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PBACTICAL GUIDE TO HARDEN PLANTS pybethbum 



Flowers in July, white, corymbose. In- 

 volucre rusty-coloured. 



Culture dc. as above for P. achillece- 

 foViuni. Increased by division and seed. 



P. decaisneanum. — A rare Japanese 

 species 1-1 J ft. high, with obovate pin- 

 nately cut leaves. Flowers 2 ',-3 in. across, 

 pale yellow. This species is also known 

 as Chrysanthemum decaisneanum. 



Culture and Propagation. — It may be 

 increased by seeds sown in cold frames 

 when ripe or in spring, and the seedlings 

 may be transferred to the open ground in 

 spring or early autumn according to the 

 period of sowing. Division of the tufts, 

 however, in spring, is an easier method of 

 multiplying the plants. 



P. macrophyllum. — A vigorous Hun- 

 garian perennial with downy stems about 

 3 ft. high. Leaves large, almost sessile, 

 pinnately parted, with broadly lance- 

 shaped and coarsely toothed lobes. Flowers 

 in June and July, yellowish- white, with a 

 deeper yellow disc. Ray florets 5-6, strap- 

 shaped, obovate, 3-toothed. 



Culture amd Propagation. — This 

 species may be easily increased by division 

 of the root in autimm or spring, or from 

 seeds sown in the latter season in the open 

 border. The seedlings may be thinned 

 out or transplanted 2-3 ft. apart. 



P. marginatum. — Another Japanese 

 species with downy stems and wedge- 

 shaped oblongleaves, pinnately cut towards 

 the apex, and downy beneath. Flowers in 

 autumn, deep yeUow, rather small, in 

 rounded corymbs. Also known as Chrys- 

 a/nthem,um marginatum. 



Cultv/re Sc. as above for P. ilecaisnea- 

 nuin. Increased by seeds or division in 

 spring. 



P. parthenifolium aureum (Oolden 

 Feather). — This beautiful free-growing 

 plant is well known as an edging for 

 borders &o. and looks well when the 

 flowers are kept picked off. Although 

 perfectly hardy and a perennial, or at 

 least biennial, it is usually raised from 

 seeds sown in light heat every spring, and 

 treated as an ordinary annual. It thrives 

 in ordinary soil. There are several sub- 

 varieties of aureum now grown, some pre- 

 ferring one, some another. They are : 

 cristatum, with golden curled Parsley-like 

 leaves ; Oolden Moss, very dwarf and 

 mossy yellow foliage ; laciniatum,, with 

 deeply cut Fern-like leases ; selaginoides, 



near the ordinary form, and Oolden Gem, 

 a double-flowered form. 



P. Parthenium (Common Feverfew). 

 A strong-smeUing European perennial 

 about ii ft. high, with deeply cut, lobed 

 and toothed leaves, and white flowers 

 with yellow centres in June. The double- 

 flowered variety flore pleno is the only 

 form worth growing. It flourishes in 

 ordinary good garden soil and produces 

 immense quantities of blossom during 

 the early summer months, and also again 

 in the autumn if the first crop is quickly 

 cut. It is rather extensively grown in 

 some market gardens for supplying cut 

 flowers. Except however in the extreme 

 south and west, it seems to suffer a good 

 deal in severe winters from wet and cold. 

 It is therefore best protected by means of 

 old lights placed over the plants, or the 

 latter may be taken up, potted, and win- 

 tered in cold frames until spring, when 

 they may be again planted out and, if 

 need be, increased by dividing the tufts. 



Some of the finest forms of the double 

 Feverfew are eximia, which has very 

 rounded pure white heads of flower ; and 

 its forms crispa, with deeply cut Parsley- 

 like leaves ; gramdiflora, with large 

 flower-heads ; pyramidalis, with a pyra- 

 midal habit of growth ; and noma aurea, 

 a dwarf yellow-leaved form with large 

 white flower-heads. 



P. roseum. — A beautiful Caucasian 

 perennial 1-2 ft. high, with decurrent 

 pinnately out leaves, having deep green 

 lance-shaped segments. Flowers in early 

 simimer, 2-3 in. across, with rosy ray 

 florets and a yellow disc. 



Culture and Propagation. -^ Of late 

 years gardeners have devoted great atten- 

 tion to the improvement of this species, 

 with the result that one of the finest and 

 hardiest races of beautiful hardy flowers 

 has been produced. There are single and 

 double-flowered forms of almost every 

 shade of colour except blue, and prac- 

 tically all the varieties, single and double, 

 are excellent for cutting. Though in their 

 prime in June, flowers can be induced to 

 appear dm-ing the summer by cutting the 

 flowers as they develop. And when faMy 

 finished the stems may be cut down. 

 New ones will spring up and flower in 

 autumn. It is questionable, however, 

 whether it is a wise plan to exhaust a plant 

 by making it produce a double crop in one 

 year, when nature only intended one. 



