162 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 1912 



8. Peonies. 



g. German iris, 



io. Shasta daisies. 



ii. Phlox. 



that my border fulfilled some of Friend 

 Neighbor's ideas. Knowing that I was 

 confronted by a most persistent individual, 

 I started to work at once. Here is the 

 list which I submitted to Friend Neighbor, 

 and one from which I think any one can 

 select the foundation of an excellent per- 

 ennial border. These perennials seem to 

 me as essential to a hardy border as salt, 

 sugar and flour are to a grocery store. They 

 will form a framework or skeleton around 

 which may be built a multitude of beauti- 

 ful pictures: 



i. Foxgloves. 



2. Peach bells or 



platycodon. 



3. Columbines. 



4. Larkspurs. 12. Hardy chrysanthe- 



5. Oriental poppies. mums. 



6. Grass pinks. 13. Hollyhocks. 



7. Sweet william. 14. Coreopsis. 



15. Gaillardias 



First of all, these perennials will survive 

 the winter without protection. They are 

 less susceptible to drought, and surer to 

 bloom, and are less subject to disease 

 and insect pests. There are no plants in 

 this list that are weedy or increase so 

 rapidly that they become a nuisance. 

 This last condition bars the perennial 

 sunflowers and asters, although, personally, 

 I should include them for myself. 



He looked it over carefully while I ex- 

 plained to him my theory, using the grocery 

 story simile above. "Well," said he, "I'll 

 run my border on the delicatessen store 

 plan. ' ' Whereupon he eliminated about half 

 of the list and clamored for the "fuzzies. " 



By "fuzzies"' Friend Neighbor meant the 

 little flowers, those which please by the 

 number of their bloom and give misty 

 effects. I have a lot of them in my border 

 and perhaps prejudiced my neighbor in 



their favor. I do not think a perennial 

 border is complete or finished without 

 them, yet they are not sufficient in them- 

 selves to make a border. However, I 

 find more real pleasure in the little posies 

 than I do in the big fellows whose appear- 

 ance I can tell exactly long before they 

 come into bloom. Friend Neighbor had 

 the same idea although, for a gentleman 

 claiming such a breadth of aestheticism, 

 the word "fuzzy" was a bit jarring. 



After several post mortems on last 

 year's border, Friend Neighbor agreed 

 to the following fist of fifteen plants which 

 he would use with such of the original 

 fifteen as pleased him after he had sub- 

 stituted sunflowers for oriental poppies: 



I. 



Iris pumila. 



Cl- 



Staticc latifolia. 



2. 



Primroses and 



io. 



Gypsophila panic it 





polyanthus. 





lata. var. fl.pl. 



3- 



Heucheras. 



11. 



Enpalorhtm agcra 



4- 



Perennial asters 





toidcs. 



5- 



Columbines. 



12. 



Heleniums. 



6. 



Veronica longifolia, 



13- 



Hardy salvias. 





var. subsessilis. 



14. 



Ccrastium tomenlo- 



7- 



Eryngiums. 





sum and Bicbcr 



8. 



Tufted pansies. 





stcini. 





15. Hard} - 



candytufts. 



The sea lavender (Staticc latifolia) is valuable for 

 mingling with coarser flowers. Lasts when cut. too 



These fifteen perennials have furnished 

 .me with more enjoyment than any similar 

 group I have ever grown — not that they 

 are in all cases particularly beautiful in 

 themselves, but they lend themselves so 

 well to producing beautiful groups or 

 as Friend Neighbor says, "something rest- 

 ful and easy to look at." I wouldn't 

 be without the fifteen standards for any- 

 thing and neither would I want to give 

 up any of the second fifteen, but of the 

 entire thirty I should like least to part 

 with Iris pumila. 



This little three-inch iris is my original 

 friend among the perennials, as the York 

 and Lancaster rose is among the shrubs. 

 Both enjoy a ripe old age. The rose has 

 been handed down for generations in my 

 own family, and the iris had enjoyed a 

 similar ancient lineage before it was given 

 to me thirty years ago. These are not 

 mere plants; they are personalities. 



There are volumes written about the 

 daffodil and its wind-taking charms but 

 the dwarf irises, which contribute an equal 

 share of beauty in windy March and 

 showery April, get scant mention. Some 

 day the race of dwarf irises, which quietly 

 has grown into a populous tribe, will get 

 its just dues. I know more would be heard 

 about them if the beauty of a patch of these 

 little purple fleur de lis were seen backed 

 up by a mass of white grape hyacinths and 

 in front of them a mat of Munstead poly- 

 anthus of white and cream shades. I 

 have over a dozen varieties, ranging from 

 three to twelve inches in height, which 

 come along with the daffodils and early 

 tulips and contribute a series of purples, 

 blues, yellows, and whites with an endless 

 variety of veinings, flecklings, and varie- 

 gations. One little fellow, iris Bal-Ceng 

 Harlequin, has a white ground flecked 

 with opalescent green with bronzy shadings. 

 A whole garden could be made of these 

 little irises. 



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The rich-red brown of the improved sneezeweeds give 

 a fine touch of color in fall (var. Riverton Beauty) 



Another combination I like is the purple 

 type of Iris pumila with Empress daffodils. 

 This is only one of a great variety of uses 

 to which they can be put. They make a 

 good edging and keep back the encroach- 

 ing sod. This perennial met with the most 

 enthusiastic approval of Friend Neighbor 

 who has watched for the purple flags spring 

 after spring. He already had a few of 

 them but is going to get more. 



Next to the irises the primroses and poly- 

 anthus met with most enthusiastic ap- 

 proval. There is nothing finer for an 

 early spring display than the Munstead 

 strain of polyanthus. The individual 

 flowers are huge and come in a beautiful 

 assortment of yellows, ranging from almost 

 brown to pure white with central stars 

 of various shades. They are of the easiest 

 cultivation and hardy as rocks. The 

 deep crimson polyanthus makes a fine 

 companion-piece, but I do not like them as 

 well as the yellows. They are so much 

 more easily grown than the true prim- 

 roses that it is a waste of time to bother 

 with the latter except for sentimental 

 reasons. However, I want both. Next to 

 the Munstead polyanthus I do not know 

 of any more beautiful early spring per- 

 ennial than the Siebold primroses. The 

 colors range from shades of pink to deep 

 magenta with various tints, and the 

 edges of the flowers are often beautifully 

 cut and crimped. The foliage is the 

 handsomest of all the hardy primroses. 



Then comes Primula dcnticulata and I 

 think Friend Neighbor likes it the best 

 of all the primroses. It is a dainty little 

 flower in shades of blue and purple. It 

 must have a subtle attraction for I lost a 

 lot of mine last spring in a most singular 

 manner. A lady lunatic escaped her keeper 

 and wandered through my yard. With 

 hundreds of daffodils, tulips and other 

 flowers in bloom she seized upon the 

 denticulata primroses, dug them up, took 

 them down the street and planted them 

 in front of the door of a small cottage. 



