308 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



should be chosen and perpetuated. Platycodon grandi- 

 florum is closely related to the Campanulas, and a 

 valuable low-growing border plant. We choose its 

 dwarf variety Mariesii, and with this should be grown 

 (Enothera macrocarpa for the contrast both of their 

 colour and growth. There are many fine CEnotheras, 

 but this is the best perennial one for the ordinary 

 garden. It can be very easily raised from seed, and 

 flowers for a long time. There is no better plant for 

 the front of the border. Centaurea montana is a 

 humble plant and spreads like a weed; but it is very 

 beautiful in its blue, white, and pink varieties, and 

 has the great merit of growing anywhere and flowering 

 early. If it were not so easy, it would be prized, and 

 it deserves to be more prized for its easiness. An- 

 other humble and slighted plant is Nepeta mussini, 

 which has a peculiar modest beauty both of flower 

 and growth, and will flourish anywhere. It is a most 

 valuable plant to give some quietness and neatness 

 to the front of a gay border. It combines beautifully 

 with the giant Thrift, Armeria cephalotes, another 

 plant of the highest merit and too little seen in gar- 

 dens. There is a richly coloured variety of this called 

 rubra, the deep pink flowers of which contrast well 

 with the dark lavender of the Nepeta. With both of 

 these may be associated the beautiful Polemonium 

 reptans. All Polemoniums are fine plants, but this 

 is the best, both in colour and in habit, and it is quite 

 easy to grow. 



Erigeron speciosus is another plant often slighted 



