Commercial Gardening 



An ornamental South African water plant with floating oblong leaves and 

 forked spikes of white sweet-scented flowers in winter. It is propagated 

 by careful division of the tuberous rootstocks in spring, and from seeds. 



Aquilegia. The Columbines are charming border plants, and a good 

 trade is done in the "roots" and also the cut spikes of bloom, especially 

 in the hybrid long-spurred varieties that have been evolved from such 

 species as chrysantha, coerulea, glandulosa, sibirica, Skinneri, and vulgaris. 

 These garden forms have a great range of colour, and the larger the flowers, 

 the longer the "spurs", and the cleaner and clearer the colours the better 



chance of selling. Muddy or con- 

 fused coloured varieties are likely to 

 be a drug in the market. 



Aquilegias, or Columbines as many 

 prefer to call them, are easily grown 

 in rich and deeply dug garden soil, 

 from 30,000 to 40,000 plants going 

 to an acre. They are easily raised 



# I JIMr^ljg5F*ffii&>fy^ from seeds sown when ripe or in 



^tr^jOTH^Bs^Pgli^^' *^" spring in shallow drills, afterwards 

 r r^^^SSKS^^S^^S^!^ pricking out the seedlings when about 



3 in. high into lines about 6 in. apart, 

 and transplanting the following year 

 at least 1 ft. apart, although 18 in. 

 will not be too much when it is in- 

 tended to grow the plants for cut 

 flowers only. Particularly good va- 

 rieties are best increased by division 

 in early autumn, as they are not likely 

 to come true from seeds. The follow- 

 ing species and varieties may be 

 noted: A. alpina, 1 ft., deep blue, 

 May; A. atropurpurea, 2-3 ft., deep 

 purple, June; Bertoloni, 1 ft., blue, 

 June; A. chrysantha, 3-4 ft., yellow; 



A. coerulea, 1-1J ft., blue and white (fig. 184); A. californica (or A. for- 

 mosa), 2-3 ft., bright orange-red; A. glandulosa, 1-2 ft., deep blue, and 

 Stuarti, a fine blue-and- white form; A. sibirica, 1-2 ft., bright lilac, with 

 an attractive double variety; A. Skinneri, 2-3 ft., scarlet, yellow, and 

 orange; and A. vulgaris, 1J-3 ft., with blue, purple, or white flowers. 

 There are several double forms in which one or more corollas are placed 

 inside each other. 



Arabis albida. Of late years the double-flowered form of this easily- 

 grown hardy perennial has completely driven the single-flowered variety 

 out of the market. It is an evergreen plant with masses of grey-green 

 bluntly-toothed leaves which form a carpet on the ground, the flower 

 spikes about 6 in. high standing well above them, and appearing early 



Fig. 184. Aquilegia coerulea 



