Iris and wood. It is important to remember to plant out seedlings two 

 Columbine years running when first introducing it to a spot, as it is one of 

 those troublesome biennials which take fully two years to flower. 

 Towards the end of the month come the German Irises and 

 the Columbines the common purple Flag is with us the earliest of 

 them all by a week or two, and therefore never to be cast out of 

 the garden for newer or finer sorts. The border illustrated is so 

 filled with Elm roots that it will grow hardly any perennial 

 decently, but the Flag seems to be perfectly content and flowers 

 profusely. Welsh Poppies and Columbines grow rampantly 

 with it, seeding themselves almost too much, and tufted Pansies 

 struggle in the foreground but really want a better soil. The 

 Columbines are mostly a cross between the wild dark sorts and 

 the pure white one, and though the flowers are small compared 

 to the Alpine varieties, they have long stiff stalks holding their 

 heads well above the Flags and give a pretty light look to the 

 bed. We are also trying to establish them in rough grass, 

 hoping to get an effect like a Swiss hay-field enamelled with flowers. 

 They are admirably suited to naturalising in woods or shrubberies 

 where it is not too shady. The pure white one, Aquilegia 

 Vulgaris alba^ a most beautiful variety, is good for picking, looks 

 lovely in large clumps by itself, and comes true from seed. The 

 Alpine varieties are larger in the flower, shorter in the growth, 

 and much less hardy, having a sad way of disappearing 

 altogether. Good drainage is important, and the rockery perhaps 

 the best place for them. They are so lovely it is well worth an 

 effort to grow them well, especially the blue ones, Alp'tna and 

 Cacrulca. Aquilegia Chrysantha, yellow, and Californica 

 Hybrida, orange red, are very useful border varieties, growing 

 about four feet high and flowering a long time. A stock of any 



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