33^ 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 443. 



Notes from the Herbaceous Border. 



STATICE LATIFOLIA is a hardy perennial which is very- 

 attractive in our borders just now. Its distinct character, 

 its widely different appearance from any other plant now in 

 bloom, and its usefulness for cutting unite to make it most 

 desirable. We have well-grown plants with large masses of 

 flowers four feet across. They are set at intervals about ten 

 yards apart in the border, where they show up conspicuously 

 beside such plants as Rudbeckia speciosa. The minute light 

 blue flowers are produced in broad spreading panicles two 

 feet or more in height. These panicles are singularly light 

 and airy, but they last in good condition for several weeks, 

 and, of course, are very useful for cutting. When mingled 

 with other flowers they have the same effect as Gypsophila 

 paniculata — that is, they are so light that they surround the 

 whole as with a mist or halo, softening the colors and outlines 

 of. the stronger and brighter flowers in the mass. Our plants 

 are well established and a single plant produces a number of 

 panicles which form a dense round mass, composed of count- 

 less ramifications of flowering branches. The leaves are rad- 

 ical, broad, oblong elliptical, eight to ten inches in length 

 and thick and leathery. To get good specimens this Statice 

 must be planted in deep rich loose soil, in a sunny position. 

 It is a very deep-rooting plant and does not suffer much from 

 a dry summer. I have dug up plants whose thick roots were 

 more than three feet down in the soil, and a deep, light loose 

 soil is thus required. This plant never thrives so well- if dis- 

 turbed often, and it ought to be put in a position where it can 

 be left for a number of years. About every fourth year we 

 dig up all the plants from our herbaceous border and trench 

 and enrich the soil. We are always careful to dig down deep 

 under this Statice and get it up with a good ball of earth. It 

 is easily raised from seed, but it takes the plants a number of 

 years before they make a display of bloom like old-established 

 plants. The native country of this plant is Siberia, and it was 

 introduced from there more than a century ago. There are a 

 number of other Statices in bloom now, but none of them are 

 as good as this one. 



The Wolfsbane, Aconitum lycoctonum, is a desirable bor- 

 der plant that thrives and blossoms here every season. A 

 thrifty, stout, angular-branched perennial about four feet high, 

 it has showy cream-yellow flowers, which are produced in 

 dense, elongated clusters at the ends of the branches. The 

 leaves on this plant have long stalks, are reniform in outline, 

 and are deeply incised and toothed. It thrives best here in a 

 slightly shaded moist position, and if it has a favorable situa- 

 tion it is not so particular about the kind of soil it is grown in. 

 The common Monkshood, Aconitum napellus, is also in bloom 

 in the border, and is a showy plant when well grown. It is 

 some four feet in height, with dark green smooth or slightly 

 downy deeply cut leaves. The flowers are showy and curved 

 in long erect terminal panicles two feet in length. Another 

 Monkshood which blossomed here this summerand promises 

 to make a showy border plant is A. ranunculifolium. This 

 species has a raceme of creamy yellow flowers more than a 

 yard in length. Last year it was raised from seed which came 

 from the Botanic Garden at St. Petersburg. The Monkshoods 

 are all more or less poisonous and ought to be kept in the 

 herbaceous border or in places away from the kitchen garden. 



In the back row of the herbaceous border large plants of 

 Gypsophila acutifolia are blossoming freely now. This is a 

 strong-growing plant and attains a height of nearly five feet. 

 Its stems are clothed with glaucous acute leaves. The flowers 

 are of fairly good size, and they are produced in enormous 

 large trichotomous panicles. Lepachys pinnata is a striking 

 plant when well grown. Here it is four feet tall, the stems 

 well clothed with pinnate leaves. Its flower-heads are pro- 

 duced abundantly and the showy part of the flower-head is the 

 long, drooping, light yellow ray-florets. It is quite hardy and 

 does best in a light rich soil and an open position. 



One of the early perennial Sunflowers suitable for the back 

 row of the herbaceous border is Helianthus rigidus. It grows 

 about four or five feet high and the flower-heads are raised 

 well above the foliage on long stems. Rudbeckia maxima is 

 acceptable when not too tall. Its smooth glaucous foliage 

 introduces a pleasing contrast of color among the other plants 

 in the border at this time. It is a handsome species with 

 stout erect stems clothed with large ovate or oblong leaves. 

 Its flower-heads are large and produced singly, or nearly 

 always so, on long peduncles. The ray-flowers are a pure 

 yellow, and, being over two inches in length, make a showy 

 head. The long columnar disk is conspicuous. In rich soil 

 this plant grows eight feet high, but in a poor light soil its 

 height is generally five or six feet. 



Rudbeckia speciosa is a compact, showy and desirable bor- 

 der plant. Near the front of the hardy herbaceous bed it is 

 now making a great display. It is about two feet in height and 

 its stems are clothed with roughish hairy, irregular-toothed 

 leaves. Those on the upper part of the stem are sessile and 

 lance-shaped, and those on the lower part are petioled oval 

 lance-shaped. The showy flower-heads are produced at the 

 ends of the branches and they measure about three inches 

 across. The ray-flowers are an orange-yellow color, while the 

 globose disk is nearly an inch in length. This Rudbeckia 

 grows well here in a sunny position in the border, and the 

 plants are of good size, measuring eighteen inches across. 

 Such clumps produce a large number of flower-stems and 

 make a fine display while they are in bloom. The plant shows 

 the effect of dry weather sooner than any other plant in the 

 border. 



Echinacea purpurea is a distinct composite plant well worth 

 a place in the border on account of the singular color of its 

 flower-heads. It is a rigid stout perennial from three to four 

 feet high, and its lower leaves are ovate and long-petioled, 

 while those on the upper part of the stems are ovate-lanceo- 

 late. The stems are terminated by a large showy flower-head. 

 The ray-flowers are distinct in color from most of the Com- 

 positas that adorn our gardens at this time, and are of a rosy 

 purple color and two inches or more in length. A light sandy 

 soil seems to suit it best. 



The Japanese variety of Veronica longifolia named Subses- 

 silis is in perfection now, and is one of the finest hardy Speed- 

 wells in our collection. It grows from two to three feet high 

 here, and has shortly petioled leaves from two to four inches 

 long. It has showy, dense, stout spikes of deepest purple- 

 blue flowers. The plants are attractive and always win ad- 

 miration when in bloom. It succeeds best here in an open 

 position in good deep loamy soil. It is easily increased by 

 division. This is a comparatively new plant, having been 

 introduced from Japan less than twenty years ago. 



Veronica Virginica is in bloom now, and its whitish blos- 

 soms are quite distinct. The flowers are produced in long 

 dense-clustered spikes. The plants are about four feet in 

 height, the leaves produced in whorls along the stems. More 

 than a year ago seeds of the Japanese variety of this plant were 

 received from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Plants 

 raised from the seeds blossomed this summer. The habit and 

 color of the flowers are like those of our native species, but 

 the Japanese variety blossomed more than a month earlier ; 

 in fact, before V. Virginica had any signs of flowering. The 

 plants, too, are more compact in habit than those of our spe- 

 cies, but, peihaps, this difference will be changed with age. 

 V. Virginica and the Japan variety grow well in the border in 

 a sunny position. 

 Botanic Garden, Harvard University. Robert Cameron. 



Some Novelties. — II. 



POLYGONUM orientale pumilum album is the catalogue 

 name of a new and really desirable garden annual. It grows 

 about two feet high, begins to bloom early in June, and is covered 

 now and promises to continue to produce its spikes of white 

 flowers until frost. The plant is of good habit and would look 

 well as an isolated specimen, or, better, when used next to or 

 between Zinnias in a border. We hope to ripen seeds so as to 

 have plenty for another year; only three came out of the 

 packet purchased, but they came quickly and began to bloom 

 when very small. 



Cosmos as grown so far north is rarely enjoyed to its full 

 extent outdoors owing to the frosts that usually cut it down, 

 but last year we saw in Messrs. Suttons' trial-grounds a new 

 race of early-flowering Cosmos which seemed to have merit, 

 and this year it has been very generally distributed. We have 

 had them in bloom for a month, so that they have got pre- 

 cocity, also the variety of colors, but it still remains to get good 

 full flowers such as we see in the later varieties, but, doubt- 

 less, this will soon follow as the California cultivators get to 

 work on them. 



Crotalaria retusa, the annual golden-yellow flowering Pea, it 

 it does not soon get to growing, will, I fear, not produce its 

 racemes six to ten inches long of golden Sweet Peas. Hitherto 

 it has absolutely refused to grow in spite of all coaxing. I 

 wonder if this has been the experience of others. 



Pennisetum Ruppellianum is the name of a new species of 

 ornamental perennial Grass. The older and better-known spe- 

 cies, P. longistylum, is one of the best known of border 

 Grasses, and this one, according to promise, will produce 

 crimson-purple plumes instead of white ; a small packet of 



