306 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



June, 1912 



suits them, provided they have sunlight 

 for a part of the day. The dwarf phlox, 

 moss or ground pink, will often live over 

 the winter but cannot be regarded as 

 positively hardy. 



Golden glow comes as near to being a 

 weed as a respectable plant dares without 

 losing its character. If there is anything, 

 short of actually digging it up. that will 

 stop this plant from growing and flowering, 

 that something is certainly not poor soil, 

 summer's drought nor winter's cold. Set 

 out a small clump, and in a few years it 

 will cover an area three feet in diameter. 

 The native wild sunflower produces much 

 the same effect but with a suggestion of 

 refinement that the golden glow lacks. 



In spite of its tender appearance, the 

 bleeding heart, once established is per- 

 fectly hardy and while a bit more sus- 

 ceptible to adverse soil conditions, is in 

 other respects as rugged as any perennial 

 thus far mentioned. 



The plantain lily or funkia has a faculty 

 of taking care of itself that recommends 

 it to the gardener with little time for 

 gardening. Its bloom is not particularly 

 conspicuous but its foliage is ornamental 

 throughout the season which makes the 

 plant excellent material wherewith to 

 edge the perennial border. Yucca is 

 hard}" but it seems to be deprived of its 

 faculty of bloom by being buried under 

 snow for anv length of time. 



For almost a month in early fall the Boltonia 

 gives its bloom. It increases without any care and 

 grows in most soils 



When the vines hang bare and trees 

 stand naked, we still have blossoms to 

 cheer our Indian summer — that vague but 

 most delightful period of all the year. 

 Aster ericoides will brighten the barest 

 hillside in fall with the airy bloom of its 

 tall wand-like flowers. On an exposed 

 slope where the water flows off almost 



before it reaches the plant's roots and 

 where the frost penetrates deeply, this 

 aster will flourish. A bit more particular 

 as to soil but in other respects equally 

 as hardy, is the Xew England aster, 

 another plant that should find a place in 

 every garden. It must be a frost, a very 

 strong frost, that can blacken the bloom 

 of these asters. 



There is a rugged plant, the boltonia, 

 almost weedy in appearance, that deserves 

 to, be known and grown much more than 

 it is. The daisy-like flowers are held fully 

 four feet above the ground and for nearly 

 a month the}- gladden the autumn land- 

 scape with rugged cheer. The plant -Rill 

 grow as readily as a dandelion and is not 

 a bit more particular as to soil or location. 

 Set out in spring, it blooms the following 

 fall but does not attain its full height 

 until the third summer. One three-year- 

 old clump will furnish more than twenty 

 plants and need not be carefully divided 

 at that. 



These, then, are hardy perennials; hardy 

 without an "if" attached thereto. With 

 them one can have bloom from spring 

 into late fall. Moreover, these perennials 

 relieve the gardener of constant care and 

 afford him time to enjoy his garden in 

 leisurely contemplation. With such a gar- 

 den you can go off on a vacation and on 

 your return find it none the worse for your 

 absence. 



Wild Flowers for the Home Garden— By Elsie McFate, 



Pennsyl- 



SOME COMMON PLANTS OF OUR WOODS AND FIELDS THAT RESPOND TO CULTIVATION —EXPERIENCES 

 IN TRANSPLANTING FROM THE WILD AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THEIR PROPER USE AROUND THE HOME 



TF YOU will notice a foreign fist of her- 

 -*- baceous plants, you will be amazed at the 



prices put upon our most common wild 

 flowers. I have before me an English 



Hepatica triloba blooms in earliest spring, even 

 under the snow, and defies dust, grit and other 

 unkind conditions 



catalogue wherein I find the liverwort 

 (Hepatica triloba) listed at eighteen cents 

 each. This seems a great price to pay for 

 a little flower which we may buy at home for 

 four or five dollars a hundred and possibly 

 twenty-five dollars a thousand; but when 

 we consider its many uses, small wonder it 

 seems to be prime favorite. It will bloom 

 among smoke and cinders, grit and dust. 

 Its handsome leaves make a delightful 

 carpet under a ground-robbing beech. In 

 fact, it takes so kindly to starvation, that 

 we usually find the best specimens wedged 

 in among the roots of a greedy beech tree. 

 Therefore, the answer to the question of 

 what will bloom under a tree, quickly 

 resolves itself into Hepatica triloba. Xo 

 rock garden is complete without this dainty 

 spring flower, which will bloom in sun or 

 shade and whose foliage remains green over 

 winter. There is a vast difference between 

 this and the acute leaved species which 

 demands a humid atmosphere and an 

 abundance Of moisture. Hepatica even 

 lends itself to society and gracefully 

 submits to house culture. A few clumps 

 carried in a frame or away from frost, 

 and brought into heat in mid-winter 

 will quickly bring forth a promise of 

 spring by its dainty blossoms. I cannot 

 endorse its merits as a cut flower, 



but a bowl of these sweet blossoms will 

 bring a remembrance of childhood and the 



Virginian cowslip or bluebell 'M rhnsia Virginica) 

 likes a moist situation. Its coming in spring is full 

 of rich color and attractive form 



