10 



The Florists^ Review 



ACGUST 1, 1012. 





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THE PERENNIAL GARDEN. 



Fentstemons or Beard-tongues. 



The pentstemons or beard-tongues are 

 excellent, hardy perennials. The finest 

 of all is P. gloxinioides, with flowers 

 of almost every imaginable color, grand 

 for bedding and massing and succeed- 

 ing particularly well at seaside resorts, 

 such as Bar Harbor, Me., Newport, 

 B. I., and along the Massachusetts 

 north shore. These, however, are not 

 hardy and need propagating from cut- 

 tings each fall, carrying the plants 

 over in a cool greenhouse or pit. P. 

 barbatus Torreyi, four feet in height, 

 is still open. Its bright scarlet flow- 

 ers are showy. Caeruleus, with dark 

 blue flowers; diflfusus, violet blue; 

 heterophyllus, azure blue, and ovatus, 

 blue shaded bronzy purple, are all true 

 hardy perennials and worthy of cul- 

 ture. 



Spiraeas or Astilbes. 



The spiraeas or astilbes are effective 

 in July. They are specially fine v^en 

 planted on rather low land which does 

 not suffer from drought. S. Aruncus, 

 commonly called Aaron's beard, makes 

 a noble plant, five feet in height, and 

 individual specimens in borders or 

 lawns are splendid. This variety flfl»r- 

 ers in late June. S. astilboides, S. 

 Japonica, S. grandiflora compacta and 

 the beautiful pink varieties, Queen 

 Alexandra and Pink Pearl, with dense 

 panicles of delicate pink flowers, were 

 all at their best the first week in 

 July. All these varieties succeed best 

 on low ground and are benefited by 

 some shade. S. venusta, four to five 

 feet in height, with deep pink flowers, 

 is a charming perennial, in fine flower 

 early in July, as is the double meadow 

 sweet, S. Ulmaria flore pleno, and the 

 crimson meadow sweet, S. palmata, the 

 deepest colored of the whole family. 

 S. Chinensis, silvery pink, growing 

 twenty-four to thirty inches high, 

 should be included in all collections. 

 Spiraea (Astilbe) Davidii will not be 

 in flower till the end of the tnonth. 

 It is a Chinese species, growing under 

 good culture six feet high, and likes 

 low, moist ground. The flowers are 

 rosy violet in color. 



The new type of astilbes, resulting 

 from crossing Davidii on the older 

 Japonica, astilboides, etc., and called 

 Astilbe Arendsi, should be tried where 

 something good is wanted. There are 

 quite a few varieties of these, but 

 Pink Pearl, already referred to, Ceres, 

 light rose, Salmon Queen, salmon pink, 

 and Venus, violet rose, are an excel- 

 lent quartet to try. 



Hemerocallis. 



Some of the hemerocallis, such as 

 H. flava, Dumortierii and Middendorfii, 

 have passed, but H. Thunbergii, with 

 its butterenp-yellow flowers, one of the 

 finest of the family, is now in season. 

 This is an excellent variety for cut- 



ting. The old and well-known tawny 

 day lily, H. fulva, is also coming into 

 flower. This is a naturalized weed in 

 many places and fields dotted with it 

 , can be seen in many parts of New 

 England. It is useful for naturalizing 

 where strong growing plants are 

 wanted. It spreads rapidly. • H. auran- 

 tiaca major is less hardy than other 

 hemerocallis, and in the colder states 

 should be lifted and stored in sand 

 over winter. Its rich yellow fiowers 

 are now open, as are those of H. Flor- 

 ham, one of A. Herrington's hybrids, 

 golden yellow, with deeper yellow 

 markings. The hemerocallis are sat- 

 isfactory perennials, and fiorists will 

 find them useful for cutting, especially 

 H. flava, Thunbergii, Florham and 

 aurantiaca major. 



Veronicas or Speedwells. 



The veronicas or speedwells have 

 several representatives now in bloom. 

 Foremost among them is V. longifolia 

 subsessilis, with spikes of deep blue 

 flowers. - What superb spikes this va- 

 riety carries! It is surely one of the 



best of all perennials. V. spicata and 

 its white form, alba, are just passing. 

 They are fine border plants. A. 

 amethystina, amethyst-blue, is just 

 passing, and V. incana, with silvery 

 foliage, is starting to open. V. repeiis 

 and V. Boyal Blue are a couple of 

 free growing and blooming trailing 

 sorts, fine on banks or in rock gar- 

 dens. V. longifolia subsessilis makos 

 an excellent variety for design work 

 where deep blue flowers are needed. 



Campanulas. 



Campanulas are now coming into 

 flower well. The finest of the family, 

 C. Medium or Canterbury bell, has 

 passed. Those who want strong flower- 

 ing plants for pots or borders next 

 year should now have seedlings ready 

 to transplant. C. persicifolia in many 

 forms is now . making a fine showing. 

 The type has pale blue flowers. There 

 is also a pure white form. C. per- 

 sicifolia Moerheimi, with large double 

 white flowers, is a grand perennial. 

 It has been flowering for a month and 

 still persists. No florist can afford to 

 be without this grand variety. A su- 

 perb companion to Moerheimi, with im- 

 mense semi-double light blue flowers, 

 is C. persicifolia humosa. C. alliarise- 

 folia, with erect spikes of nodding 

 white flowers, is still flowering, and 

 C. glomerata will bloom for some weeks 

 yet. The chimney bell flower, C. pyra- 

 midalis, is to follow a few weeks later. 

 This is less hardy than other varie- 

 ties and it is better to winter it in a 

 coldframe. It is a grand subject for 

 piazza decoration if grown in tubs or 

 large pots. 



AN ENGLISH GROWER IN CANADA. 



Some of His Impressions. 



On my arrival in Canada from Eng- 

 land three months ago, to grow sweet 

 peas for the Dale Estate, I inquired 

 as to the name of the best trade paper 

 to be got here. I must say I am de- 

 lighted to have had so interesting and 

 valuable a paper as The Review rec- 

 ommended to me, and more so to find 

 frequent notes on the flowers I am 

 most interested in. I had much pleas- 

 ure in reading about the winter-flower- 

 ing Spencer sweet peas, as I flnd that 

 the Dale Estate depends entirely on 

 the winter-flowering varieties for 

 growing under glass, and the kinds 

 they have grown up to the present 

 consist only of the small grandiflora 

 type, such as Christmas Pink. I see 

 there is room for great improvement 

 in these early varieties and I trust that 

 the work of A. C. Zvolanek, as de- 

 scribed in an article in The Review of 

 June 20, will result in some great ad- 



vances in this direction and that the 

 results may reach here soon. 



Christmas Pink and the Spencers. 



I have been hybridizing on the Spen- 

 cers in the old country for the last ten 

 years, but never thought I should come 

 to Canada and find the early-flowering 

 ones more valuable. I am giving them 

 a good test in growing them outside 

 at present. I find that Christmas Pink, 

 sown outside the first week in May 

 along with the Spencers I brought with 

 me, only beat the Spencers a week in 

 coming into bloom, and this thoug^>t 

 occurs to me: If these early ones had 

 had the same vigorous growth as the 

 Spencers, would they have been any 

 earlier! Perhaps some of your contrib- 

 utors who have some vigorous growers 

 may be able to testify. To get an early 

 Spencer giving a good quality of sto''k 

 would be a valuable thing to the flo- 

 rist. I am hoping to be able to pro- 

 duce this myself in a year or two. I 

 am happy to be able to say, without 

 boastfulness, that I have kept well 

 up to the best English raisers and have 



