Sa Si a Na ae rl a a a ln 
OUT-DOOR HERBACEOUS PLANTS. Oce 
them allis very striking,and that the old cheap varieties are as good 
as any of them. The dwarf irises are very satisfactory, too. You 
- cannot well have too many daffodils—even though they need a little 
j winter protection. The old fashioned yellow daffodil, called by flor- 
ists, narcissus Van Sion, is one of the hardiestand best. It was this 
plant I believe that Wordsworth had in mind when he wrote: 
‘“*T wandered lonely as a cloud, 
; That floats on high o’er vales and hills, 
When all at once I saw a crowd— 
Ahost of yellow daffodils, 
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 
~ Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. 
Continuous as the stars that shine 
And twinkle in the milky way, 
They stretched in never ending line 
Along the margin of a bay: 
Ten thousand saw I ata glance 
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. 
The waves beside them danced, but they 
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:— 
A poet could not but be gay 
In such a jocund company! 
I gazed and gazed but little thought 
What wealth the show to me had brought. 
For oft, when on my couch I lie 
In vacant or in pensive mood, 
They flash upon that inward eye 
Which is the bliss of solitude, 
And then my heart with pleasure fills 
And dances with the daffodils.” 
The perennial phloxes are very desirable, especially the scarlet ‘ 
and the white varieties, but they need water supply; and if you can 
get your windmill at work and water them well, you will havea 
magnificent show all through the late summer and autumn. They 
respond wonderfully to water. The old fashioned moss-pink (Phlox 
sublata) in its several varieties is a very useful spring flower. The 
achilleas are very hardy and useful. A. millefolium roseum is as 
hardy as our native yarrow and produces interesting pink flowers. 
Achilea ptarmica var. The pearl is one of our most interesting 
white flowers and is perfectly hardy. 
Anemones have rarely been planted in prairie gardens, but our , 
native pasque flower, Anemone patens var. Nuttaliana, does well in 
cultivation. It is the first flower of spring over a large part of the 
state, and is always interesting. 
Our wild columbine, Aquiligia Canadensis, does well in the gar- 
den if somewhat sheltered. It seems to be more at home in the 
crevices of a pile of stones. 
Asclepias verticelliata, the whorled milkweed, is common on dry 
bluffs in western Minnesota. It is an interesting plant, and is culti- 
vated and appreciated in Eastern gardens. It ought to be planted 
in our Minnesota gardens. 
Many species and varieties of campanula are useful in the prairie 
flower gardens. They may be easily grown from seed, and needa 
little winter protection. They will flower the second year from the 
seed. 
