46 • HARDY PERENNIALS. 



Zmischneria calif ornica, which promise to be a valuable autumnal ornament of our 

 garden, as it is quite hardy and of very rapid increase, and produces its numerous 

 orange flowers from the end of July until the tops are cut by frost. 



Two or three of the Lythrums (ZytJiracece), are desirable for their free flowering 

 habit; the best are, alatum, dlatum superbum, and virgatum; and one species of 

 CupJiea, a genus belonging to the same Order, we find to be nearly hardy, the 

 strigillosa, which survived the last winter fully exposed in our garden, though we 

 fear that it would hardly bear severe or long continued frost, unless protected by a 

 pot or a covering of leaves. 



A small number of Crassulaceous plants are both hardy and ornamental, prin- 

 cipally of the genus Sedum ; but they are chiefly valuable on account of the rapidity 

 with which they will cover a dry sandy spot, for which they are well adapted. 

 Far more interesting is the Saxifrage tribe, nearly allied to the preceding, which 

 includes some really interesting plants. The very curious Parnassia palustris, 

 belongs to this order, and the various species of Saxifraga, Tiarella, Mitella, and 

 Chrysoplenium, are all neat ornaments of the rockery, to which they are well suited. 

 Being mostly natives of Alpine regions, they are quite hardy, but require a pure 

 air, and should be planted on tbe least exposed side of the rockery. 



"We now pass to a group of Orders of great interest to the cultivator of hardy 

 plants, the monopetalous section, in which the petals of the flower are united so as to 

 form an envelope which may be detached from the flower in one piece. 



At the head of the list may be placed the Composite plants, comprising a host of 

 the most ornamental subjects in cultivation. A mere enumeration of the genera 

 would occupy more space than we can devote to the entire subject; we must, 

 therefore, content ourselves with pointing out, among others, the handsome genus, 

 Liatris, so rarely seen in gardens, and yet so attainable ; the stately Eudbeckias ; 

 the very beautiful North American Asters, of which there are a considerable number 

 of all shades, of blue, purple, and pink ; the pretty Stevias ; the familiar Chrysan- 

 mum ; and the scarcely less common Solidago, or golden-rod. A few of the perennial 

 Coreopsis are little less ornamental than the annual species, and some of the hardy 

 Cinerarias may be admitted into the borders, though they cannot vie in beauty with 

 the dwarfer and more delicate species of the same genus. Among the composite 

 plants of more restricted growth, the genera Gaillardia, Stenactus, Achillea, Cacalia, 

 Podolepis, Tussilago, Hieracinm, Catananche, and Centaurea are the most remarkable, 

 though there are many others to which our limited space forbids any reference. 



The Bell-worts are universal favourites, but so numerous are they, that it would be 

 a hopeless task to attempt to select where all are beautiful. There are not less than 

 two hundred species, of which nearly the whole are hardy, and of such various 

 habits of growth, that subject suited to any situation may be easily chosen. 



The Lobelias must, on no account, be forgotten, including, as they do, some of the 



