164 



GARDEN FLOWERS. 



shaded spots along banks and moist spots will doubtless 

 stand our summers. 



Dicentraspectabilis, sometimes called Dielytraspectabilis, 

 is one of the bleeding-hearts that appears in spring and 



blooms on into early 

 summer. It is one 

 of the best-known 

 and most charming 

 of herbaceous plants, 

 with graceful, droop- 

 ing racemes of heart- 

 shaped flowers of 

 rosy crimson and 

 silvery white. It 

 grows one to two 

 feet high, and comes 

 from Northern Chi- 

 na. There are some 

 pretty spring-bloom- 

 ing irises, cristata, the crested dwarf iris, is one of them. 

 It is a little native plant growing only three to six inches 

 high, with large pale-blue flowers. Then there is Iris 

 pumila, a little taller, six to nine inches high, with 

 yellow, white, and blue flowers in early spring. Iris verna 

 (vernal iris) is another dwarf species, three to eight inches 

 high, from the South, with violet-blue flowers in May. It 

 is very fragrant, and is a rare and desirable sort. All these 

 little spring irises are well fitted for planting in rock-work. 

 The spring meadow saffron ( Bulbocodium vernum) is per- 

 haps the earliest-flowering hardy bulb, and bears purple 



BLEEDING HEART. 

 (DICENTRA SPECTABILIS.) 



