HARDY FLOWERING PERENNIALS FOR BEDS, BORDERS, &c. 



VERONICA SAXATILIS and V. SAXATILIS ALBA, two very useful plants of a prostrate habit, 

 and very showy, which are perfectly hardy, and do well in good sandy loam. V. 

 rupestris is another prostrate variety with fine bright blue flowers. V. epacrioides, 

 lycopoidoides, and V. sabeonioides are New Zealand varieties which are splendid 

 for the rock or wall garden. V. amethystina is a showy plant with spikes of bright 

 blue flowers, eighteen inches high, flowering in June and July. Another good 

 border variety is V. longifolia subsessilis, which has large spikes of deep blue flowers, 

 and grows to two feet high. 



AQUATIC AND SUB-AQUATIC PLANTS FOR PLANTING IN PONDS AND BY THE MARGINS 



OF STREAMS. 



Much more attention is now paid to this class of plants than was formerly the Aquatic 

 case, water and bog gardens forming a part of many garden schemes. This is not to plants. 

 be wondered at since Marliac has reared such superb water lilies, and Japan has 

 supplied us with such very charming varieties of their sacred lilies (Iris Ksempferi). 

 Apart from these, however, there is a sufficient number of beautiful aquatics and bog 

 plants to make a water garden desirable, whilst in many situations their use allows of 

 spaces of ground which are uninteresting, and even objectionable, being converted into 

 spots full of interest. 

 ACORUS CALAMUS, or sweet-scented rush, the foliage of which resembles an Iris and is 



evergreen, and when broken emits a sweet scent ; it does well in shallow water 



or in very wet ground on the margins of ponds, and is perfectly hardy. 

 ALISMA NATANS is a pretty little white-flowering subject for shallow water. A. plantago 



has handsome spikes of pale rose-coloured flowers, 2 to 3 feet high. 

 APONOGETON DISTACHYON, or Cape Pond Weed, often called Water Hawthorn from its 



beautiful fragrance, is one of the easiest water plants to cultivate. It bears 



numberless curiously shaped white flowers, relieved on the inside with small black 



dots, is fairly hardy, and very free in habit. 

 ASPHODELUS LUTEUS, a graceful plant for a moist position, has grass-like foliage and fine 



large spikes of bright yellow flowers, attaining a height of 3 feet. 

 BUTOMUS UMBELLATUS has reed-like foliage, with pretty umbels of white shaded pink 



flowers, and thrives well in shallow water. 

 CALLA PALUSTRIS (Bog Arum) is very useful for planting in shallow water, and bears 



calla-like flowers on green spathes. 

 CALTHA PALUSTRIS MONSTROSA PLENA, a double variety of the marsh marigold, bears full, 



large, rich yellow flowers, making a very beautiful margin to still water. 

 CYPRIPEDIUM SPECTABILE (the Moccasin flower), from N. America, the finest hardy variety 



known, succeeds in a well-drained moist position, and likes peat. The flower stems 



vary in length from 6 to 12 inches, with fine large white and shaded pink flowers. 



C. calceolus, the British form, though now very scarce in the country, has a flower 



of a fine shade of yellow, with long dark-brown petals. It does well in a good 



heavy soil with limestone, and likes a rather shaded place. 

 CYPERUS LONGUS is a fine foliage plant for marshy places. 

 ELYMUS GLAUCUS is a very ornamental grass, and when planted in tufts makes a happy 



break to the margin of a stream, especially when the surroundings have a tendency 



to appear too tangled or disordered. Another beautiful grass is Carex pendula, a 



fine variety for growing in marshy places or under trees. 

 FERNS. No bog garden is complete without a few ferns. The well-known Osmunda 



regalis, or Royal fern, is by general consent the finest ; but other good varieties 



are Onoclea sensibilis, an American fern of easy growth which likes a shaded peaty 



position, and Struthiopteris germanica, or ostrich feather fern, a fine large-growing 



325 



