280 Landscape Gardening 



inches across) and handsome, ranging from white, mauve, 

 shades of blue to deepest purple and including yellow. 

 The flowers exhibit beautiful variegation and shades of color. 

 The flowers are produced on tall, stout, erect stems above the 

 clumps of spreading leaves. The leaves are heavier and more 

 glaucous than the Japanese. 



There are many other species and varieties of Iris that are 

 desirable in a collection, but none superior to those men- 

 tioned. The dwarf Irises (7. pumila, etc.) are desirable 

 because they seldom grow over 9 inches in height, which 

 adapts them for edges of borders. The European dwarf 

 (/. pumila) belongs to the same sub-genus as the German 

 Irises and succeeds under like conditions. The flowers 

 appear very early. The American dwarf species are even 

 smaller than the foregoing and worth growing. All of the 

 Irises mentioned have rhizomatous roots which are divided 

 to secure an increase of the desirable varieties. The best 

 time to transplant rhizomatous Irises is immediately after 

 flowering. This enables the plants to become established 

 before winter. They succeed in most, well-drained soils 

 which would not be called wet. The latter soils are suited 

 for growing the Japanese and similar species. 



Larkspur (Delphinium). The larkspurs are desirable 

 garden plants because of their vivid blue shades. In fact, 

 they cannot be dispensed with if a good color scheme in the 

 garden or hardy border is desired. Among the best perennial 

 species are D. formosum, D. hybridum and D. grandiflorum, 

 all of which are prolific in garden forms. Larkspurs grow 

 well in almost any good loamy soil, but the tall forms and 

 named varieties should have a deeply prepared, rich soil. 

 The tall varieties require stakes, as they break down easily. 

 The named varieties are often expensive, but excellent varie- 

 ties can be obtained from seed sown in autumn or early 

 spring. The plants will bloom the second season. Old 



