Hardy Exotic Flowering Plants 159 



all delight in rich, light, and moist soils, and in our country 

 some shelter helps them. 



Baptisia. — A strong Lupin-like plant seldom grown in 

 gardens, but beautiful when in bloom for its long blue 

 racemes of pea flowers, growing 3 to 4 feet high; it will 

 hold its own in strong soil. 



Borage, Borago. — A genus seldom seen out of Botanic 

 gardens, where they form part of the usual distressing 

 arrangements honoured with the name of ' scientific' 

 Among the best kinds for our purpose are B. cretica and 

 B. orientalis; even the well-known annual kind will be 

 found a retty plant, naturalized in stony places, old 

 quarries, and the like. 



Bell-flower, Campanula. — Beautiful and generally blue- 

 flowered herbs, varying from a few inches to 5 feet in 

 height, and abundant in northern and temperate countries. 

 All the medium-sized and large kinds thrive very well in 

 rough places, woods, copses, or shrubberies, among grasses 

 and other herbaceous plants ; while those smaller in size 

 than our own Harebell (C. rotundifolia) are quite at home, 

 and very pretty, on any arid or bare surfaces, such as sandy 

 banks, chalk pits, and even high up on old walls. In such 

 positions the seeds need only to be scattered. C. rapuncu- 

 loides and C. lamiifolia do finely in shrubberies or copses, 

 as, indeed, do all the tall-growing kinds, and where there 

 are white varieties they should be secured. Many people 

 will begin to see the great beauty of this family for the 

 first time when they have them growing among the grass — 

 the effect is far more beautiful than that which they show in 

 the garden border. 



Red Valerian, Centranthus ruber. — This showy plant is 

 seen best only on banks, rubbish-heaps, or old walls, in which 



