GROUPS OF GARDEN FLOWERS 7 



and of real interest to those who value and require autumn flowers. Of 

 these, elegantissima is a multi-petalled hybrida, the petals narrow and 

 strap-like near the centre, and broadest in the outer row. It is vigorous 

 and easy of increase, refined in colour and shapely. Mont Rose is a less 

 vigorous form with silvery pink, irregularly double flowers, somewhat 

 tasselled in appearance like a Japanese Chrysanthemum. It makes a 

 neat tuft 2 feet high when established. Queen Charlotte is a variety 

 that improves on acquaintance. Its first flowers are always suffused 

 with a slaty colouring, but later blooms are a pure silvery pink, very 

 large and of considerable substance. Its great vigour and freedom in 

 flowering are excellent features in so good a border plant. It is regrettable 

 that these Japanese Anemones wither so quickly as cut flowers. All like 

 good rich soil, and will thrive in almost any position. Usually take a 

 year to establish. 



A. fulgens and its Varieties. The fulgens group of border 

 Anemones being widely cited as exceptionally easy to grow anywhere 

 has led planters to attempt their cultivation in all soils and situations, 

 and the frequent result is failure. One cannot grow A. fulgens well in 

 very dry and poor soils, and but little increase is obtained unless the roots 

 are liberally treated. They prefer a rich loam, well drained and of good 

 depth, and the site should not be baking hot in summer so that the roots 

 ripen too early, or they will start again at a corresponding early season, 

 and the new growth will perish in winter. Any exposure, save dense 

 shade or hot sunshine combined with drought, will suit these plants, and 

 the addition of very old manure, buried deeply, and leaf-soil as a surface 

 dressing during growth, will help to make stout rhizomes that will flower 

 freely. A wet soil, on the other hand, is equally unsuitable, and the 

 carefully dried rhizome as received from vendors should never be planted 

 in a wet soil or it will decay forthwith. It is often better to start the 

 roots in boxes under glass, transferring them to their flowering quarters 

 when the weather permits of the soil being readily worked. They are 

 not so generally used as bedding plants as the varieties of A. coronaria, 

 as their flowering season is shorter, but they might be used more plenti- 

 fully in beds of shrubs and in masses in the forefront of plant borders. 



A. angulosa and A. Hepatica comprise this group. They are well- 

 known plants of great garden worth, and their newer forms bid fair to 

 excel the older ones when available in sufficient quantity to justify their 

 free use in gardens. 



The Great Hepatica grows best in a damp, well-tilled soil under slight 

 shade. Like its congeners it is partial to leaf-soil, and if old-established 

 clumps show signs of wearing out, a liberal dressing of grit and leaf-soil 

 will help them round again. It has hairy and lobed leaves in dense 

 tufts, and large deep lilac flowers borne just above the foliage. Its 

 varieties alba, grandiflora, and g. lilacina, are exceedingly fine forms which, 

 when grown into strong clumps, prove very showy. Height 6 inches. 



The Common Hepatica is one of the finest of spring flowers. It is 

 available in white, blue, rose, and red colourings, both single and double, 

 and their usefulness in brightening the plant border or rockery slope 



