HARDY PERENNIAL PLANTS. 115 



Cuttings may be put in during October and given the protection of a 

 frame during the cold months. Or seeds should be sown late in Septem- 

 ber to have good-sized plants by the following Spring. The tops of the 

 seedlings may be rooted quickly in the propagating bed of a cool house; 

 or they may be grown from the start with the view of flowering them 

 in pots, for which purpose they are entirely satisfactory. The principal 

 colors are white, red, purple and yellow, several kinds having combina- 

 tions of two or more of these colors. A. asarina, from the south of 

 France, has a trailing habit; the leaves are grayish green and of a 

 clammy nature; flowers yellowish white. It thrives best in positions 

 partly shaded from the sun. It reproduces itself freely from seeds which 

 ripen in abundance and may frequently be seen growing in the chinks of 

 shady walls. 



AQUILEQIA (Columbine)— Hardy perennial plants with very showy 

 flowers. The colors include red, white, blue and yellow; often there are 

 two or more of these colors in the same flower. About 30 species are in 

 cultivation. There are numerous varieties, the results of hybridization, 

 few of which, however, surpass the species in attractiveness as border 

 plants. The Aquilegia is so easily hybridized that it is almost impossi- 

 ble to obtain plants from seeds true to name when two or more species 

 are grown near each other; even with two species apparently very dis- 

 tinct, such as A. chrysantha and A. flabellata, they readily mix, but the 

 progeny has a very undesirable combination of colors in the flowers. 

 It is always advisable to protect a few flowers of the desirable species 

 from the visitations of insects, so as to make certain of having the seed- 

 lings true. I have found the best way to do this is to flower a few 

 plants in pots and keep the blossoms covered with fine cloth while fer- 

 tilization is in progress. The seeds germinate irregularly when they 

 remain long out of the soil, but when sown as soon as gathered they 

 vegetate very freely, even in midsummer. Spring sowing is unsatisfac- 

 tory, because the seedlings do not make desirable growth during hot 

 weather, and often more than a year elapses before any flowers are pro- 

 duced. Sow in moderately light soil, and cover lightly with screened 

 moss; keep in an airy, cool house. When the seedlings are large enough 

 they may be pricked off into boxes, or round the edges of small pots of 

 soil. Put them out in a frame when they are large enough to stand sun- 

 shine. If planted outside, where they are to flower, by the end of Sep- 

 tember they will make fairly strong crowns before cool weather sets in, 

 and in the following Spring will bloom strong and vigorous. Among 

 the red flowering kinds we have A. formosa, A. californica, A. truncata 

 and A. canadensis; in white there are several, among the best being A. 

 californica alba, A. flabellata, a dwarf-growing species with very orna- 

 mental foliage; A. coerulea alba, and A. vulgaris alba. The best of the 

 yellows are A. chrysantha and A. c. flavescens. In the blue-flowered 

 forms there is a large number to choose from: A. coerulea is a very satis- 

 factory species; A. vulgaris coerulea, A. olympica are both good. In A. 

 glandulosa the sepals are blue and the petals white. Several of the spe- 

 cies and varieties are very easily forced into bloom, among them A. 

 flabellata. It is a trifle later in coming into flower than A. canadensis, 

 which usually is in full flower in this latitude by April 10. A. chrys- 



