110 A LITTLE BOOK OF PERENNIALS 



where the plants are to remain, and then the small plants can be 

 thinned out later. It is best to plant them on a dull day and water 

 them carefully. 



Hesperis — Sweet Rocket, Damask Violet 



Sweet Rocket is one of our most fragrant flowers which grows al- 

 most wild, as it has escaped from the gardens. Hesperis matronalis 

 has white, flesh or lavender-colored flowers which grow in large clusters. 

 The plants are about 3 feet high and are bushy. AU of the flowers are 

 very sweet scented and this is especially notic ed in the evening. They 

 bloom from June through September. 



Uses. They are used in the border where they bloom earher than 

 Phlox, which they somewhat resemble. The flowers are used for 

 cutting. The Magenta colored sorts are trying to combine with other 

 flowers, so that the white variety is the one to grow. 



Culture. They thrive in either sun or partial shade in any good 

 garden soil. Closely related to the Cabbage, they are sometimes 

 affected with the Cabbage worm, in which case, they should be sprayed 

 with arsenate of lead. 



Propagation. They are grown from seeds and readily self-sow. 

 Heuchera — Fairy Flowers, Alum Root, Coral Bells 



Heucheras are among the most desirable of the smaller growing 

 plants. There are many varieties worth growing. Of these, Heuchera 

 sanguinea is most often seen. The plants are compact, bushy and grow 

 in tufts, the flower stems growing Ij^ feet or 2 feet high. The ever- 

 green leaves look like those of a Geranium. From a mass of ornamental 

 fohage rise graceful spikes covered with pendent flowers which assume 

 the size of Lily of the VaUey bells, of a bright coral-crunson color. It 

 blooms about the middle of the Summer. Catalogs list white, creamy, 

 purple and rose-colored varieties. H. americana, resembling the Foam 

 Flowers and the Mitreworts, is a native of our woods. 



Uses. Small clumps of Heucheras are very attractive when 

 planted by themselves among the shrubbery where their dainty beUs 

 wiU not be outshone by other gay flowers. The fohage is tinted with 

 various maroon markings during the Winter and this makes the plants 

 valuable for the borders. The leaves are also used in vases as accom- 



