590 



HERACLEUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN, 



HESPERIS. 



of which a coloured plate was given in 

 The Garden, November 23, 1895. It is 

 certainly one of the finest new hardy 

 plants of recent years, and reminds one 

 of H. fulva (syn., H. disticha). The 

 new kind has bold leafage, a glaucous 

 tinge overlying the deep green body 

 colour ; the flowers are rich apricot 

 in colour, open out widely, and of great 

 substance. 



HERACLEUM (Giant Parsnip}. - 

 Umbelliferous perennials, mostly of gi- 

 gantic growth, having huge spreading 

 leaves and tall flower-stems, with um- 

 belled clusters of small white flowers i ft. 

 or more across. Though well-developed 

 plants of the large kinds have a fine 

 effect when isolated in a position not too 

 obstructive, they are generally suitable 

 only for the rougher parts of pleasure- 

 grounds, the banks of rivers or lakes, and 



i to 3 ft. high, and has pinkish flowers, 

 but the double kinds are much more 

 valued. There are two distinct forms of 

 the double white Rocket, as well as of the 

 double purple Rocket in cultivation. One 

 is a tall white, turning to a pale flesh 

 colour with age ; the other is the old 

 white variety, of dwarfer growth, with 

 smaller and more compact flowers. It is 

 met with in the north, but is little known 

 in the south, where it does not flourish so 

 well as the common variety. There is 

 the old purple double Rocket and a free- 

 growing dwarf form known as Compact- 

 ness, which has also larger and darker 

 flowers. Rockets require care in cultivat- 

 ing, and will soon be lost if left to them- 

 selves. They should be divided at least 

 every second year and transplanted, for 

 they seem to tire of the soil and to require 

 more change than most perennials. If 



Double White Rocket. 



other places where they can grow freely j 

 and well, and can show their stately 

 growth to advantage. The finest are H. | 

 giganteum, lanatum, sibiricum, eminens, 

 Wilhelmsi, and pubescens, all of which, 

 when in flower, are 5 to 10 ft. high. All 

 are increased by seed. 



HERNIARIA. Dwarf perennial 

 trailers, forming a dense turfy mass, green 

 throughout the year. There are two or 

 three species, but the most important is 

 H. glabra, which has been largely used as 

 a carpeting plant on account of its dwarf 

 growth. Always a deep green, even in 

 a hot and dry season. 



HESPERIS (Rocket). H. matronalis is . 

 a popular old garden plant, and among the I 

 most desirable of hardy flowers. It bears i 

 showy varied, and fragrant flower-spikes. 

 The original single-flowered kind grows 



the young shoots are formed into cuttings 

 when they are about 3 in. long, they strike 

 very freely in the open ground, and the 

 spikes of bloom on the remaining stems 

 are all the finer when some of the others 

 have been removed. When shaded from 

 the sun for about three weeks with a few 

 Laurel branches, the cuttings do better 

 than when covered with a pot or box, as 

 has been advised. They like a rich soil, 

 rather moist, and are all the better for 

 repeated applications of liquid manure if 

 the soil is not as deep and good as it 

 should be. Double Rockets really belong 

 to the garden plants requiring annual 

 attention, and they therefore cannot well 

 be used as true perennials. It is always 

 worth while having a bed of them in the 

 reserve garden in case the plants should 

 be lost or neglected in the borders. We 



