CHOICaE HAEDY BOEDER PLANTS. 



243 



is of dvarf and compact growth, bearing dense heads 

 of deep hlue flowers ; it is a native of Poland. P. 

 latifolia has massive erect clusters of deep blue 

 -flowers in early spring. P. saccharata is the Sugared 

 Lungwort of Europe; the flowers have been well 

 described as of a shot-silk colour. P. siierica is the 

 Siberian Lungwort, with marbled foKage and deep 

 blue flowers. P. virginica is the Virginian Lung- 

 wort, and, like its predecessor, produces blue-coloured 

 blossoms. We may say of aU the forms of the 

 Lungwort mentioned that they are very vigorous 

 and hardy, thriving on any soil, and forming attrac- 

 tive clumps and beds in the spring garden. 



Blieuiii {Shuim-b). — Our cultivated Ehubarbs of 

 the present day may be regarded as improved 

 varieties obtained from It. Shapontieum, B. hybridwm, 

 and others. But a few of the species are very fine 

 hardy ornamental plants for summer use in the 

 flower garden, and especially that portion known as 

 the sub-tropical garden. R. officinale is .a stately 

 and very handsome ornamental foliage plant. R. 

 Emodi is the Eed-veined Ehubarb of Hungary, a 

 ' noble herbaceous plant with very handsome foliage. 

 R. palmatum makes a fine-leaved hardy plant. But 

 they are suitable only for large gardens, their stately 

 presence and handsome foliage contrasting weU with 

 other plants of smaller size and different character. 

 They can be naturalised with great advantage in 

 semi-wild places. 



Sapouaria (Soapwort). — The generic name is 

 derived from sapo, " soap " ; as the leaves of S. offici- 

 nalis, the common British Soapwort, when bruised 

 in water, form a lather like soap, and will take out 

 grease-spots in a similar manner. The common name, 

 Soapwort, is easily understood. 



The genus comprises hardy herbaceous species 

 and hardy annuals. Prominent among the former 

 is iSaponaria caspitosa, a charming form from, the 

 Pyrenean Alps, producing Thrift-like tufts, one and a 

 half to two inches high, bearing clusters of showy, 

 vivid pink flowers, large, and very handsome. It is 

 a plant that does well on the rockwork, planted in 

 loam, leaf -soil, and sand. S. caucasica, the Caucasian 

 Soapwort, produces heads of pink flowers like a 

 Phlox; and a double form of this makes a capital 

 border plant. S. ocymoides is one of the best known 

 and most useful among the perennial types ; it is 

 called the Eock Soapwort, a beautiful trailing rock 

 plant, with prostrate stems, and an abundance of 

 rosy flowers, so densely produced as to completely 

 <X)ver the. cushions of leaves and branches. It is 

 easily raised from seed or from cuttings, thrives in 

 almost any soil, and is one of the most valuable 

 plants we have for clothing the most arid parts 



of rockwork, particularly in positions where a 

 drooping plant is desired, the shoots falling pro- 

 fusely over the face of the rocks, and becoming 

 masses of rosy bloom in early summer ; and also 

 excellent for planting on ruins and old walls, on 

 which the seed should be sown in inossy chinks, or 

 spots where a little soil has been gathered. It is 

 also a valuable border plant, forming roundish 

 spreading cushions, with masses of flowers,, and 

 is well worthy of being naturalised in bare and 

 rocky places. It is a native of Southern and Central 

 Europe. The common Soapwort, S. officinalis, is 

 a stout and showy perennial, and makes a good 

 border plant, producing flesh-coloured or rosy 

 flowers. 



Of the annual Soapworts, the best known are 

 S. calahrica, from Calabria, and its white-margined 

 and rose-coloured varieties. The Calabrian Soap- 

 •wort is one of the longest blooming of our hardy 

 annuals, producing masses of minute cross-shaped 

 rose-coloured blossoms on a light and graceful leaf 

 ground ; and if seeds be sown in July or August, it 

 makes a good spring-blooming plant. The pink 

 and white varieties are most effective grown in 

 groups, small beds, or lines — in contrast. Sown in 

 the autumn, they may be had in bloom, on light soils 

 and in warm, cosy places, in April. Sown again in 

 the spring, they bloom in July, and will continue to 

 flower throughout the autumn, being far less fugi- 

 tive than most annuals. 8. pumila rosea, and S. 

 pwnila alba, are dwarf, Alpine, hardy annuals ; very 

 pretty and distinct. 



Tradescantia {Spiderwort). — This genus was 

 named after J. Tradescant, gardener to Charles I. , 

 and the common name Spiderwort is derived through 

 T. virginica being used in Jamaica as a remedy 

 against the bites of venomous spiders. The genus 

 includes hardy annuals and hardy herbaceous species, 

 and their varieties ; also green-house and stove her- 

 baceous plants; but it is the second of these, the 

 hardy herbaceous, that we have to do with here. 



The one particularly worthj- of notice is T. 

 virginica, the Virginian Spiderwort, introduced from 

 North America in 1629. T. virginica is a distinct and 

 valuable perennial, flowering in summer abundantly 

 and continuously ; the flowers deep violet-blue, with 

 yellow anthers, arranged in umbels on the tops of 

 the stem and branches. There are several varieties 

 of this — white, red, double red, rose, light blue, and 

 deep violet; all of them form erect bushes eighteen 

 inches in height. It is a most useful and handsome 

 decorative plant, and very accommodating also, as it 

 succeeds in the wettest of clays, as well as in any 

 ordinary garden soil. T. Virginica should find a 

 place in a selection of choice hardy plants. 



