NOTEWORTHY PERENNIALS 87 



Edelweiss 



Everyone knows of the fame of the small Edelweiss of the Alps 

 and every tourist who travels through Switzerland learns the mysterious 

 story of how they grow under overhanging chfTs which means the risk 

 of hfe when one wishes to get them. But ideal plants can be grown in 

 our own garde^ns just as easily as any other plant. They are one of the 

 hardiest of plants and withstand severe Winters. The plant is low, 

 growing from 4 inches to 12 inches high, and is densely covered with a 

 whitish wool. The leaves are silvery-gray and lie almost flat on the 

 ground. From the center grows a flower stem which has three or four 

 star-like flowers. The true flowers themselves are small and incon- 

 spicuous, but they are surrounded by this star-like cluster of wooly 

 leaves. This Edelweiss is called Leontopodium (Gnaphalium) alpinum, a 

 sort 6 inches taU, bearing three or four flowers. L. sibiricum has 

 flowers twice the size of the Alpine Edelweiss but without the senti- 

 mental associations. 



Uses. This is an ideal plant for the rockery. 



Culture. If these plants are placed where they will be exposed 

 fully to the sun, they wiU be a greenish gray, but they will be a creamy 

 white if planted in partial shade. Any good sandy garden soil will do 

 in which some Umestone has been mixed. If the plant is placed be- 

 tween two rather closely fitting rocks with plenty of sandy soil beneath, 

 it will succeed nearly as well as it does in the Alps. 



Propagation. They are propagated by seeds sown indoors in 

 early Spring to be placed in the open border about the first of May; 

 or by division of the roots in the FaU. 



Epimedium — Bishop's Hat, Barrenwort 



After reading the description of the Epimedium by Miss M. R. 

 Case in "Horticulture," we have decided to abandon all hopes of 

 describing this dainty flower in our own crude words. She writes: 



"Blossoming under a great Oak, where Maidenhair and Dicksonia 

 ferns grow to perfection, is a dainty herb from Japan known as the Bishop's 

 Hat, from the square, flat shape of its blossoms. 



"The blossoms are in loose sprays which branch ofi" from the main stems 

 2 inches below where the main stem divides into the three sprays which 

 bear the leaves. They come in buff" or soft yellow, maiive and white. 

 The one which has done the best at Hillcrest, Epimedium macranthum, 

 gives the bishop a yellow lining to his dark red hat. It is well arranged 



