CHOICE HARDY BOKDEK PLANTS. 



239 



ing flower-stems six to twelve inches high, bearing 

 drooping clusters of brilliant deep blue flowers. This 

 plant does best in calcareous soil, or well- drained 

 and slightly-raised ledges. L.petrceum is the Eock 

 Gromwell, a much-branched evergreen shrub, with 

 greyish leaves, and terminal clusters of drooping 

 violet-blue flowers. Late in May, or early in June, 

 all the little grey shoots of the dwarf bush begin to 

 exhibit a profusion of small, oblong, purplish heads, 

 and early in July the plant is in full blossom, the 

 full-blown flowers being of a beautiful violet-blue. 

 Being a native of dry, rocky places in Dalmatia and 

 Southern Europe, it should be planted on the rock- 

 work in a well-drained, deep, but rather dryish, 

 sandy soil on the sunny side. L. purpurea cceruleum, 

 the Creeping Gromwell, is a pretty British perennial, 

 one to one and a half feet high, blooming in early 

 summer, the flowers reddish at first, changing after- 

 wards to blue. It should be planted in borders, and 

 on the rougher parts of the rockwork, and in a 

 semi- wild state in shrubberies and half-shady posi- 

 tions. It will not thrive on a clay soil, and espe- 

 cially in the London clay. 



Lobelia {Cardinalis type). — The genus was named 

 after M. Lobel, a botanist, physician to James I. 

 Lobelia cardinalis, the Cardinal Flower, was intro- 

 duced from Virginia two and a half centuries ago. 

 L. fulgens, the Glowing Lobelia, which closely re- 

 sembles L. cardinalis, but differs chiefly in being 

 more downy, came from Mexico during the early 

 part of the present century. 



It is, perhaps, probable that the very fine peren- 

 nial varieties of the Lobelia, now so much used in 

 gardens, are obtained alike from L. cardinalis and L. 

 fulgens. They are numerous, and vary greatly in 

 colour — from white, or pale sulphur, to the richest 

 crimson and purple; they average in growth two 

 feet or so, and do well in borders in rich moist soil. 

 It is the practice to name varieties, but as seedlings 

 are frequently raised, and named flowers increase, 

 it is scarcely worth while to give a list. 



At the end of the year the plant throws up suckers 

 round the base of the flowering stems ; these should 

 be taken off, potted singly in 48-sized pots, plunged 

 in a moderate bottom heat, in a temperature of about 

 55°. By the middle of January they require a shift 

 into larger pots, and a little more heat may be given. 

 By treating them in this way, very fine plants can 

 be had in large pots if regularly shifted, and they 

 make remarkably fine specimens for conservatory 

 decoration. Suckers taken off in autumn can be put 

 singly in small pots and wintered in a cold frame ; 

 these make good plants for planting out in beds in 

 early summer ; and these varieties of the perennial 

 Lobelia are now much employed by gardeners for 



this purpose. L. syphilitica is the Tall Blue Perennial 

 Lobelia, the flower blue, and in summer they form a 

 long, leafy raceme. It is a native of North America, 

 and appears to do well in a moist soil ; and when 

 well established in the border it is an object of great 

 beauty. 



But there are fine hybrids of L. syphilitica ; these 

 have been increased of late, and they are becoming 

 very popular. Like their type, they are perennial, 

 perfectly hardy, and wonderfully effective, their 

 flowers being borne on spikes twelve to eighteen 

 inches long, and varying from white, through every 

 shade of ruby and purple, to crimson and scarlet- 

 crimson. In some, the petals are narrow ; in others, 

 broad; but all are charming. They bloom rather 

 late in the season, when other flowers are becoming 

 scarce. They do well in a wet peat bed, or the 

 margin of a pond. 



Malva {Mallow). — Malva is probably from the 

 Greek Malache, the name of an emollient plant, 

 derived from malasso, " to soften." The English 

 name, Mallow, seems to have come from the Hebrew 

 word malua, or " saltness," and the name was 

 probably bestowed because "the plant groweth in 

 saltish and old ruinous places, which in most abun- 

 dant manner yieldeth forth saltpetre." The Musk 

 Mallow is Malva moschata, a vigorous-growing 

 native perennial, found in Britain and Europe in 

 calcareous and gravelly soil, the flowers large, rose- 

 coloured and handsome. There is a white variety of 

 this, known as M. moschata alba, which makes an 

 admirable garden plant, and should be found in 

 flower borders ; the flowers are numerous, and pure 

 white. Moschata refers to the musky scent some- 

 times found in the plant's herbage. It is said that 

 the ancient Romans had some kind of Mallow (Malva) 

 served up as vegetables, and the Egyptians, Syrians, 

 and Chinese also use them as food. In Job's days 

 these plants were eaten by the wandering tribes, 

 who, as the patriarch says, " cut up mallow by the 

 bushes, and juniper roots, for their meals." The 

 common Mallow of our hedgerows is Malva sylvestris. 

 Malva Alcea, a native of France, is the Hollyhock 

 Mallow, a vigorous-growing perennial, three feet in 

 height, and bearing pale rosy-purple flowers. M. 

 campanulata is the Bell-flowered Mallow ; it is a 

 native of Chili, and grows to a height of one and a 

 half feet, flowering late in summer, in colour light 

 purple. M. Moreni is Moren's Mallow, a herbaceous 

 perennial, two to three feet in height, bearing very 

 large pinkish-rose flowers in summer ; the leaves 

 resemble those of the common Oak in appearance and 

 colour. 



Under this heading, attention may be drawn to 

 two very handsome and serviceable hardy annuals, 



