732 



HERBARIUM 



perianth tube. The showy outer segments are about 1 

 in. long, and obovate, the inner ones about as long as 

 the stameiis. For culture, consult Hulbs and Tigridia. 

 Mon. by Baker, Iridea;, 1892. 



pulch^Ua, Sweet. Bulb globose, Jo in. thick or more; 

 tunics brown: Ivs. about 4, linear, plaited, ^-6 in. long: 

 spathes !'.< in. long: outer segments lilac, with a white 

 claw spotted lilac. Chile. B.M. 3862. 



HERB LILIES. Alstrwmeria. 



HERB OF GRACE. Biita graveolens. 



HERB-P4RIS. Paris quadrifolia. 



HERB-PATIENCE. See Bumex. 



HERB-ROBERT. Geranium Bobertianum. 



HERBS. An Herb is a plant which dies to the ground 

 each year. It may be annual, as bean, candytuft, pig 

 weed; biennial, as mullein, parsnip; perennial, as bur 

 dock, foxglove, rhubarb. To the gardener, however, 

 the word Herb is ordinarily synonymous with herba- 

 ceous perennial; and he usually has in mind those par- 

 ticular perennial Herbs which are grown for ornament, 

 and which remain where they are planted. Goldenrods, 

 bleeding heart, sweet william, hollyhock, daffodils are 

 examples. To many persons, however, the word Herb is 

 synonymous with Sweet Herb, and it suggests sage and 

 tansy. 



Herbs have two kinds of values, — their intrinsic merits 

 as individual plants, and their value in the composition 

 or the mass. It is usually possible to secure both these 

 values at one and the same time. In fact, the individual 

 beauty of Herbs is enhanced rather than diminished by 

 exercising proper care in placing them. Planted with 

 other things, they have a background, and the beauties 

 are brought out the stronger by contrast and compari- 

 son. It is quite as important, therefore, to consider the 

 place for planting as to choose the particular kinds of 

 plants. The appreciation of artistic etfects in plants is 

 a mark of highly developed sensibilities. Happily, this 

 appreciation is rapidly growing; and this fact contrib- 

 utes to the increasing popularity of landscape gardening 

 and ornamental gardening. Some of the best effects in 

 Herb planting are to be seen in the wild, particularly 

 along fences, roads and streams. In interpreting these 

 native effects, liie planter must remember that Herbs 

 are likely to giow larger and moie bushy in cultivation 

 than in the wild He should cover the bare and un- 

 seemly places al)out the holders 

 of his pUce(Fi„ 1042) He may 

 utilize a rock or a w ill as a bick 

 ground (Fig 104JI He may hide 

 the ground line about a post (Fig 



1042. An informal Herb herd 



1U44) or along a fence. Some of the commonest Herbs 

 are handsome when well grown and well placed. (See 

 Fig. 1045.) Always pl.ant where the Herbs will have 

 relation to something else, — to the general design or 

 handling of the place. This will usually be about the 



HERBS 



boundaries. The hardy border is the unit in most plant- 

 ing of herbs. See Figs. 1042, 1046. A rockwork Herb 

 border (Fig. 1047) is often useful in tbe rear or at one 

 side of the premises. Fill some of the corners by the 

 house (Fig. 1048). In remote parts of the grounds, half- 

 wild effects may be allowed, as in Fig. 1049. A pond or 



1043 PUnt ng aga 



etc back ground 



pool, even if stagnant, often may be utilized to advan- 

 tage (Fig. 10.50). A good Herb out of place may be worse 

 than a poor Herb in place. But when Herbs are grown 

 for their individual effects, give plenty of room and 

 good care: aim at a perfect specimen (Figs. 1051, 1052). 

 For further hints on related subjects, see Landscape 

 Gardening; a\so Harder. L H B 



Herbaceous Perennials from the Landscape Ar- 

 phitect's Point of View. — No clear definition can be 

 drawn between herbaceous perennials, biennials rnd an- 

 nuals, between Herbs and woody plants, for there are ten- 

 der Herbs that would in a warmer climate become 

 shrubs or even trees, biennials that become perennials 

 from stolons or offsets, and annuals that become bien- 

 nials from seed germinating late in the season. Strictly 

 speaking, however, herbaceous perennials are plants 

 having perennial roots with tops that die to the ground 

 annually, such as the columbines, larkspurs, day-lilies, 

 peonies, and most sedges, grasses and ferns. It is cus- 

 tomary, however, in publications relating to this class of 

 plants as well as in actual use, to include closely allied 

 species with evergreen foliage, such as statice, yucca, 

 sempervivuins and certain pentstenions, together with 

 plants having more or less woody and persistent above- 

 ground stems, such as the suflruticose artemisias and 

 the evergreen creeping species of phlox, veronica, 

 vinca, the iberis, the helianthemums, and many alpine 

 plants, while most bulbous-rooted plants which are true 

 herbaceous perennials are separately classified and 

 grown as bulbs. 



Herbaceous perennials are an exceedingly important 

 element of landscape, for they predominate in the mat 

 of grassy or sedgy plants, covering dry or wet open 

 fields and in the surface vegetation under woods and, 

 shrubby thickets, either as a grass crop, composed of a 

 comparatively few species cultivated for economic pur- 

 poses, or as a wild growth made up of many species. 

 The most attractive of these native plants are being 

 cultivated and improved more and more from year to 

 year for ornamental purposes, and are planted in the 

 ilower garden, in artificial plantations of shrubbery and 

 in the wild garden. It is to such natives and to exotics 

 of the same class, which are cultivated for a similar 

 purpose, that reference is to be made hereafter. 



Fifty years ago nearly every well-to-do family main- 

 tained a flower garden, in which there were from 50 to 

 150 species and varieties of herbaceous perennials, and 

 there were few of the humbler families that did not 

 have a dozen or more species established about their 

 homes. Such plants were distributed by exchange 

 among neighbors and were propagated anri offered at 

 retail by dealers, who, however, gradually allowed their 

 stock of plants to run lowor abandoned them altogether, 

 until many kinds dropped out of cultivation or were 

 neglected in favor of the tender "bedding out " plants 

 that were brought suddenly into favor by the displays 

 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. 



There has been, particularly during the last 15 years, 

 such an increasing interest in herbaceous perennials 

 that there are now offered in the catalogues of American 



