188 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



While tlie ( ierman or Bearded Irises are still in the 

 height of their glory, the paeonies appear, and for the 

 time being overshadow everytliing else. Throughout 

 the month of June their gorgeous blooms, rich with 

 the warmth of their glowing colors and intoxicating in 

 their delightful fragrance, make a universal appeal to 

 all human interest. 



Here again is a field broad enough in its scope to cap- 

 tivate and occupy the undivided attention of anyone 

 who has a tendency to confine himself to some special 

 hobby. I have been giving the preonies my undivided 

 attention for twelve successive Junes, and am just be- 

 ginning to feel that I know them. 



In striking contrast to the pseonies are the stately 

 delphiniums, with their tall spikes of bloom rising to a 

 height of five and six feet, supplying our gardens with 

 a wealth of blue that would be sadly lacking were it 

 not for these magnificent plants, combining the soft 

 azure of the forget-me-not, the rich blue of the Gentian, 

 the sapphire and royal purples, all suffused with a 

 beautiful rose iridescence impossible to describe. Be- 

 ginning in June with the pxonies, they remain with Uh 

 throughout the summer, sending up a succession oi 

 their tall spikes until the end of the season. 



The golden trumpets of the Hemerocallis are an im- 

 portant feature of the garden at this time, forming a 

 pleasing contrast to the blue of the Deliihiniums. be- 

 ginning in May with ^liddendorfii. through June with 

 Florham, Gold' Dust and Flava, into July with Thun- 

 bergii and Luteola, and ending with Ochroleuca and 

 Citrina the last of July. 



Here and there standing out in bold relief against a 

 background of shrubs the Oriental poppies flaunt their 

 dazzling, barbaric colors, commanding instant atten- 

 tion and bidding defiance to everything else in the 

 garden. 



Next to the irises and preonies in importance are 

 the hardy phloxes, which fill in the gap during the late 

 summer and early autumn season, without which our 

 garden would be bare of color. For bold color effects 

 in large masses, they have no equal in their sea_spn of 

 bloom, covering almost every shade Jrom delicate 

 white, flesli and soft pinks, through salmon, orange. 

 and fiery scarlet, to deep blood-red and crimson dark 

 maroon,' purple and amaranthe. There are pale 

 mauves and lilacs, soft blue and lavender, deep laven- 

 der, and the dark metallic blue of "Lord Raleigh," as 

 seen in the morning and evening light, which changes 

 in bright sunlight to the darkest purple. 



In the autumn there are hardy asters, or Michaelmas 

 Daisies as they are called in Europe, which along with 

 the Golden Rod form the color scheme of our glorious 

 American autumn, their solid sheets of blue of every 

 shade and their rich purples contrasting harmoniously 

 with the bright yellow sunflowers and with the golden 

 and bronze of the Heleniums. Following these are the 

 Anemone Japonicas, their masses of white and rose 

 yielding at last to the first hard frost of the autumn. 

 Were it not for the hardy chrysanthemums, the 

 pageant would now come to an end, but in the dull 

 November days when every flower in the garden has 

 succumlaed tothe frost, it holds full sway with a wealth 

 of rich, Oriental colors unaffected by ordinary freezing, 

 the shades of yellow, mahogany, bronzy red and brown, 

 harmonizing with the autumn tints of the woodlands. 

 There are other things without which no hardy gar- 

 den is complete: The Funkias and Trollius in early 

 spring, primroses and Pyrethrums in May, Gaillardias 

 and -Shasta daisies which keep up a mass of bloom all 

 summer, the Rudbeckias and Salvias and \'eronicas. 

 and hundreds of other plants which may be included. 



Init the main display falls upon the class of plants I 

 have enumerated. The other plants could be dispensed 

 with, but no hardy garden could be thought of without 

 having a representative from the list I have gi\en. 



There are bi-ennials whicli are indispensable in the 

 hardy gardens ; the tall hollyhocks, foxgloves, and Can- 

 terbury Bells, but the bi-ennials are transient like the 

 annuals which give us but a short season of bloom and 

 die, and can never gain the same hold on us as the con- 

 stant perennials that may still exist in the old garden 

 where we spent our childhood, planted perhaps by 

 other hands, breathing the spirit of the past into the 

 living present. 



AX EFFEfrnE PI.AXTIXC; OF P.\EOXIES ox PRI\-.\TE ORDl-XDS. 



I never dreamed when I first l)ecame interested in 

 the pcTohv to what extent my admiration would lead 

 me. Fifteen vears ago, I only knew the old-fashioned 

 varieties, commonly seen -in every garden. I thought 

 they were beautiful and I determined to have more of 

 them, and if possible to have a complete collection. 

 No one could be more surprised than I to find that the 

 list of varieties ran into the thousands, or that there 

 existed any such wonderful creations as the varieties I 

 now possess. 



NOTES ON AMARYLLIS HIPPEASTRUM. 



(Continued from /'fl^'f 186.) 

 perature of 60 degrees. For the purpose of getting a 

 number of these bulbs into flower, it is necessary to move 

 them into a higher or lower temperature, according to 

 the development of their spikes. For such purpose the 

 plants may be grown during the summer in frames on the 

 open ground without sash. ^ 



Do you contemplate attending the convention of the 

 Society of American Florists and American Association of 

 Park Superintendents or summer meeting of the National 

 Association of Gardeners in San Francisco? If so, you 

 should study the itinerary of an interesting trip to Cali- 

 fornia in August on page 193, decide on your plans and 

 make your reservations now. 



