i894- 



GARDENING. 



83 



HELIAKTHUS MULTIFLORUS FL. PL. 



when we can have the pure whites and 

 blues. But ageratum Forget-me-not, a 

 novelty with pale blue flowers, is verj- 

 iiiteresting on account of its curled, crisp 

 and glossy foliage and its upright growth. 

 "A little uneven in height," as the intro- 

 ducers say of it, but worthy of culti- 

 vation. 



The double perpetual carnations of the 

 Alcgatiere and theChabaud strains sown 

 under glass later than the Margarets, 

 and planted out when large enough, were 

 about equally early, and both nearly as 

 early as the Margarets. There were but 

 few singles in either and they both pre- 

 sent some delicate shades not obsei'ved in 

 the Margarets. A strain of perpetual 

 double yellows also come into bloom a 

 little later than the others and has been 

 very fine. Two other nev.' strains, the 

 Malmaison Margaret and the New Mar- 

 garet were sown, both a little more vig- 

 orous than Margaret, the former produc- 

 ing fineflowersof various shades, scarcely 

 distinguishable from Margarets except 

 perhaps in being a little larger. The New 

 Margaret being later has not bloomed 

 enough to warrant description, but will 

 have a chance in a deep cold frame. These 

 several strains being all equally easy to 

 grovi' with the Margarets appear equally 

 worthy of culture by the lover of summer 

 carnations, but the yellow strain should 

 be sown earlier if possible. They may all 

 be sown and receive the first transplant- 

 ing in a box in a sunny window of the 



dwelling; they will even do without 

 transplanting in the house if not sown 

 too thickly. I had a few Margarets from 

 a greenhouse well started in pots, hoping 

 to get early flowers. They were not 

 much earlier and not as satisfactory as 

 my own seedlings raised in the dwelling. 

 I mention this not to discourage attempts 

 at earliness but to show how easily car- 

 nations may be had without a green- 

 house. Countess of Paris, a yellow per- 

 petual, has not bloomed yet (Nov. S). 



In the summer of 1893 I sowed border 

 carnation seed and wintered the tiny 

 plants in cold frame; they have grown 

 vigorously but only one of them bloomed. 

 I supposed they should be sown in spring 

 to ensure bloom thenext year. Will it be 

 safe to leave them out through the com- 

 ing winter in a sheltered garden? [While 

 we have had them live over winter if pro- 

 tected with leaves and evergreen branches, 

 it really paid us to lift them in fall and 

 plant closely in a cold frame over winter, 

 planting them out again in .\pril.— Ed.] 

 Of the greenhouse carnations early started 

 cuttings of The Stuart, E. Reynolds, Wm. 

 Scott, T. Cartledge, Lilian Abbey, Dr. 

 Smart and Diaz Albertini have given nice 

 flowers in the open air. 



Vilmorin's new strain of fancy varie- 

 gated single dahhas gave large fine flow- 

 ers in single and mixed colors. But many 

 of the buds were abortive. Isthatahvavs 

 so? [During hot summer weather it is 

 quite usual. — Ed.] 



Torenia Fournieri started in the house, 

 transplanted to the open ground and 

 ])otted when coming into flower has been 

 delightful and much admired, and is even 

 now in bright and quite full bloom. It 

 needs plenty of water. 



Cardinal we thought the brightest of 

 all the red and scarlet varieties of Lobb's 

 nasturtiums; the foliage was also the 

 finest of all, being quite dark. 



The variegated Japanese hop growing 

 from seed the same year was much ad- 

 mired, both on a trellis and trained about 

 the bare trunks of trees. 



Is it generally known that Viola cor- 

 niita alba and V. c. Mauve Queen have a 

 delicate sweet fragrance? They have been 

 fine for bedding and edging. E. K. 



Plainfield, N.J. 



fl FEW GOOD HflRUy PERENNIALS. 



[Apapey,,.,.! .l„ld,Cc,„mrlicut. 



Gaydeners ( //^ i 'uihl, and yevised, 



There are so manj-fine hardy perennials 

 that instead of restricting myself to a 

 dozen individuals as I had at first intended, 

 I have included a dozen sorts with some of 

 their nearest relatives. The dozen I have 

 chosen are lily-of-the-valley, pseonies, 

 irises, py rethrums, coreopsis, delphiniums, 

 gypsophila, bellflowers, sunflowers, fun- 

 kias, phloxes and anemones. 



This selection is conspicuous by the 

 alisence of such deserving and popular 

 sorts as columbines, poppies, gaillardias, 

 bleeding heart, fraxinella, pentstemon, 

 upright clematis, everlasting pea, monks- 

 hood, pinks, nionarda, candytuft, asters, 

 and others, together with the host of 

 hardy bulbous plants like tulips, narcissus, 

 lilies and so on. Because I cannot include 

 them all in my dozen does not detract 

 in the least from their merits, if you have 

 some in your garden give them too. 



Hardy plants are the life of a country 

 garden; the more there are of them and 

 the better the selection, the brighter is 

 our garden, the ftiller is our house of cut 

 flowers, and the happier are we for having 

 them. Hardy herbaceous perennials are 

 the class of plants whose roots live over 

 winter year after year, but whose stems 

 die down to the ground every fall like the 

 columbine and delphinium. Our selection 

 of them should extend from the earliest 

 spring from the time of snowdrops, cro- 

 cuses, daffodils, and white rock cress, on 

 through spring, stimmer and fall, till the 

 blue mist flower, white and purple Japan 

 anemones, toad lily, Maximilian's sun- 

 flower. Pitcher's salvia, Siebold's sedum 

 and mountain fleece bring us up till frost 

 again. 



Now it is nonsense to think that all one 

 has got to do with hardy perennials is to 

 stick them into the ground and then they 

 will go ahead growing and blooming for- 

 ever without any further care, for it isn't 

 so; it is with them as it is with roses or 

 greenhouse flowers to have them good 

 we have got to attend to their vi-ants. 

 .\s a rule they like good ground that has 

 been unfastened quite deep and freely 

 fertilized, and while most of them prefer 

 an open place to grow in and sunshine, 

 they object to a scorching hot border ex- 

 posed on all sides to the sweep of the 

 wind. Another thing, to have them do 

 well, don't let them stay too long undis- 

 turbed, that is don't wait till they begin 

 to die out and starve before you lift, 

 divide, and replant them into freshly pre- 

 pared and enriched soil. You needn't make 

 up another border for them, the one they 

 are in will do well enough if you just lift 

 out the plants, dig the spot deep, wide 

 and fine, and replant. Young vigorous 



