Perennials: TKe BacKbone of Manitoba Gardens 



Dr. H. M. SpeecHly. Pilot Mound, Manitoba 



(Continued from last issue) 



HAVING glanced at some of our 

 hardy perennials of the bulbous 

 sort, we now turn to notice some 

 of the many beautiful perennials which 

 'are fibrous-rooted. Perhaps the earliest 



Artistic Gardening in British Columbia 



of these are the white Arabic alpina and 

 the Iceland poppies. Both of these bloom 

 quite early in May, in fact, soon after 

 May 1. The scent of the former is 

 practically sweet and aromatic, recalling 

 childhood's days in Old Country gardens 

 when bees hummed around great, massy 

 clumps of white arabis in the genial 

 springtime, after April showers had 

 passed. Have you tried with arabis 

 the silver-leaved rock alyssum, whose 

 pale lemon-yellow flowers closely follow 

 the arabis? 



It does not do to smother arabis or 

 alyssum with protection. Their own 

 leaves form a mat over their roots much 

 as do the leaves of pansies. I shall not 

 here treat of pansies because they are so 

 well known, but of course among early 

 perennials pansies rank high. 



Vieing in carlincss with these and sur- 

 passing them in grace of form, if not in 

 color, are the dwarf Iceland and Alpine 

 poppies. First, dark woolly buds rise 

 over the fem-likc leaves in mid May; 

 these burst, and casting their cases aside, 

 shake out the crinkled petals until a cup 

 is formed of white, cream, yellow, or an 

 orange almost red. So these flowers 

 bloom till August opens. 



ALL KINDS OF COLUMBINES 



Soon after these poppies flower, or 

 even before, queer little purple stems 

 with purple knobs have been pushing up 



beside them. These enlarge and in- 

 crease until early June, when from their 

 clumps of fresh green or bluish-green 

 appear the columbine flowers; the 

 earliest are white, then come the deep 

 purples; the violets tipped with white, 

 and last the exquisite spurred varieties. 

 Oh, ye dainty columbines, how modest 

 and coy are your hanging cups, how 

 quaint the crooks with which ye shep- 

 perd the insects that search your re- 

 cesses for nectar! It seems too fine a 

 plant, does the columbine, to be hardy, 

 and yet there is none more hardy. Yes, 

 your garden in June lacks much, if you 

 have no columbines. Mingle with the 

 cultivated varieties some wild plants, 

 whose red and gold are a fine contrast 

 even though the flowers are so much the 

 smaller. Mayhap the bees will cross the 

 wild with the tame and give you a new 

 hybrid. Often the wild meadow rue 

 finds its way into the garden and seems 

 half like a columbine, half like a maiden 

 hair fern. 



Now how do you raise arabis, alyssum, 

 Iceland poppy, and columbine? Sow 

 the seed this spring and they will bloom 

 next spring; but Iceland poppies, if 



to their best advantage both as to flow- 

 ers and foliage. The leaves of bleeding 

 heart, all the larkspurs, monkshood, the 

 columbines and many others form the 

 background not only for their own 

 flowers, but also for those of other 

 plants, notably the annuals. This is a 

 fine trait of perennials. After coming 

 to the footlights of the season during 

 their own flowering period, they retire 

 to the background as a contrast to the 

 flowers yet to be provided by their 

 later companions. Therefore, a plant- 

 ing arrangement of your perennials, pay- 

 ing due regard to their size and earliness 

 or lateness of flowering, gives style to 

 any garden. Most gardens have certain 

 spots where a clump of bleeding heart 

 or achillea or peony gives distinction 

 to that spot. 



THE WHITE ACHILLEA 



Every year people notice a mass of 

 white achillea which is placed at a point 

 calculated to catch the eye at a distance. 

 A friend of mine was going to throw 

 away some clumps of this plant as being 

 too much of a weed, but I secured those 

 same "weeds" at once in order to have 

 a stock of them for giving away. What 



A Perennial Triangle in Garden of Mr. J. B. Lewis, Ottawa 



sown early in the spring, will bloom late 

 in the summer. Grow the first three in 

 clumps; but each columbine should 

 have six inches all around if you would 

 have the finest effect of flowers and 

 foliage. 



Here I would put in a plea for arrang- 

 ing perennials so that they may be seen 



is achillea? It is a first cousin to the 

 common Yarrow of our prairies. The 

 white Achillea grandi flora is sometimes 

 called "bridal rose"; but there is also 

 a handsome red achillea; and yet an- 

 other yellow variety, Achillea sericea. 



Kept within boimds, achilleas are 

 splendid garden flowers, being both 



