Hay 33, 1867. ] 



JOURNiL OF HOBTICULTOBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



358 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 

 of 



Month 



23 

 24 



25 



27 

 28 

 29 



"o? 



Week. 



Th 

 F 



S 



SCN 



M 

 Td 



w 



MAY 23—49, 1867. 



MeetinRof Roy:il nntl Zoo. SoCB., 8.80 P.M. 

 QnEEN Victoria Bokn, 18 9. Anniver- 

 [siry of Linneaa Society, 3 p.m. 

 Cryetal Paliice Show. 

 Rogation Sunday. 



Anniversary Mtg. oJ Royal Geographical 



[Society, 1 P.M. 



Royal Botanic Society's Show. 



Ram in 



last 

 40 years. 



Days. 

 14 

 11 



15 

 17 

 22 

 15 

 13 



Son 

 Rises. 



m. h. 



Oat 4 



69 3 



58 3 



SS 3 



55 3 



54 3 



63 3 



Snn 



Sets. 



m. h. 



53 at 7 



54 7 



Moon 

 Rises. 



in. b. 

 35afll 



Moon 



Sets. 



m. h. 

 3a(8 

 2 9 



S 10 

 7 11 

 after. 

 25 1 

 36 2 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 

 19 

 20 



21 



23 



24 

 25 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



3 32 



3 2S 



3 23 



S 16 



3 in 



3 3 



Day 



of 



Year. 



148 

 144 



145 

 146 

 147 

 148 

 149 



From observations taken near London during the last forty years, the average day temperature of th< 

 nperntare 44.1^. The greatest heat was 91", on the 28th, 1847 ; and the lowest cold 25', on the ii9th, 1864. 



temperature 

 97 inch 



week is 67.2^; and its nighl 

 The greatest fall of rain was 



MERITS AND CULTURE OF HARDY 

 PERENNIALS. 



ERBACEOUS plants have 

 for some yeare been almost 

 discarded from the flower 

 garden, their place being 

 supplied by plants of ten- 

 der habit exhibited in masses 

 of one kind or colour ; and to such au extent has this 

 replacement been carried that the mere mention of the 

 herbaceous border causes a smile. By many gardeners 

 herbaceous plants are looked upon as well enough in a 

 shrubbery border, and in some prominent situation in the 

 flower garden when nothing better can be had ; whilst to 

 many they are only known by name, and yet these too 

 often are most extravagant in their denunciation of them. 

 The advocates of the new system are fullyjustified in banish- 

 ing herbaceous plants from beds or borders where the dis- 

 position of the ground is geometrical or symmetrical ; but 

 their objections to such plants having a place at all in an 

 irregular flower garden seem to me to be quite indefensible. 

 It is all very well to have gardens %vhollj' planted for etl'eet : 

 it is, I admit, the most beautiful and attractive mode ; but 

 is there no beauty in the flower of the herbaceous plant? 

 Has it no charms of scent, of form, and of colour ? It may 

 be asked. Are herbaceous borders in winter uninteresting ? 

 I contend that even then they have an interest which bare 

 earth, such as results in the bedding-out system, never 

 gave. Even many of the most ardent admirers of the 

 massing system now seek to maintain its superiority by 

 pressing into their service those hardy perennials capable, 

 from the character of their foliage or profusion of bloom, of 

 superseding plants which are ill suited for enduring the 

 vicissitudes of our climate. The most beautiful and en- 

 during, as regards wiiul and rain, of tlie plants used for 

 massing are old favourites, and many of them liardy peren- 

 nials ; and I am persuaded that with a return of the latter 

 to their legitimate place in gardens we shall lind their 

 numbers rapidly increase, and the labour and expense of 

 winteinng bedding or tender plants considerably lessened. 



The cultiu-e of hardy perennials woidd seem to many to 

 be one of the simplest of garden matters, if an opinion may 

 be formed from the position usually assigned to them. 

 Any out-of-the-way place is thought good enough for her- 

 baceous plants, and very often we find them associated 

 with flowering shrubs, or a border is devoted to them with 

 forest trees at the back. As a consequence many plants 

 of the best species die off, and being replaced by others 

 less choice, whilst the exhaustion of the soil is still going 

 on, the appearance of the border rapidly deteriorates. 

 Partly from the unsuitable situations in which herbaceous 

 plants are placed, and in part from the little care bestowed 

 No. 821-— Vol. XII., New Sejues. 



upon them when in a favourable one, the impression has 

 been made on many that these plants are poor at their 

 best ; many, too, do not care for them because they are 

 not interested in plants, all they want being abundance of 

 gaudy flowers when everybody has masses of red, wlute, 

 and blue. 



I do not wish to run down bedding plants or the system 

 of planting in masses, but to point out a means of render- 

 ing that system more attractive, and aflbrding greater 

 enjoyment than at present, by reducing the space devoted 

 to them, filling the beds better, and having the plants 

 and all about them in higher keeping. On the other hand, 

 it is foreign to my views to set up herbaceous plants as 

 superior to bedding plants. Tliese are most fitting for 

 geometrical gardens, and the borders adjoining should be 

 filled Iwith kindred subjects : but to thrust into borders 

 whose surroundings are of a different style a class of plants 

 well suited for geometrical groups seems to me a want of 

 taste. Hardy perennials are not recommended for a par- 

 terre or geometrical group, but I strongly advocate de- 

 voting a border to them wherever it will not interfere with 

 the system of grouping ; and such a border, I am convinced, 

 may not only be rendered gay, but will be very interesting 

 to many from a variety of flowers unfolding their charms 

 day byday in succession for a large part of the year. 



The place for a mixed border or group of perennials is 

 not tlie beds or borders of a geometrical or architectural 

 flower garden ; these are for groups or masses of profuse- 

 blooming spring and summer-flowering plants. As regards 

 such no alteration should be made, except by concentrat- 

 ing the materials and labour wasted in extending the sys- 

 tem to unsuitable positions. " Where, then, are we to have 

 our groups and borders of hardy perennials ? " Tlie answer 

 is simple. " Have you no other ground besides a geome- 

 trical flower garden '.'" " No." "Then you have no place 

 for hardy perennials ; do not attempt to grow them." _" Yes, 

 I have a long border by the walk leading to the kitchen 

 garden :" another has a border by the side of a walk roimd 

 an irregular flower garden, a third has a border, and 

 another all these and beds in addition, which are filled, 

 and often very badly, with bedding plants, but not because 

 they are necessary for the design or surroundings, but 

 simply because it" is the fashion. Now these positions 

 may or may not be suitable for hardy perennials : for, 

 1st, The situation should be open, not shaded by trees, or 

 but partially shaded by those at a distance ; 2nd, It should 

 be sheltered from winds by a wall or trees at a distance, 

 and should not be bleak ; 3rd, The soil should be good, 

 deep, and well drained, and not occupied by the roots of 

 trees and large shrubs. If the borders have these essentials 

 herbaceous plants will thrive in them ; but if they are open 

 and bleak, the choicer kuids will not grow well, and if 

 shaded only plants requiring shade will succeed. If the soil 

 is occupied by the roots of trees or large shrubs, only the 

 commonest and more robust species shotdd be planted. 



The situation of a border for herbaceous plants may have 



any aspect. I write solely from experience, having found 



a majority of them thrive in a north border as well as and 



even better than in one with a southern aspect. If not 



No. 978.— Vol. XXXVII., Old Semes. 



