12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



JUMB 13, 1912. 



THE HARDY PERENNIAL OAEDEN. 



Dwarf Phloxes. 



A number of the favorite perennials, 

 especially the June flowering ones, were 

 described in The Eeview of June 6, 

 page 16. The list is here continued. 



The dwarf phloxes are among the 

 hardiest and most reliable of early 

 blooming perennials. P. divaricata and 

 the variety Laphami are of a delightful 

 lavender blue shade, and, aside from 

 their value in the hardy border, make 

 beautiful subjects in pots or pans in 

 early spring, as does P. subulata 

 lilacina. None of the paniculata phloxes 

 will flower for some time yet, but P. 

 suft'ruticosa Miss Lingard, white with 

 a delicate blue eye, has flower spikes 

 well advanced. This is by all odds the 

 finest of all the later flowering hardy 

 phloxes, and cuttings taken in Septem- 

 ber or October produce grand spikes of 

 bloom in a cool greenhouse in April or 

 early May. Phloxes are easily propa- 

 gated from cuttings, which should be 

 taken as soon as growth starts in the 

 spring. These cuttings will give nice 

 little plants, carrying fine spikes of 

 flowers in August. 



Dwarf Plants for Edgings. 



Among dwarf plants adaptable for 

 borderings or carpetings, Viola cornuta 

 is one of the best. It is in bloom in 

 May and persists until November. There 

 is a pure white form, which should be 

 propagated from cuttings; also a new, 

 deeper blue variety, atropurpurea, of 

 more compact habit than the older 

 types and much more floriferous. This 

 is a first-class novelty. The various 

 grass pinks, or Dianthus plumarius, will 

 open in a few days. They are charm- 

 ing, old-fashioned edging plants, as are 

 the Carpathian bell flowers. Campanula 

 Carpatica, which make a nice green 

 edging now, even before they flower. 

 These two latter plants are easily in- 

 creased by divisions. 



No hardy border should be without 

 some plants of Pyrethrum roseum, 

 which can be obtained of almost every 

 imaginable color from a single packet 

 of seeds, and surely few hardy plants 

 are more valuable for cutting. Spring 

 or August is a suitable time for divid- 

 ing or transplanting P. roseum. If 

 planted late, a large proportion will be 

 winter-killed. When planting this most 

 useful perennial, be sure to give it a 

 position where water will not stand, or 

 the plants will rot. 



Favorite Blue Flowers. 



Anchusa Italica is one of the most 

 intense blue flowers we have. The va- 

 riety Dropmore, gentian-blue in its dis- 

 tinctive coloring, is a charming form, 

 grbwing three or four feet high. A. 

 Italica Opal is of a lighter blue shade, 

 , but otherwise similar to Dropmore. 

 These propagate easily from seeds. 

 Mertensia Virginica, often called the 

 blue bell, is now passing. Its drooping 

 panicles of light blue flowers, which 

 later turn to clear pink, are quite pleas- 

 ing. This is another perennial well 

 adapted for wild garden culture. 



Dielytra or Dicentra spectabilis, 

 known as the bleeding heart, is a grace- 

 ful and effective plant in the hardy 

 border, as well as a useful subject for 

 forcing in early spring. D. eximia for- 

 mosa, while a less striking plant, carries 

 pretty pink flowers, and these may be 

 picked from it for six months, some- 



thing possible with only a few peren- 

 nials. 



To Take the Place of Ferns. 



A query often asked is, * ' What plants 

 can be grown to produce nice foliage 

 which will take the place of ferns 

 and asparagus?" The thalictrums or 

 meadow rues are fine for this purpose. 

 T. adiantifolium, with creamy white 

 flowers, and with foliage resembling 

 maidenhair fern, as its name indicates, 

 is fine. There is also the more robust 

 T. aquilegifolium, with rosy purple flow- 

 ers, and T. aquilegifolium album, pure 

 white, as well as the exceedingly robust 

 T. Cornuti, not yet in bloom. This 

 latter sort grows from six to eight feet 

 high with good culture. 



Of the lychnis family, L. Haageana, 

 orange scarlet, and L. Viscaria flore 

 pleno, often called the ragged robin, are 

 good early flowering varieties. Among 

 the other perennials now open are Pole- 

 monium reptans, Polygonatum multi- 

 florum, or Solomon's seal, and Smilacina 

 racemosa, or false Solomon's seal. 

 These two latter like some shade, and 

 are at their best in woodlands, as are 

 Cypripedium acaule, deep pink; C. pu- 

 bescens, yellow, and C. spectabile, pink 

 and white, for which a compost of leaf- 

 mold, sand and light loam, with good 

 drainage, is desirable. 



Perhaps one of the most valuable of 



all perennials to the commercial florist 

 is Convallaria majalis, or lily of the 

 valley. Few plants respond better to 

 generous treatment. It is too often 

 given some out-of-the-way place and 

 allowed to grow almost uncared for. To 

 produce first-class spikes, which will 

 far surpass in quality any of the. forced 

 article, a bed should be deeply dug and 

 liberally manured. Planting can be 

 done in late fall or spring, and the beds 

 should, before winter, always receive a 

 mulch of well decayed manure. For- 

 tin 's lily of the valley is the finest type 

 for outside planting. It pays to give 

 the little extra price for it. Lily of the 

 valley can be grown well in either sun- 

 shine or shade. It pays to have some 

 planted in each way, and if a northern 

 exposure can be selected for some, quite 

 a long succession can be had. In some 

 states this flower is at its best at Memo- 

 rial day, as was the case in Massachu- 

 setts the present year, and the value of 

 a good bed for this occasion can 

 scarcely be overestimated. 



Peonies have not been mentioned. 

 The Moutan section are almost over 

 and some of the herbaceous singles are 

 open, but a special article would be 

 needed to give these justice. Even 

 without them the hardy garden is so 

 full of interest and beauty now that 

 every flower lover can find new delights 

 in it daily. 



HH 



-.^i.-',-- :t — — ^ 



B 



ADIANTUM FOR CUTTING. 



The Culture is Easy. 



No matter how plentiful other greens 

 may be, there is always a demand for 

 adiantum and usually at a profitable 

 price, for when once the plants are 

 established there is little trouble in 

 their culture. 



Although there are other species that 

 are more or less popular in the market, 

 Adiantum cuneatum and its varieties 

 are the most generally grown and the 

 most useful. In some markets the deep 

 green, mature fronds sell best, but 

 other markets demand a paler, almost 

 yellow fern and will take no other if 

 this is to be had. The culture is easy 

 in either case. 



The Pale Shade of Green. 



To get the pale green fronds with 

 a certain degree of hardness or solidity, 

 pot culture is probably the safest way, 

 as a certain degree of starvation 

 treatment is necessary. Plants that 

 have the run of benches do not, as a 

 rule, keep the yellow tinge long enough 

 to attain the requisite maturity for 

 shipping, but in pots the feeding is 

 more easily managed and, owing to the 

 limited root run, the fronds do not 

 take on the deep green tint. A house 

 kept at 55 degrees at night is warm 

 enough for cuneatum and the plants 

 should be grown in the full sunlight as 

 long as possible. Heavy shading leads 



to a soft, deep green growth, producing 

 elegant stock, but not of the right color. 

 The plants should be allowed to get 

 fairly well potbound before watering 

 too heavily, but after this takes place 

 they may be watered overhead daily 

 in bright weather. 



Raising Plants from Spores. 



Plants are usually offered at almost 

 any season of the year by firms that 

 make a specialty of their culture, oi 

 they may be raised at home by sowing 

 spores. These are usually sown on the 

 surface of prepared flats, and a shady 

 position, where they can be always kept 

 moist, is the best. 



Some growers succeed by placing 

 their flats under benches, but there is 

 a risk of drip in such places, and drip 

 is absolutely fatal to success. When 

 the green coating spreads over the sur- 

 face of the soil in the flats, showing 

 that the spores have germinated, any 

 water falling from a distance causes 

 this to die out in patches. A much 

 better plan than the under-the-bench 

 method is to prepare a frame in a 

 shady corner of the house and use a 

 pane of glass to cover it and exclude 

 the air. By having the surface of the 

 soil quite moist when the spores, or 

 seeds, are sown, and damping the in- 

 side of the frame regularly, the soil 

 may be kept suflSciently moist to in- 

 sure germination with practically no 

 overhead watering. 



[Oontinued on page 46.? 



