164 



GARDEN FLOWERS. 



shaded spots along banks and moist spots will doubtless 

 stand our summers. 



Dicentraspectabilis, sometimes called Dielyt/ra spectabilis, 

 is one of the bleeding-hearts that„ appears in spring and 



blooms on into early 

 summer. It is one 

 of the best-known 

 and most charming 

 of herbaceous plants, 

 with graceful, droop- 

 ing racemes of heart- 

 shaped flowers of 

 rosy crimson and 

 silvery white. It 

 grows one to two 

 feet high, and comes 

 from Northern Chi- 

 na. There are some 

 pretty spring-bloom- 

 ing irises, — cristata, the crested dwarf iris, is one of them. 

 It is a little native plant growing only three to six inches 

 high, with large pale-blue flowers. Then there is Iris 

 pumila, a little taller, six to nine inches high, with 

 yellow, white, and blue flowers in early spring. 7;-^^ vei-Tia 

 (vernal iris) is another dwarf species, three to eight inches 

 high, from the South, with violet-blue flowers in May. It 

 is very fragrant, and is a rare and desirable sort. All these 

 little spring irises are well fitted for planting in rock-work. 

 The spring meadow saffron ( Bulhocodium vernum) is per- 

 haps the earliest-flowering hardy bulb, and bears purple 



BLEEDINQ HEART. 

 (dicentra spectabius.) 



