26 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



their steins are erect, stiff, and admirably adapted for cutting. 

 With us they flower at the end of May, and we have found that 

 they like a soil which is not liable to dry out, as the quality of 

 the bloom suffers in dry soil. It is advisable to plant these 

 tulips in small groups of six or eight, and it will be found that 

 each year the -quantity of bloom is about doubled from each 

 clump and they are altogether most satisfactory. 



Another beautiful hardy plant which is not common, but is 

 perfectly reliable, is Ereimirus rcbiistus. I know of no other that 

 will give the same effect except the Verbascums, and tliese are 

 not really hardy. The E. rohustus throws up a spike from five 

 to six feet high, and for the greater part of its length covered 

 with pale pink flowers which open in quick succession, so that 

 the greater portion is in bloom at the same time. The foliage is 

 prostrate or nearly so when full grown, and soon dies off after 

 blooming, which it does at midsummer. It is one of the noblest 

 of garden plants, so far as our experience goes — not easy to raise 

 from seeds, for very little seed is matured, but once planted, 

 there is no fear of losing it. There is another species, E. Himo/- 

 lalcus, which has grown well each year, and we hope to see it 

 bloom this coming season. Mr. Veitch tells me that it is 

 beautiful as seen growing in its home, and is the most beautiful 

 of the genus. There are several other species, but we have no 

 positive knowledge yet as to their hardiness. The place where 

 they are planted should be well marked, or better still, group 

 them together, as the foliage dies off soon after flowering, and 

 some other plants of annual duration may be used to cover the 

 ground. 



It is not my province to speak of Annuals as a class at this 

 time, but it is tolerably certain that we cannot do without them 

 in the mixed herbaceous, or whatever other name is given to the 

 border. There is sure to be a scarcity of bloom in July and 

 August, if perennials are relied upon to give a continued effect, 

 for there are so many and varied subjects used in this work, 

 which start early and die off soon after bloom is past, as, for 

 instance, the Oriental Poppies, Mertensia, all bulbs, and more 

 that might be named. The gaps which they leave in the arrange- 

 ment are not pleasing. It is an easy matter to dot in Zinnias, 

 Asters, Stocks, or even taller-growing annuals, to nmke good the 

 deficiency, and to give a greater profusion of bloom. 



