VERONICA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



VERONICA. 



765 



carpet plants, with flowers mostly of 

 a blue shade, but sometimes rose or 

 dull white ; others are vigorous peren- 

 nials with rigid flower-spikes of similar 

 colours ; while a third group, mainly 

 from New Zealand, are evergreen 

 shrubs ranging in height from a few 

 inches to many feet, and most variable 

 in character. It happens that in all 

 these classes plants of the same species 

 differ so much that their correct naming 

 is difficult. Forming two such wholly 

 distinct groups, we shall describe the 

 shrubby New Zealand kinds and the 

 herbaceous perennials in classes apart. 



With the exception of two or three 

 kinds these are all from New Zealand, 

 where they form a large part of the 

 vegetation, completely covering the 

 hillsides in many places. Few shrubs 

 are more easily increased and grown 

 than many of these shrubby Speed- 

 wells, and hence their wide use in our 

 gardens, in spite of the fact that few are 

 fully hardy inland, and that with every 

 hard winter thousands perish. But it 

 is so easy to hold cuttings in reserve, 

 and young plants so quickly repair 

 these losses, that occasional destruction 

 is less serious than it would be with 

 many other plants. The smaller kinds, 

 drawn from greater elevations, are less 

 tender than the leafy shrubs of the 

 coast region ; they carry small tough 

 leaves, often Box-like, and, being 

 hardy in all save the coldest winters, 

 are for their distinct colour and neat 

 growth valuable in the rock garden. 

 They are somewhat more particular as 

 to soil and position than the larger- 

 leaved kinds, preferring ground that 

 is open and well drained. These kinds 

 merge into an alpine group found 

 at a considerable elevation, at which 

 likeness to their fellows is largely lost, 

 the tiny trees (for such they are) 

 appearing like Heaths, Conifers, or 

 mosses. Though beautiful and of 

 great interest, these little plants 

 seldom thrive inland, though they 

 flourish in seaside gardens. 



At the seaside few plants are more 

 useful than the large shrubby Veroni- 

 cas, which fear neither winds nor salt 

 spray. Cuttings of the young shoots 

 root easily at almost any season, while 

 many kinds seed freely and sow them- 

 selves in the border. The mountain 

 kinds mostly flower in early summer, 

 and are then attractive, but many of 

 the larger kinds bloom best in autumn 

 and winter, proving of value for cutting 

 and for greenhouse decoration at a 

 dull season, the colours of the newer 



I named varieties being a great advance 

 | on the mauves and purples of past 

 ' days. 



The following are the most distinct 

 of the shrubby kinds : 



V. AMPLEXICAULIS. A low, ej:ect, or 

 semi - trailing shrub, its stout branches 

 densely set with grey stem-clasping leaves. 

 The white flowers appear as short dense 

 spikes studded with blue anthers. 



Verbas, 



V. ANDERSONI. Stout leafy shrub 

 raised as a hybrid, and most useful near 

 the sea, though tender even there in hard 

 winters. The hills round Queenstown 

 Harbour were once covered with this 

 shrub plants 8 feet high and 20 feet in 

 diameter yet all perished in one cold 

 season. There are several varieties with 

 flowers in shades of blue, lilac, and crimson, 

 and one with variegated leaves. 



V. BIDWILLII. A little creeping shrub, 

 spreading carpet-like beside the mountain 

 streams of its own land, and changing 

 into sheets of pink, white, or pale violet 

 flowers in July. It is best in the upper 

 part of the rock garden, where its neat 

 leaves are attractive the year through, 

 and unhurt in any ordinary winter. 



