20 



The Florists^ Review 



I 



AnousT 12, 1920 



plants increase rapidly and need lifting 

 and dividing every other year. A. 

 Ptarmica Perry's White is an improve- 

 ment on The Pearl. The flowers are 

 more double and are pure white. 



Aconitum. 



The aconitums, otherwise called 

 monkshoods or helmet flowers, are 

 showy, stately plants, thriving better in 

 the cool northern states than elsewhere. 

 At Bar Harbor, Me., the writer has seen 

 them eight to nine feet high. They 

 bloom from August until October. While 

 the bulk of them have dark blue 

 flowers, some are pale blue and others 

 variegated. The different forms of A. 

 Napellus are the best to grow. A. 

 Fischeri and A. Wilsonii are good; the 

 last named is excellent in October, 

 when nearly all other perennials have 

 passed. Seed of these germinates more 

 slowly than that of most perennials; 

 so do not be too quick to give up hopes 

 of germination. 



Anemone. 



The various forms of Anemone .iap- 

 onica arc among the finest of all hardy 

 perennials for cutting. The best method 

 of propagation is to cut the roots into 

 short lengths and place them in a propa- 

 gating bench in winter, later potting 

 off and planting outdoors. A. japonica 

 alba is among the most useful of the 

 family. Queen Charlotte, Whirlwind 

 and Lady Ardilaun are other good sorts. 

 For best results, plant these anemones 

 where they will be well drained but can 

 be well watered in summer. They need 

 a good winter mulch of leaves, hay or 

 straw. 



Aquilegia. 



Few perennials can compare with the 

 columbines in grace and beauty and a 

 vase of them at once arouses anyone's 

 admiration, A liberal packet of seeds 

 of the mixed, long-spurred hybrids will 

 give a fine range of colors, comprising 

 lavender, blue, orange, white, pink and 

 yellow. Good named varieties are A. 

 chrysantha, A. cffirulea, or the Kocky 

 Mountain columbine, and A. haylod- 

 gensis. Columbine seedlings germinate 

 and grow more slowly than any other 

 perennials and thrive best if pricked out 

 in beds. 



Artemisia. 



Artemisia Abrotanum, familiarly 

 known i* old man and southernwood, 

 is a popular variety, noted for its pleas- 

 ing fragrance. A. lactiflora, from China, 

 grows four to six feet high and has 

 large, much branched panicles of creamy 

 white, spiraia-like heads of flowers in 

 September. It is a valuable plant for 

 cutting and comes readily from seeds or 

 divisions. 



Aster. 



The Michaelmas daisies of our fields 

 and roadsides are familiar to everyone 

 and are exceedingly beautiful in au- 

 tumn. All are excellent for cutting and, 

 as British hybridizers have raised many 

 beautiful sorts, no perennial garden is 

 complete without them. A ptMiket of 

 mixed seeds will give a grand range 

 of colors. Some can be bought separately 

 and will come true to name. Here are a 

 few good varieties to try: Novse- 

 angliae roseus, Perry's Pink, turbinellus, 

 White Queen, Lil Fardel, St. Egwin, 

 Climax and amethystinus. The early- 

 flowering alpinus and subcserulea carry 

 large, deep blue flowers; both are excel- 

 lent for cutting. 



Boltonla. 



The boltonias, favorite summer-flower- 

 ing perennials, rather closely resemble 

 the asters, but grow taller than most 

 of the latter. B. latisquama, lavender, 

 is the best sort. B. asteroides is a use- 

 ful pure wliite variety. These are well 

 adapted for cutting and need a back 

 position in the average hardy border. 



Campanula. 



Perhaps the Canterbury bell. Campan- 

 ula Medium, is the best known and 

 most generally popular campanula. Sow 

 the seed in May to secure strong plants 

 for blooming in the summer of the fol- 

 lowing year. The Canterbury bell, how- 

 ever, is only a biennial. There are many 



Digitalis Purpurea. 



valuable perennial campanulas. C. per- 

 sicifolia alba and coerulea, the peach- 

 leaved bellflov/ers, are among the best. 

 C. pyramidalis, usually treated as a 

 biennial, makes a grand summer-bloom- 

 ing subject in large pots or tubs. It is 

 also a good border plant. Some va- 

 rieties, like C. carpatica and C. rotundi- 

 folia, blue bells of Scotland, are useful 

 plants in the border or rock garden. 

 All campanulas are readily grown from 

 seeds. 



Centaurea. 



Centaurea montana and C. montana 

 alba, carrying large blue and white 

 flowers, are valuable for cutting and 

 make useful border plants. C. baby- 

 lonica has showy yellow flowers. 



Chrysantliemum. 



The so-called Shasta daisies belong 

 to the chrysanthemum family. The va- 

 riety King Edward VII is deservedly 

 popular, with its large, pure white, 

 handsome flowers. The variety C. Leu- 

 canthemum White Lady is a new hardy 

 white marguerite and a good percentage 

 of the plants carry double white floVers. 

 With the Shasta daisies should be men- 

 tioned the hardier forms of the true 

 chrysanthemums, particularly the pom- 

 pon, single and anemone types. In many 

 localities these give good results out- 

 doors. Propagation of these is, of 

 course, by cuttings and not seeds. A 

 special article would be needed to enu- 

 merate the more desirable varieties. 



Coreopsis. 



While coreopsis will frequently flower 

 the same season when spring sown, it is 

 more satisfactory to sow in summer and 

 give the seedlings some protection with 

 straw or hay in winter. A temperature 

 of 20 degrees below zero did not injure 

 them on the writer's place last winter. 

 The variety C. grandiflora, an improve- 

 ment on C. lanceolata, is splendid for 

 cutting, carrying bright, golden yellow 

 flowers on long stems. 



Delphinium. 



The stately perennial larkspurs, or 

 delphiniums, appeal to everyone and no 

 garden of hardy flowers is complete 

 Avithout them. If sown in early spring, 

 many will bloom before fall and all 

 make nice clumps before winter. For 

 anyone wanting an assortment of colors 

 at a minimum of trouble and cost, it is 

 best to sow a package of light blue 

 or dark blue hybrids. Or, if preferred, 

 D. Belladonna in the clear turquoise blue 

 shades may now be obtained from seed. 

 The Chinese larkspurs, D. chinense, are 

 easily grown from seed. They are 

 (Iwarfer and more branching in habit 

 than formosum and Belladonna and 

 flower much earlier from seed. Three 

 good hardy delphiniums, where separate 

 varieties are needed, are D. formosum 

 coelestinum, King of Delphiniums and 

 Queen Wilhelmina. Some other fine 

 sorts are offered by leading seed firms. 



Dictamnus. 



The well known gas plant, dictamnus, 

 is one of the most striking and charm- 

 ing of hard^' perennials. D. Fraxinella 

 has bold spikes of rosy crimson flowers. 

 D. Fraxinella alba is pure white. The 

 seed is of rather slow germination and 

 it takes several years to produce strong 

 flowering plants. The dictamnus, once 

 well established, should not be dis- 

 turbed. It resents root disturbance more 

 than almost any other hardy plant. 



DigltaUs. 



While there are several good peji;- 

 ennial forms of digitalis, the plant 

 usually thought of when the name is 

 mentioned is the common foxglove, 

 which, while perennial, is generally 

 treated as a biennial. It ia' best not to 

 sow the seeds until the miodle of June, 

 planting out in nursery rows later, with 

 a distance of twenty-four inches be- 

 tween the rows and fifteen inches be- 

 tween the plants. The writer has been 

 quite successful in transplanting fox- 

 gloves to their permanent flowering 

 places early in October, always giving 

 them a light winter protection. A 

 heavy covering is sure to rot them. 



[Continued on page 69.] 



