HARDY GARDEN PLANTS. 27 



Anotlier point worth naming in this connection is the desirabil- 

 ity of having a permanent backing to tlie borders, if they are ex- 

 tensive, or especially if wide. Ours are twelve feet wide for most 

 of their length, and give scope for the tallest plants there are ; 

 but to each border there is a single belt of either Rosa Rugosa, 

 Pyrus Jajyonica, Hydrangea paniculata, or Syringa .(Lilacs), each 

 used separately, and this gives a stability to the effect that would 

 not exist otherwise. In the early summer months before the 

 tall Larkspurs, Sunflowers, Asters, and Boltonias get up high 

 enough to serve as a background, we have these ea.rly flowering 

 shrubs in bloom, and the effect is greatly enhanced. Another 

 feature — perhaps the most striking of all — is when in late 

 summer the long belt of hardy Hydrangeas is at its best. This 

 is kept well pruned down, and the shoots are thinned out when 

 they start, to give size to the panicles of bloom. 



I suppose most of you have the Dictamnus Fraxinella ; it is 

 well known for its inflammable qualities, but it is not so well 

 known for its poisonous properties. A neighbor last summer had 

 severe eruptions on his arms, and the family physician, a man of 

 long experience, could not diagnose the case, but before admitting 

 this, he very nearly decided it was a case of small-pox, and it also 

 transpired that this poisonous property was not accredited to the 

 plant in his reference books. Being so common in gardens, and 

 so frequently handled when in bloom, its most virulent period, it 

 cannot be too Avell known that it is a dangerous thing to handle, 

 as T found out years ago when saving and cleaning seeds. 



To those wlio have the requisite location, there are few more 

 interesting features of outdoor gardening than that styled the 

 Eock G-arden. I saw two of the best examples of artificial con- 

 struction last summer tliat perhaps are to be seen, and it seemed 

 to me that we might do more of it here. We are limited to a 

 comparatively few plants in our climate ; the exquisite Saxifrages 

 of the European Alps, the Primulas, Androsaces, Ramondias, 

 Cyclamens, and many of the plants they use abroad will not 

 succeed here, and for that matter some of our choicest Rocky 

 Mountain Alpines absolutely refuse to grow when brought from 

 their high estate, but there are many that will succeed if given a 

 little attention. A well-constructed garden of this sort has a 

 most charming effect when the Moss Pinks, Columbines, and 

 various spring-flowering bulbs are in bloom. It is at all times 



