854 VERBENA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



VERONICA. 



VERBENA. Beautiful half hardy trail- 

 ing plants which of late years have not 

 been so popular in gardens, probably 

 on account of the disease that attacks 

 them. Verbenas bloom profusely out-of- 

 doors till quite late in the autumn ; and if 

 the lustre of the flowers happens to be- 

 come dimmed by a storm, a burst of sun- 

 shine quickly restores their beauty. 

 From the Continent have come many 

 fine varieties, and some excellent kinds 

 are the produce of English -saved seed. 

 A pretty bed may be gained by mixing 

 a few good varieties together. The 

 Verbena should have a dry open border, 

 and trench the ground, well dressing it 

 with spent hot-bed manure and leaf-soil. 

 Put out the plants about the end of 

 May, and as they grow peg the shoots 

 securely over the bed, keeping them well 

 thinned. The best way of ensuring good 

 cuttings for spring propagation is to keep 

 a few store plants in pots all the summer, 

 and in the autumn cut them pretty close. 

 Give them a shift then into larger pots of 

 rich soil. Soon afterwards set these store 

 plants in a cool house, or a pit from 

 which frost is excluded. Of late years 

 Verbenas have been most successfully 

 raised from seed sown about the middle of 

 January, in light soil in a warm frame or 

 pit. The seedlings should be pricked out, 

 when a few weeks old, in 2^-in. pots, and 

 when the plants are fully established, 

 they should be placed near the glass 

 in a pit which is well ventilated, in 

 order to induce stout hardy growth. 

 About the end of March the seedlings 

 should be potted singly in 2^-in. pots, 

 and a month later they should be 

 transferred to 3-in. pots. About the 

 middle of May the plants should be 

 planted out about 2 ft. apart in a 

 sunny border, and in a short time they 

 will be aglow with flower. Verbenas 

 raised from seed are valuable for garden 

 adornment in summer, and need not 

 be cut for propagation, while they run 

 little risk of disease or of insects. 

 Keeping the plants free from insects 

 and disease in winter is a troublesome 

 matter ; but with seedlings under fair 

 conditions insects would be avoided, 

 and the seedlings would certainly have 

 a vigour that would get over the so- 

 called disease. In any case it is an 

 interesting fact that Verbenas in any 

 number and of the greatest vigour may 

 be raised from seed in the same year 

 that they adorn the garden, or, in 

 other words, may be treated as annual 

 plants. The wonderful diversity and 

 brilliancy of colour and the profusion 



of the flowers combine to place 

 Verbenas grown from seed among the 

 most valuable plants we possess. 

 Verbena seed is sold in colours 

 scarlet, blue, white, carnation, flaked, 

 and other forms, and all kinds come 

 remarkably true. The scarlet kind is a 

 fine reproduction of the old Defiance, and 

 its growth and the quantity of its bloom are 

 marvellous. The compact purplish-red 

 kermesina is very pleasing and effective. 



V. yenosa is a perennial kind, 12 to 18 

 in. high, with heads of purple-violet 

 blossoms, hardier than ordinary Verbenas, 

 not so liable to mildew, and looks all the 

 brighter for drenching rains. It is 

 easily kept through the winter, and 

 if its fleshy roots are stored thickly in 

 boxes, plants may be propagated in spring 

 from the young shoots thrown out. 

 When the roots have to be lifted in 

 autumn, place them at once in the 

 boxes where they are to start, keeping 

 them in a cool place until the time for 

 putting them in heat. In herbaceous 

 borders they may be allowed to remain 

 for years, but should be protected through 

 the winter. 



VERBESINA. V.encelioides\s a half- 

 hardy annual, I to 2 ft. high, with broad 

 clusters of golden-yellow blossoms. Cali- 

 fornia,Texas, and Mexico. V. giganteafrom 

 Jamaica is about 6^ ft. high. When young- 

 it is very pleasing, its round green stems 

 being covered with large, winged, glisten- 

 ing, delicate green leaves. It is suitable 

 for rich beds or groups, and should be 

 planted out at the end of May or early 

 in June. V. pinnatifida is a rough half- 

 shrubby species, with larger leaves than 

 those of V. gigantea. Both V. gigantea 

 and V. pinnatifida require hothouse treat- 

 ment in winter. Cuttings in early spring 

 are best, and will be all the better for the 

 most sheltered position, also the richest 

 and lightest soil that can be given them. 



VERNONIA (Ironweect). Coarse 



| North American Composites,ofwhich some 



| half-a-dozen species are in cultivation. 



! They bloom so late that they are scarcely 



j worth a place in the border ; but V. 



j prasalta is a fine stately plant for the wild 



garden. Even if its flowers are injured 



or escape us, it may be grown in a copse, 



ditch, or open spot in a wood. Division. 



VERONICA (Speedwell}. A large 

 family of dwarf and shrubby plants, some 

 trailing or carpeting in their growth, the 

 flowers being generally of a blue shade, 

 but often imperfect in colour, varying 

 from rose to a dull white. Plants of the 

 same species vary much in form, there- 

 fore the naming of the different Speedwells 



