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Gardening for Amateurs 



stems. The flowering season is June to 

 September. There are several desirable varie- 

 ties : alba, white ; perfecta, pale mauve ; 

 and Pride of Riverslea, pale lilac-mauve. S. 

 lutea is a tall-growing perennial, 4 to 5 feet 

 high, with pale yellow or primrose-coloured 

 flowers, which are useful for cutting in 

 summer. 



Sedum (Stonecrop). The Sedums are 

 chiefly of low and spreading growth, and are 

 very extensively grown in rock gardens and 

 on old walls. Two or three may worthily find 

 a place in the front of the flower border. 

 They are easy to grow, and never seem 

 happier than when planted as an edging to 

 a garden path. The best kind is the Japanese 

 Stonecrop, S. spectabile, 9 to 12 inches high 

 and producing in September and October 

 large heads of closely-packed pink flowers. 

 Even when the plants are not in bloom the 

 glaucous-green foliage is attractive. The 

 variety atropurpureum has flowers of rich 

 rose-crimson shade. Every garden ought to 

 possess a few roots of the Japanese Stone- 

 crop, which is, by the bye, a favourite bee 

 plant. It will thrive and give satisfaction 

 almost anywhere, in sun or partial shade, 

 and is an ideal plant for the town and 

 suburban garden ; it is easily increased by 

 division of the clumps from November to 

 March, or by cuttings in spring, when young 

 growths push up freely from the ground. A 

 second kind, S. maximum, grows 1 foot or 

 so high, and has white flowers spotted with 

 red ; the variety purpureum has purplish 

 leaves. 



Senecio (Ragweed). The Senecios are 

 very numerous, but comparatively few of 

 the herbaceous sorts are planted in garden 

 borders. Yet a few plants are most effective 

 and ornamental in small gardens. The 

 Senecios thrive in most soils, the vigorous 

 kinds making splendid growth in rather 

 strong loamy soils. They are increased by 

 division of the roots in October, November, 

 February and March, and by seeds sown on 

 a border outside from April to June. S. 

 pulcher can be propagated from root cuttings 

 inserted in light sandy soil in a cold frame 

 during spring or autumn. Replanting may 

 be done at any time from October to March 

 when the soil is workable. S. clivorum, a 

 Chinese plant with large handsome leaves and 



branching corymbs of golden-yellow flowers, 

 is very effective by the waterside and in large 

 beds and borders ; the average height is 

 3 feet to 4 feet, the flowering season July to 

 September. This kind seeds freely, self- 

 sown seedlings often coming up among the 

 parent plants. S. Doronicum, 1 foot to 2 

 feet high, has large golden -yellow flowers in 

 June and July ; S. japonicus, 4 feet to 

 5 feet high, has large divided leaves and 

 orange-yellow flowers in July and August ; S. 

 macrophyllus, 4 feet to 5 feet, has glaucous 

 foliage and large heads of yellow flowers 

 during June and July ; S. pulcher, 1 foot to 

 2 feet high, bears purplish-crimson flowers 

 in autumn ; plant this in spring on a sunny 

 border or in the rock garden, it is the choicest 

 of all the Groundsels for the flower border. 

 S. tanguticus (Ragweed), 5 feet to 6 feet, 

 is a tall, erect-growing species with loose, 

 almost plume-like panicles of yellow flowers 

 in August and September. Two other Sene- 

 cios are S. veitchianus and S. wilsonianus ; 

 both flower in autumn and produce vigorous 

 flower spikes, 4 feet or more in height ; they 

 require similar treatment to that recom- 

 mended for S. clivorum. The flowers of 

 S. veitchianus are bright yellow and those of 

 S. wilsonianus golden -yellow. 



Sidalcea. This belongs to the Mallow 

 family and is a free-flowering plant suitable 

 for small beds and borders. It grows well in 

 ordinary garden soil which has been well 

 manured. Seeds sown on a border out of 

 doors from April to June will provide plants 

 to bloom a year later ; propagation is also 

 effected by division in autumn and spring. 

 Planting may be done, when the ground is 

 in suitable condition, from October to March. 

 The showiest sorts are S. Candida, 3 feet high, 

 satiny- white flowers in spikes, flowering from 

 July to September, a valuable plant for the 

 herbaceous or shrubbery border ; S. mal- 

 vaeflora, 3 feet, lilac-rose, July to September ; 

 varieties of this are atropurpurea, purplish- 

 rose ; Listeri, satiny-pink, the best of ah 1 the 

 Sidalceas ; Rosy Gem, rosy-pink, and 

 Warley Rose, rich rose, a beautiful shade. 

 All these varieties blossom from July to 

 September. 



Solidago (Golden Rod). The Golden 

 Rods are North American perennials, easy 

 to grow in ordinary soil and sunny or half- 



