58 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



March, 1908 



Hardiest of the hardy, magnificent in 

 color and prodigious in flower, no one 

 can help admiring the paeony. If there 

 is a fault to the paeony it is the short 

 time it remains in bloom, but the com- 

 pact habit of the plant, with the dark 

 green peculiarly divided foliage, makes 

 some amends for it. As a single plant 

 on the lawn it is grand ; in a mass of 

 twenty or thirty plants it is magnificent. 

 It stands our coldest winters with im- 

 punity (it is a native of Siberia), and 

 once planted, grows finer every year, 

 increasing in size and flowering qualities 

 the longer it is undisturbed. 



HOLLYHOCKS 



No amateur can afford to be without 

 the hollyhock. Whether single or double- 

 it is always delightful. Its flowers em- 

 brace the whole scale of color from white 

 to deeper than black. Planted in groui)s 

 of a half dozen it attracts attention 

 wherever it is, and its stately spikes 

 lend grace and beauty to either cottage 

 or hall. Though the hollyhock is, prop- 

 erly speaking, more of a biennial than a 

 perennial, yet with but little attention 

 a goodly supply of young plants may be 

 always kept up, by layering the offshoots. 



THE L.^RKSPUR 



The larkspur or delphinium is the 

 most beautiful blue flower grown as a 

 hardy plant, with the exception of 

 Salvia patcus, but the salvia is not one 

 to be recommended to the amateur till 

 he has had a few years' more experience, 

 as it is rather tender. There are numer- 

 ous varieties of the larkspur, in all 

 shades of lavender, mauve and a lot of 

 indefinite tints, but I love the deep blue 

 variety in preference to any of the 

 others. The tall spikes of larkspur are 

 always charming. Springing from the 

 encircling cluster of its graceful lacin- 

 ated foliage, they reach a height of five 

 to six feet. It blooms in all stages of 

 advancement, from the perfect open 

 flower to the tiny green bud higher up 

 just asserting itself. 



GOLDEN GLOW 



If the larkspur suggests the sky the 

 rudbeckia suggests the sunlight. As a 

 hardy, showy flower the rudbeckia has 

 come to stay. Of the freest habit in 

 blooming, its tall spikes of golden-yellow 

 flowers light up a garden like a burst 

 of sunshine. It is an exceedingly ef- 

 fective plant in the back portions of 

 the garden. For hiding fences or ob- 

 jects of ugly prominence, the rudbeckia 

 plays a kindly part. 



CAMPANULAS, SPIR^AS AND AQUILEGIAS 



The foregoing plants are nearly all 

 of a robust and tall habit, therefore we 

 want some a little more modest but not 

 less sweet and desirable as a contrast. 

 The campanulas or canterbury bells are 

 a beautiful family of free flowering 

 habit. In colors, violet and white, they 

 are always a charming addition to a 



collection. Of the spiraeas we must have 

 Spircca IJlmaria, S. lohala, and S. 

 Filipendula. Lovely in foliage, with 

 their creamy white blooms balanced on 

 slender stems, the spiraas are indispens- 

 able, especially the one last mentioned. 

 The aquilegias or columbines also 

 deserve a place in our herbaceous 

 border. They are free growing, profuse 

 in flowering and covering a great range 

 in colors, white, cream, flesh, mauve, 

 purple, brown, crimson and yellow — 

 no painter's pallette could be spread 

 ' with more varying or contrasting tints 

 than the graceful columbine yields us. 



IRIS AND SOME LILIES 



We must have half a dozen of the iris 

 in its varying varieties, and its rush-like 



plants, I have reserved a half-shaded 

 comer for a clump of lily of the valley, 

 that exquisite lovely little flower, so 

 graceful and sweet in flower and foliage. 



SOIL CULTURE AND CARE 



Any combination of the foregoing 

 plants are suitable for the amateur. 

 Good clean soil, well fertilized with old 

 rotted manure, will suit them all; it 

 should be well drained and the border 

 so graded that no water will lay on it 

 at any time. Most of the plants will 

 thrive in any kind of soil, but they all 

 do better under the best conditions. 

 Good clean cultivation should be given 

 after planting, keeping the soil free of 

 weeds and loose on top. 



An Informal Grouping of Foxgloves is Effective 



Photograph taken at residence of Mr. .\. Alexander, Hamilton 



foliage; it is hardy and beautiful. The 

 funkia, plantain lily, most effective in 

 clumps and distinct in flower, is always 

 pleasing and unique. 



A dozen more plants are clamoring 

 to get into our border; all of them 

 choice company and move in the best 

 circles, but we have not time to intro- 

 duce them as they deserve to be intro- 

 duced, and they must stand aside for 

 Lady Candidum. I beg her pardon, 

 Miss Lilium candidum, the white queen 

 of the border. We must have a clump 

 of this lovely flower and, to do so, will 

 plant the bulbs in August or early in 

 September. This plant makes it roots 

 early in fall so as to produce flowers in 

 early summer. 



We have room for one strong, showy 

 plant, a veritable bonfire when alight, 

 Papaver Orientalis, the Chinese poppy- 

 This is a free growing plant with pro- 

 digious paperlike blossoms of intense 

 crimson scarlet. 



At the risk of offending the trades- 

 cantias,achilleas, and all otherdeserving 



Aim to keep your borders neat by not 

 allowing old flowering stalks or dead 

 foliage to remain. Keep the soil nicely 

 raked. Grounds that are kept in order 

 go a great way sometimes in making 

 amends for the lack of other qualities. 



Keep the plants in groups as already 

 suggested, and plant in vacant places 

 or intersperse as it were with annuals, 

 gladioli, or anything that will give a 

 wealth of foliage and flower. This 

 creates what may be termed an "in- 

 formal flower garden." A prevailing 

 charm about this kind of planting is the 

 surprises one meets with in contrast to 

 the ordinarv ribbon bed, where one sees 

 at a glance the whole effect, no matter 

 how beautiful, but, in the herbaceous 

 border, interesting surprises are met with 

 at every step. 



When the flowering season is over, cut 

 down all the old flowering stalks and 

 dead foliage and lay on the ground as 

 a protection to your plants; if not 

 enough to cover all, add leaves, strawy 

 manure or other litter that will cover the 



