clumps for borders or shrubberies; flowers bluish, 

 arranged unilaterally, and freely borne. 



Hemerocallis fulva, the common day lily, ia 

 suitable for borders, shrubberies, or for natural- 

 ization under trees, or in waste places. 



Hollyhocks are at their best. Of course we 

 have only single sorts, and for ornamental pur- 

 poses the intensely colored doubly sorts are the 

 most appropriate, and quite as hardy. 



Yucca filamentosa, a common but noble plant, 

 with tall, tree-like flower, stem laden with yel- 

 lowish white blooms. I lately saw a pretty 

 eff"ect produced on a sunny slope by having 



