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TENDER PLANTS FOR THE SUMMER GARDEN. 

 By F. W. Burbidge, m.a., f.l.s., f.r.h.s., v.m.h. 



TENDER plants are those that will not withstand a low winter temperature, but 

 require at least greenhouse shelter during the coldest months of the year. Amongst 

 them are many beautiful exotics, some remarkable for colour or perfume, others 

 for grace of form ; some for both or all of these qualities combined, and all more 

 or less suitable for special use in the open air during our summer months, say from May 

 until October. The line between hardy plants and tender ones is not easy to define. For 

 example, Dahlias and Cannas are hardy in some localities, but not so in others. So also 

 the exquisite blue Salvia patens, and many bulbs, such as Crinums, Ixias, and Gladioli ; 

 Cannas, Phormiums, Bamboos, Sikkim Rhododendrons, the white Azalea, Arum Lilies, 

 Romneya Coulteri, Cordvlines, some Yuccas, etc. On the West Coasts of England, Ireland, 

 and Scotland, and in sunny seaside nooks in Wales, many plants are hardy and beautiful that 

 are not hard\' inland, or in exposed places, or on cold, heavy, or wet soils. Valentia, Oban, 

 even Fota (Cork), and, of course, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands 

 are exceptional in the capabilities they afford for the open-air culture of what is elsewhere 

 considered to be tender vegetation. Even on light, warm soils, position and shelter mean 

 a great deal, many plants from the Canaries or the Cape, from New Zealand, Australia, from 

 North China or North India, Chili, and Peru, being hardy under walls or close to hot-houses, 

 that would die during our average winters in the open ground. 



Aspect, again, is a very potent factor. Plants that are hardy under south-west, west, 

 and even north walls or hedges, are often fatally injured by sudden sunshine succeeding 

 hard frosts when facing east, south-east, and even south walls. Deep planting and ample 

 drainage are also necessary for Cannas, Crinums, and many other bulbs and tubers of plants 

 whose natural thermal limits are a little higher than those of our native vegetation. 



Shade also is now and then essential, as well as shelter from winds. Some plants 



