856 



VERONICA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



VESICARIA. 



plant make it handsome for the border. 

 It grows well in any ordinary soil. 



V. pectinata is a pretty trailing kind, 

 with serrated downy leaves and blue or 

 rose-coloured flowers. It is well suited 

 for dry spots in the rock-garden, for 

 the margins of borders, and for other 

 places. 



V. prostrata. A very dwarf species, 

 making spreading tufts. There are 

 varieties with rose-coloured and white 

 flowers which appear in early summer, 

 the type being deep blue, hardy and 

 pretty, blooming so freely that the leaves 

 are often quite obscured by the flowers. 



Veronica pinguifolia. 



France, Central and Southern Europe, 

 on stony hills and dry grassy places. 



V. repens clothes the soil with a soft 

 carpet of bright green foliage, covered, in 

 spring, with pale bluish flowers. It 

 thrives well on moderately dry soil, but 

 delights in moist corners of the rock- 

 garden. 



V. rupestris trails neatly and closely, 

 and flowers abundantly in June. To 

 those who have seen large masses of it 

 in rock-gardens it will want no further 

 recommendation. There are several 

 alpine species nearly allied to it. 



V. satureisefolia is one of the best of 

 the Speedwells, though somewhat rare, 



with flowers about the size of those of V. 

 saxatilis, of the same intense blue, and in 

 abundant upright racemes. 



V. saxatilis. A native of alpine rocks 

 in various parts of Europe, and also of a 

 few places in the highlands of Scotland, 

 It forms neat tufts 6 or 8 in. high, the 

 flowers being little more than \ in. across,. 

 of a pretty blue, striped with violet, and 

 with a narrow but decided ring of crim- 

 son near the bottom of the cup, the base 

 of which is pure white. 



V. spicata is a dwarf native plant, not 

 more than 5 or 6 in. high, useful for bare 

 corners of rock-gardens, but seldom 

 flowering before the end of July. Y. 

 corymbosa is a name given to varieties 

 of two or three species, but the best seems 

 to be a form of V. spicata. This is one 

 of the best plants for rock-gardens, being 

 profuse and continuous in bloom. V. 

 hybrida is generally classed as a variety 

 of it, but seems quite distinct, since it is 

 far more robust, and its flowers vary in 

 colour from dark purple to lavender and 

 light rose. It grows wild in profusion on 

 mountain limestone hills near Llandudno 

 and in other parts of the north-western 

 counties. 



V. Subsessilis is botanically considered 

 a variety of V. longifolia, but for garden 

 purposes is very distinct. It is the hand- 

 somest of the hardy Veronicas, and 

 flourishes in spite of spring frosts and 

 cold summers. Its large dense spikes 

 of deep purple-blue flowers are effec- 

 tive, and it should always have a posi- 

 tion among the choicest hardy flowers 

 in a good deep loamy soil and open 

 situation. Japan. Division or seed. 



V. taurica. A dwarf, wiry, and almost 

 woody species from Tauria, forming neat 

 dark green tufts, under 3 in. high ; its fine 

 Gentian-blue flowers borne abundantly. 

 It is, perhaps the neatest kind for form- 

 ing spreading tufts in level spots of the 

 rock-garden, or drooping from chinks, 

 and for association with the dwarfest al- 

 pine plants. Division or cuttings. 



V. Teucrium. A Continental plant,, 

 the stems of which form spreading masses^ 

 from 8 to 12 in. high, covered in early 

 summer with flowers of an intense blue,, 

 at first in dense racemes, but these after- 

 wards become much longer. It is excel- 

 lent for the rock-garden, or for borders, 

 and grows freely in ordinary garden soiL 

 Seeds or division. 



V. virginica and other tall species are 

 3 to 4 ft. high, and flower in July, but are 

 deficient in colour. 



VESICARIA. Hardy evergreen per- 

 ennials, of which V. graeca is the hand- 



