732 



HERBARIUM 



HERBS 



perianth tube. The showy outer segments are about 1 

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

 the stamens. For culture, consult Bulbs and Tigridia. 

 Mon. by Baker, Irideae, 1892. 



pulchella, Sweet. Bulb globose, >^in. thick or more; 

 tunics brown: Ivs. about 4, linear, plaited, 3-6 in. long: 

 spathes \% in. long: outer segments lilac, with a white 

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



HERB LILIES. AUtrwmeria. 

 HERB OF GRACE. JRuta graveolens. 

 HERB-PARIS. Paris quadrifolia. 

 HERB-PATIENCE. See Rumex. 

 HERB-ROBERT. Geranium Bobertlanum. 



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 

 exei-cising 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 effects 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, the planter must remember that Herbs 

 are likely to grow larger and more bushy in cultivation 

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

 seemly places about the borders 

 of his place (Fig. 1042). He may 

 utilize a rock or a wall as a back- 

 ground (Fig. 1043). He may hide 

 the ground line about a post ( Fig. 



boundaries. The hardy border is the unit in most plant 

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

 border (Fig. 1047) is often useful in tne rear or at on< 

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

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

 wild effects may be allowed, as in Fig. 1049. A pond 01 



1042. An informal Herb border. 



1044) or along a fence. Some of the commonest Herbs 



l SSr? BI 5, wh " n wel1 grown and wel1 p jaced - 'See 



* iff. 1045.) Always plant where the Herbs will have 

 relation to something else, to the general design or 

 handling of the place. This will usually be about the 



1043. Planting against a rock back -ground. 



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

 tage (Fig. 1050) . A good Herb out of place may be worse 

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

 for their individual effects, give plenty of room and 

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

 For further hints op related subjects, see Landscape 

 Gardening; also Border. L H B 



HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS FROM THE LANDSCAPE AR- 

 CHITECT'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, 

 sempervivums and certain pentstemons, together with 

 plants having more or less woody and persistent above- 

 ground stems, such as the sxiffruticose 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 

 flower 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 and offered at 

 retail by dealers, who, however, gradually allowed their 

 stock of plants to run low or 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 



