August 30, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



169 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day Day 



of of 

 Month Week. 



AUGUST 30— SEPTEMBEE 5, 1877 



Average 



Temperature near 



London. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 before 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



Days. 







30 



Th 





745 



48.2 



61.3 



5 11 



6 50 



8 35 



0a37 



21 



24 



242 



81 



F 





71.5 



47.4 



59.4 



5 13 



6 47 



9 8 



1 56 



( 



5 



243 



1 



S 





71.1 



47.5 



59 3 



5 14 



6 45 



9 56 



S 8 



23 



IS 



244 



2 



Son 





71.0 



47.6 



59 3 



5 16 



6 43 



11 3 



4 9 



24 



32 



245 



3 



M 





71.8 



47.7 



59.2 



5 18 



6 41 



morn. 



5 54 



25 



52 



246 



4 



To 



Koyal Horticultural Society— Fruit and Floral Com- 



71.0 



46.7 



58 9 



5 19 



6 38 26 



5 26 



26 



1 11 



247 



5 



W 



[ mittees at 11 A.M. 



70.4 



47.1 



58.8 



5 21 



6 36 1 58 



5 49 



27 



1 SI 



248 



FromobservationBtaken near Loudon during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 71.5°; andits night temperature 



47A\ 











EERBACEOUS BOEDER FLOWERS. 



N page 135, in an article entitled " The Rose 

 Tear," " Wyld Savage " states that he in- 

 tends to niake an herbaceous border, and 

 would hke some of your readers to give a 

 list of herbaceous plants that must not be 

 left out of it. At this season of the year 

 when many herbaceous plants are in bloom 

 a few general remarks on some of them 

 may not be out of place. I will endeavour 

 to name a few good old border flowers wbich 

 are worth having in any garden ; many of them may still 

 be found in gardens where the more modern style of 

 embellishment is not carried out. I myself hope others 

 of your readers will contribute a list of old plants, for 

 they are well worthy of more extensive cultivation. 



First of all I will name a few dwarf plants that are 

 suitable for the front row of the border next the grass or 

 gravel. Gentiana acaulis, very dwarf, with large dark 

 blue flowers produced in the spring and early summer 

 months, grows admirably in damp situations, and when 

 well established is a very attractive plant. The Christ- 

 mas Rose (Helleborus niger), flowers in December and 

 January, makes very pretty patches if the weather is not 

 too rough; but if plenty of flowers are wanted of it for 

 house decoration it is best to plant it in quantity, so that 

 a frame and light may be placed over it when it begins 

 to show flower. It also does well in 6-inch pots, and is 

 useful for conservatory decoration, flowering freely in the 

 same pots for two or three years in succession without 

 repotting. Campanula pusilla alba and C. turbinata are 

 two dwarf species, the former being very pretty when in 

 flower in June or July. Caltha palustris pleno, or Double 

 Marsh Marigold, is a plant with yellow flowers, very 

 pretty in May and June. Alyssum saxatile, Aubrietia 

 purpurea, and Arabis alpina are three well-known spring 

 bedding plants, and good clumps of them are very telling 

 in a mixed border. The Arabis makes a very pleasing 

 bed from the middle of February until the middle of 

 May, especially if single scarlet Van Thol Tulips and blue 

 Crocuses are planted about 9 inches apart between the 

 Arabis. It is easily increased by division after flowering, 

 setting the pieces in rows, as many as are required for 

 bedding, about 6 inches asunder, watering well until roots 

 are emitted. The Evening Primrose (CEnothera macro- 

 carpa) is a good old plant with large yellow flowers pro- 

 duced throughout the greater part of the summer. He- 

 patica triloba rubra and H. triloba casrulea are two pretty 

 spring-flowering plants. Phlox Nelsoni and P. subulata 

 form charming masses of bloom in the spring; so also 

 does Saponaria ocymoides. Any of the plants above 

 named are good for the front of a border ; nor should 

 " Wyld Savage " forget to have a few patches of Mig- 

 nonette, Snowdrops, Crocuses of sorts, Hyacinths, Jon- 

 quils, double Daisies, and common Bluebells ; also 

 Squills, Scilla prjecox, S. siberica, S. campanulata, and the 

 Feathered Hyacinth, Muscari comosum and monstrosum, 

 which are very pretty when in bloom. 

 No. 857.— Vol. XXXIII., New Series. 



I will now enumerate a few taller-growing plants suit- 

 able for an herbaceous border, some growing a foot and 

 others 2, 3, 4, and 5 feet in height, some of which require 

 stakes to support the stems and flowers. What can be 

 better for cutting from than good clumps of common 

 white Pinks, Sweet Williams, Mule PiDks (Dianthus hy- 

 bridus), Carnations, and Picotees ? all of which can be 

 increased by layers, cuttings, or seed. Plants of the 

 com'mon kinds of Pinks two or three years old will furnish 

 hundreds of flowers. The Sweet William (Dianthus 

 barbatus) is usually treated as a biennial, but sometimes 

 it will keep alive and do well in the same place several 

 years in succession. A good late summer plant is the 

 Torch Lily (Tritoma Uvaria), known to many as the Red- 

 hot Poker plant, clumps of it 4 or 5 yards apart in a long 

 border have a very telling effect ; so also is the Tiger 

 Lily (Lilium tigrinum) and the common white Lily (Lilium 

 candidum). Four or five bulbs of the two latter-named 

 plants should be planted in patches 6 inches deep in en- 

 riched soil in the autumn, they will take care of them- 

 selves after. 



A fine old plant for borders is Iberis corifolia ; it strikes 

 readily from cuttings placed in a close frame, but it takes 

 two or three years before it has a telling effect. Plants 

 of it that I have seen on the Cruciferous bed of a botanic 

 garden, which have been in the same station for ten or 

 twelve years, are perfect sheets of white when in bloom, 



4 feet in diameter, resembling in outline and contour the 

 famous specimens of fancy Pelargoniums that used to be 

 so conspicuous at the metropolitan shows some twelve or 

 thirteen years ago, as shown by Messrs. Turner of Slough, 

 and Fraser of Lea Bridge Road Nurseries. It requires 

 no training and no sticks for support. It is in bloom from 

 the beginning of May till the end of June, a period of 

 nearly two months, and taken altogether Iberis corifolia 

 is one of the finest hardy plants I am acquainted with. 

 I. saxatilis, I. Garrexiana, and I. sempervirens are also 

 good sorts. 



A very useful plant is the Sweet Woodruff (Aeperula 

 odorata) ; I have found that it does very well under the 

 shade of trees when well established, and the foliage 

 when cut and dried is very sweet-scented. Dielytra spec- 

 tabilis is a well-known useful plant for borders, good also 

 for forcing. D. eximia is a pretty dwarf plant with laci- 

 niated foliage, the flowers only rising about 6 or 7 inches in 

 height ; it may occasionally be seen in old cottage gardens 

 in company with such plants as the old hardy Fuchsias 

 and Monkshood (Aconitum Napellus), the Fritillaria or 

 Crown Imperial, Canterbury Bells, Rockets, Lavender, 

 perennial Asters or Michaelmas Daisies, London Pride 

 (Saxifraga umbrosa), Golden Bod (Solidago altissima) 4 or 



5 feet in height, Lupines, Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum 

 multiflorum), Lily of the Valley, Mignonette, Marigolds, 

 and Brompton Stocks, all of which are useful old plants. 



Delphiniums, of which there are many varieties, are 

 useful for cutting. D. formosum is still as free and hardy 

 as any I know, but D. Hendersonii has finer flowers. 

 Saxifraga granulata, S. paniculata, and S. crassifolia are 

 good border flowers ; the latter has bold handsome foliage. 



No. 1509.— Voi,. LVIII., Old Series. 



