54 DECORATIVE PLANTS, TREES AND SHRUBS 



VERONICA 



Most of the veronicas are only half hardy and so must be grown 

 in pots ; but there are a few that are perfectly hardy and are num- 

 bered among the best of our flowering shrubs. The best known 

 and most useful of these is V. traversi, a variety with small leaves 

 which develops into a shapely circular bush about 2 to 3 feet high 

 and as many feet through, and which in its season is covered with 

 small spikes of pale lavender flowers. This variety sells in large 

 quantities in the autumn for planting in window boxes. Among 

 the half-hardy kinds we consider that the silver variegated veronica 

 is the most valuable as a decorative plant. Its variegation is well 

 defined, and quite apart from its long spikes of bloom it is so orna- 

 mental that it is used as a table plant or as a regular greenhouse 

 plant. " Purple Queen " is a similar variety minus the variegation. 

 " Hulkeana " has delicate lavender spikes, and there are others 

 with white and pink and rose. Others there are which are minia- 

 ture in form and best grown in rockeries ; while again, beyond 

 these, are the herbaceous varieties with which we now have no 

 concern. All the shrubby veronicas are easily struck from cuttings, 

 which may be put in at almost any time, provided the wood is firm. 

 We have struck them indoors early in the year, but mostly we make 

 our largest batches of cuttings in August and insert them under the 

 box-lights. 



WIEGELIA 



This is a family of summer flowering shrubs, of which not less 

 than forty varieties are in commerce. It is not extensively planted 

 except where shrub borders are a feature, not nearly so extensively 

 as its merits would justify. W. rosea is the best known and is more 

 often met with than any of the others. To many it is known as the 

 summer apple blossom, a name which only partly describes its 

 trumpet-shaped blooms. We have seen this variety in bloom from 

 late June till October, and that is something in its favour. 



Several of the varieties are looked upon favourably as amenable 

 to forcing, and the variety " Edith Rathke " is the best of these. 

 Its flowers are large, more trumpet-shaped than rosea, and are 

 of a brilliant crimson. A well-grown plant in full bloom is a reve- 



