PERENNIALS AND BIENNIALS 



coarse and worthless plant. It can be easily 

 raised from seed, but is not worth the trouble nor 

 the space. The dealer who sold me the seeds 

 originally declared in his catalogue that " for cut- 

 ting purposes it is invaluable." This may be 

 quite true, but only a hoe should be used to do 

 the cutting. 



There are various perennial species of Alyssum 

 and Iberis, or Candytuft, none of which offer any 

 attractions to me. In all of them the bloom is 

 quickly over, and none of them are in any way 

 equal to the annual varieties. Like the perennial 

 Centaurea, both Alyssum and Iberis are but shabby- 

 looking plants when the period of bloom is over. 



Some years ago a dealer described a species of 

 Valeriana in such glowing terms as Hardy He- 

 liotrope, that I bought an ounce of the seed, 

 determined to have a bank full of such a charming 

 flower. When the plants blossomed they looked 

 about as much like heliotrope as they did like pan- 

 sies, and their odor was as rank as the seedsman's 

 offence. The man who could dub such a plant 

 heliotrope is a genius in a way. This name he may 

 have invented, as I have never seen it elsewhere. 



Tradescantia Virginica, or Spiderwort, was 

 described in the florist's catalogue as " a showy, 



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