86 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



March, 1 909 



of New York, and would seem to merit at- 

 tention from plant lovers who like some- 

 thing a little out of the ordinary run. The 

 root-stocks are creeping, like those of our. 

 native bloodroot, and increase rapidly. 

 The leaves are all straight from the root, 

 heart-shaped, and very much like those of 

 the cyclamen. William Robinson, in "The 

 English Flower Garden," speaks of the 

 cyclamen poppy as being effective as a car- 

 peting plant beneath tea roses. 



The native bloodroot (Sanguinaria Cana- 

 densis) is almost too well known to need 

 more than mere, calling attention to. It is 

 one of the most highly esteemed of our wild 

 flowers, and its peculiar, mealy-white foliage 

 and flower scapes bursting through the 



Horned poppy (Glancium lliteuni) makes a good 

 light edging plant. Note the curved seed pods 



ground in early spring, possess a peculiarity 

 that is shared in by no other plant. The 

 solitary, white flowers, borne four to six 

 inches above the ground, are one inch across, 

 and are sometimes inclined to a pinkish 

 tinge. It thrives in 

 moist bottom land, 

 and likes a well- 

 drained, but open, 

 rich soil. It is one 

 of the best plants 

 for rockeries, and 

 should never be 

 grown in open places 

 where its spreading 

 is likely to become 

 troublesome, as the 

 creeping root-stocks 

 will run easily be- 

 yond imaginary 

 boundaries. The 

 bloodroot is one of 

 the showiest of our 

 spring flowers, and 

 although usually 

 found in woodlands, 

 is not a true shade- 

 loving plant. The 



best time to transplant is after the leaves have 

 ripened, or while in full flower. It is also of- 

 fered in nurseries. There is a double variety 

 having more numerous and narrower petals, 

 but I think the typical form is preferable. 



TWO YELLOW-FLOWERED DWARFS 



The common celandine (Chelidonium 

 majus), now run wild in waste places, is an 

 old-time garden plant, a low-growing herb, 

 with small, yellow flowers produced in um- 

 bels. It cannot be regarded as a valuable 

 garden plant, but is interesting because of 

 its associations. The name suggests that 

 it might probably be called the "swallow 

 flower." The whole plant is brittle, hairy, 

 and the leaves are a light, glaucous green 

 underneath. It grows almost anywhere. 



Somewhat resembling this, but much 

 finer in every respect, with larger, brighter 

 yellow flowers produced freely all the sum- 

 mer, and making, indeed, quite a showy 

 plant, is the celandine poppy (Stylo plwrum 

 diphyllum), which makes a stout root-stock. 

 The plant is a hardy perennial one foot 

 high, and makes large, solid clumps. The 

 flowers, two inches across, are produced in 

 clusters of three or five in May and June. One 

 can grow the celandinepoppyinanyrich,loose 

 soil, especially if in partial shade, but it will 

 thrive in reasonably loose soil even in the open. 



THE ONE GOOD TALL-GROWING PERENNIAL 



Among the best dozen tall-growing, her- 

 baceous perennials of absolute hardiness, 

 the plume poppy (Bocconia cordata) would 

 surely find a place. For, growing six to eight 

 feet high, it serves a purpose in the garden 

 that is filled by no other plant of similar hardi- 

 ness and general character. The flowers 

 are borne in great, plumy, terminal feath- 

 ery masses high above the large, bold 

 foliage. For semi-wild and wild effects, the 

 plume poppy is one of our very best plants. 

 It also makes an equally well-furnished plant 

 as a single lawn specimen, and again for 

 massed groups for distant effects, it is equally 

 satisfactory. What, then, are its demerits? 

 Only this one thing do I know: That its 

 greatest fault arises from its greatest virtue. 



A field of California poppies ( Esc/isr/iolzia Californica), showing the profusion in which the large yellow 

 flowers are produced. In the 6ast it does almost as well 



Mexican poppy (Arc/emone Mericana). A favorite 

 plant in annual borders. Flowers white, leaves 

 thistle-like 



So free-growing it is that, through its rapid 

 spreading by suckers, it may overrun the 

 entire plantation. It should never be placed 

 in situations that are likely to be much dis- 

 turbed, because every little piece of a sucker 

 broken off will make a strong plant in a single 

 season. One will be much surprised at the 

 stupendous growth that the plume poppy will 

 make if planted in very rich soil, the suckers 

 cut off, and the clump fed extravagantly with 

 liquid manure in the spring. On the borders of 

 woodlands or as a means of quickly planting 

 out fallen tree trunks, etc., noplantis superior. 



THE DIGNIFIED INDIAN POPPY 



The Indian poppy (Meconopsis), appar- 

 ently not known in American gardens, is 

 another tall-growing biennial, comparable 

 only to the hollyhock, carrying its flowers the 

 entire length of the stem, and of beauti- 

 ful colors, ranging from pale yellow to bright 

 reddish and violet. 

 There is, however, 

 one representative 

 sometimes met — the 

 Welsh poppy (M. 

 Cambrica), a peren- 

 nial attainingaheight 

 of only one foot, and 

 bearing nodding, 

 pale yellow flowers 

 in summer. It re- 

 calls very much, in 

 its general appear- 

 ance, Argemone, 

 without the prickly 

 leaves. It grows 

 well in ordinary 

 garden soil if given 

 a sunny situation, 

 and besides being 

 raised from seed, 

 may be propagated 

 by division. 



