SOME HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS- 



true from seed, and fine varieties have 

 to be increased by division of the roots. 



A. chrysantha, from California, is 

 one of our very finest hardy perennials : 

 the yellow flowers are very large, about 

 2 inches across, with divergent spurs 2 

 to 3 inches long ; they are held well 

 above the leaves on long branching 

 stems. In season from May to August. 



A. caruka is another long-spurred 

 species from the Pacific Coast, with 

 blue and white flowers ; there are many 

 hybrids between it and chrysaiitha, 

 larger than their parents and in great 

 variety of color. 



Delphiniums — Lark<;purs. — There are 

 no plants better suited for a background 

 to the garden border than the tall per- 

 ennial larkspurs. Of these there is no-.v 

 an immense variety of hybrid forms, 

 some dealers listing over 100 named 

 varieties in white, pink, red, palest to 

 deepest blue, lavender and yellow. 

 They have quite supplanted the old 

 specific forms, being larger in flower, 

 closer and longer in the spikes, and 

 finer in colors. 



As it comes somewhat expensive to 

 purchase a good collection of named 

 varieties, most growers prefer to grow 

 them from seed. If a package of the 

 best seed is planted in May in rows, you 

 will have all the plants you want to 

 transplant to their permanent quarters 

 the following spring ; or better still, let 

 them flower in the seed bed, then carefully 

 select the finest specimens and you will 

 soon have as good a collection as if you 

 had bought the high-priced named sorts. 



They vary much in height — from 2 to 

 6 feet — in length of spike, and season 

 of bloom. 



I had a constant succession last sum- 

 mer from early in July to end of Octo- 

 ber. If the spikes are cut off the early 

 flowering sorts when the flowers open, 



they throw out new shoots that blossom 

 later. 



Aconitiim Napellus — Monk's Hood. — 

 The genus Aconitum is a very large one, 

 no less than 63 species, besides many 

 varieties, being described in Nicholson's 

 Dictionary of Gardening, all flowering 

 in terminal racemes and varying in 

 color from white to deepest blue and 

 purple. The best known and most 

 widely cultivated species is A. Napellus, 

 with deep blue flowers, and the variety 

 bicolor with deep blue and white flowers, 

 both grow from 4 to 6 feet high, and make 

 good companions for the tall Delphin- 

 iums at the back of the border. The 

 foliage resembles that of the Delphin- 

 iums, but the flowers are quite different 

 in shape, and are produced in much 

 greater profusion. They are very irreg- 

 ular in form, the upper sepal being 

 much larger than the others and cov- 

 ering the rest of the flower like a monk's 

 cowl or hood, hence the common name. 

 They are perfectly hardy and will thrive 

 anywhere, even under trees or in shade 

 of fence or house, apparently requiring 

 less sunlight than most other flowering 

 plants. 



The roots are extremely poisonous 

 and should not be left lying about ; 

 though not at all like it, they have been 

 mistaken for horseradish. 



CEnothera Lamarckiana — Evening 

 Primrose. — Or more correctly, CE. bien- 

 nis, variety Lamarckiana, a large-flow- 

 ered form of our common wild Evening 

 Primrose. Though generally sold as a 

 perennial, it is really only a biennial, 

 requiring annual planting of seed to 

 secure flowering plants every year : 

 once started, however, there is no trou- 

 ble in getting new plants, as seed is 

 produced in great abundance and new 

 plants grow up all round the parent 

 one. The first season the plant is a 



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