For June, 1922 



177 



form, feature and complexion among women as the Co- 

 lumbine is in form and color among flowers? What is 

 the form of the Columbine blossom, do you ask? We 

 suggest that you get a Columbine bloom and study its 

 form carefully, and then take your pencil and paper and 

 try to describe it for yourself. We ourselves despair of 

 giving such a description of its form as to bring it clearly 

 before the mind's e}'e of one who has never seen it. Aqui- 

 Icgia cccriilca, the long-spurred Columbine, has large sky- 

 blue flowers ; alba, a variety of this, has white and florc 

 plow, another variety, double blooms. Aquilegia chrys- 

 anfha. the Golden-Spurred Columbine, bears clear yellow, 

 delicatelv fragrant flowers. There are several varieties of 

 A. chrysa)itlia. some having nearly white and others yel- 

 low flowers with red spurs. A. chrysantha' has a long 

 season of bloom beginning in May and continuing till 

 August. A. riilgaris has white flowers, whose incurved 

 spurs are knobbed at their ends ; there are varieties of 

 this whose flowers are in several shades of blue and pink. 



The nc tins ultra blue flower of June is the Delphinium, 

 the I'erennial Larkspur, of which there are several spe- 

 cies and many hybrids. Delphinium flowers are borne on 

 long stalks and are excellent for cutting. For massing 

 against shrubbery and in the border Delphiniums are very 

 effective. D. Bellodonna has sky-blue flowers with white 

 centers; D. formosum flowers of deep blue with white 

 centers and violet spurs ; D. sincnse flowers of gentian- 

 blue and its variety, album pure white flowers. The Eng- 

 lish hybrid Delphiniums show a range of color from 

 lightest blue to dark purple with white, gray, black and 

 blue centers. The flowers of these hybrids are borne on 

 very tall, branching, erect stems. 



Digitalis, whose most common English name is Fox 

 Glove — originally Folk's Glove, that is the "fairy folk" — 

 but which actually has eighteen other common names is 

 an effective June-flowering plant in the border and 

 against shrubbery. Its specific name is purpurea, and 

 that of its variety gloxiniicflora its varietal name being 

 given it as its flowers resemble in form those of Gloxinia. 



Digitalis is a biennial rather than a perennial generally, 

 and the best way to treat it is to sow seeds of it everj' 

 year or to allow some floavers to go to seed and self-sow. 

 The pure white-flowered variety is the most desirable, 

 but purple and pink-flowered blooms also are attractive. 



Two species of HcinevocaUis bloom in Jime, H. Mid- 

 dcudorfii, the Yellow Day Lily, whose lily-like flowers are 

 bright yellow and are borne in clusters of two to four on 

 tall erect stalks ; H. flava, the Lemon Lily, whose fragrant 

 lemon-yellow lily-shaped blooms are carried in clusters of 

 six to eight on upright stalks two feet or more tall. The 

 butterflies and the humming birds call frequently on this 

 Lemon Lily. 



Lychnis chalccdouica, a plant with at least a dozen 

 common names, some of which are Scarlet Cross, Jeru- 

 salem Cross and Scarlet Lightning, opens in June its ter- 

 minal clusters of extremely brilliant scarlet flowers borne 

 on hairy stems two or three feet tall. There is a double 

 form, florc plcno. fttlly as handsome as the species. This 

 Lychnis, the petals of whose flowers form a ^Maltese 

 cross, is perfectly hardy and thrives alike in sun and 

 shade in any good soil. There is another species, L. 

 ziscosa, var. splrndcns, whose small rosy-red flowers are 

 bonie in clusters on stems a foot high. This is called 

 Catchfly, because it has sticky spots on its stems. This 

 resists drought well and is suitable for a rock garden. 



Of the June-flowering plants which have daisy-shaped 

 blooms the Gaillardia is the most desirable of all. The 

 petals of its large flowers, which are borne on stout stems 

 about two feet high, are at their tips a brilliant yellow, 

 but at their base maroon or red. These flowers are ex- 

 cellent for cutting. Gaillardias require free air and full 



sunlight and a well-drained soil. They bloom not only 

 through June but continue till heavy frosts come. 



Pyrcthruui hybridum also has flowers of a daisy-like 

 form, some single, others double with a range of color 

 from pure white to rich crimson ; the centers of the single 

 are yellow. The blooms are fine for cutting. Pyrethrum 

 recjuires a well-dramed sandy loam, and the full sunlight. 



How long, U Flowers of June, would you keep us, if 

 we should speak even briefly of you all? We have men- 

 tioned a few of you which we consider most excellent and 

 which we most admire, but we are not unmindful or un- 

 appreciative of the more than one hundred others of you 

 which hold up your pretty faces to us, as we walk through 

 garden or field, and fill the air with your sweet odors and 

 contribute your part to June's floral supremacy. 



WHAT IS A GARDEN? 



{Continued from page 172) 

 and gardeners call this "accidental" but to me it is the 

 generous gratitude of the garden. Needless to say I 

 shall always try to have them there and probably either 

 fail entirely, or get them glaring red, double varieties. 



And so it is. We plan and struggle, we care and tend,, 

 but Nature comes along and once destroys, another time- 

 assists and teaches us. We put our force and individu- 

 ality into the garden, and then it asserts its own vigor, 

 and stamps us out. 



These are the things that make a garden and put to 

 rout our designs and blueprints. We cannot give our 

 gardens over to chance, and wait for such accidental 

 successes, but we can allow these things a little play. 

 They are always easily enough remedied '\i they go amiss. 

 They are part of the game and half of the fuii. It is the 

 garden's own assertion, its very spirit. Give it a chance. 



HOW EVERYONE CAN HELP THE 

 WILD-FLOWERS 



The adequate protection of our wild-flowers so that a 

 sufficient supply will be preserved for the enjovment of 

 future generations depends today on co-operation by 

 everybody. There must be developed a general under- 

 standing of what the needs are. Local organizations, 

 where they exist, can answer questions about local needs. 

 Where they do not yet exist, friends of the wild-flowers 

 should combine to organize them. But there are some 

 general rules which should be universally followed. Never 

 gather too many flowers of one kind in" the same locality, 

 however common it may appear. Another rule is to pick 

 the rarer perennials with care. If the roots come' up 

 easily when you pull them, like those of the blue bells, 

 always use a knife or scissors, so that the plant may come 

 up another year even if you have taken away the source 

 of the seeds. Flowers not perennial, like the fringed 

 gentian, should be picked very sparingly, if at all, because 

 the supply of seeds is the only hope of the colony for the 

 future. i3e willing to use occasional complete restraint 

 in the case of especially rare flowers, such as the orchids 

 and the arbutus. Write for general information to the 

 Society for the Preseev.vtion of 

 Native New Exgl.\nd Pl.^xts, 



Horticultural Hall, 



Boston, Mass. 



OUR COVER ILLUSTRATION 



This month's cover illustration is a view of the Wild 

 Flower and Fern Exhibition which was staged at Hor- 

 ticultural Hall, Boston, during ]\Iay. It shows clearly 

 the artistic and natural arrangement of the unique ex- 

 hibition which was described in detail in the May 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. 



