128 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[July, 



11,1 ||Illp8lf © e 



HARDY FLOWERS FOR THE LAWN AND 

 BORDER, 



At this writing, the middle of June, our 

 fields and woods and gardens are bright 

 and fresh and gay, for we have had a late 

 spring, but a warm, moist June, and vegeta- 

 tion appears in its cleanest and freshest 

 garb. Our Lilacs and most of our Spiraeas 

 have done blooming, and we are in the hey- 

 day of Mock Oranges, or Syringas as we 

 usually call them, and the Eoses are open- 

 ing in profusion. Our lawns have been mown 

 two or three times, our walks trimmed, and 

 our flower-beds filled. The expanse of green 

 is. relieved by the Mock Oranges, Deutzias, 

 Yellow Wood, Eose Acacias, Locust, Snow- 

 balls, Diervillas and Rhododendrons. Lilies 

 and Pseonias brighten our borders ; and an 

 array of tender plants, as Geraniums, Coleu- 

 ses, and the like, furnishes our beds. 



But what about the host of hardy flowers 

 that every farmer in the land might have, 

 and which will live along from year to year, 

 wax greater in their strength as time rolls 

 on, and blossom every season, and that, too, 

 with as little care and labor as his potato 

 or cotton crop needs? You need not look 

 for them in our public parks and pretentious 

 gardens, but rather seek them in old country 

 yards and small suburban lots. I know that 

 many a farmer's wife would sooner have a 

 lot of hardy perennials than a bed of Coleu- 

 ses ; but what sorts should she get, and how 

 to treat them, is what concerns her. 



Come with me into the garden, and I will 

 tell yon about the gayest with me now, such 

 strong growing plants that any one can grow, 

 and I will avoid speaking of the hundred and 

 one other hardy plants that are also in blos- 

 som with us now, but which, for some reason 

 or other, might give you trouble in cultivat- 

 ing them : 



There is the double-flowering Spiraea fiU- 

 pendula, with fern-like leaves and showy, 

 pure white, fleecy blossoms ; Hoteia Japon- 

 ica, white, and which florists force as they 

 do Lily of the Valley for winter flowers ; the 

 Columbine-leaved Meadow Eue, with pure 

 white flowers on a stem three to four feet 

 high ; blue-flowered Speedwells on long up- 

 right spikes ; Columbines in great variety, 

 especially hybrids of the Eocky Mountain 

 blue one and the Californian red one ; the 

 golden Columbine is also opening ; while the 

 white and blue and purple Clematises deco- 

 rate our trellises, the Erect Clematises are 

 covered with massive bunches of white blos- 

 soms ; pale and deep yellow forms of Day 

 Lilies are blooming alike in open, shady, 

 and neglected places ; and the Spiderworts, 

 Tradescantia, red, white, and blue, are full 

 of blossoms. Pentstemon ovatus has many 

 spikes of blue ; and some varieties of Iris, as 

 tenax and sambucina, are at their best. The 

 majority of German and Siberian, and other 

 Irises, have done blooming, but none of 

 Ka3inpfer's Irises have opened yet. A host 

 of Bell-flowers, or Campanulas, are at their 

 best; for instance, glomerata, punctata, per- 

 sicifolia, and macrantha, white and blue. 

 Sweet Williams are in their prime ; a double 

 red one is the richest looking of the lot. 

 Paisley Pinks are opening, and a host of the 

 hardy perennial single-flowered Pinks are in 

 bloom. The double-flowered Ragged Robins 



are showy, and the double pink-red Lychnis 

 Yiscaria is exceedingly bright in the border. 

 Aspertda tinctoria, like Woodruff, forms 

 clumps of small, white, airy flowers, so use- 

 ful as a fringe in bouquet work. Valeriana 

 alliaricefolia is a bold plant, with many heads 

 of white blossoms, and many Lilies from the 

 tiny scarlet tenuifolium. from Siberia to the 

 glowing umbels of Thunberg's Lilies from 

 Japan. The small Achillea tomentosa is a 

 sheet of brightest yellow, and the Thrift 

 displays many shades of rose-colored flowers. 

 Orobus niger, one of the Vetches, is loaded 

 with dark reddish pea-flowers in clusters ; 

 the heat is sending past the double white 

 Rocket, which is a beauty ; it is so full, so 

 white, and so fragrant — indeed, it much re- 

 sembles a double white Gillyflower. Single 

 and double, red, pink, and white Pyrethrums 

 are at their best ; somber bunches of white 

 and purple Fraxinellas, clumps of blue and 

 white Baptisias, the yellow Carolinian Ther- 

 mopsis, massive white clumps of Goat's- 

 beard, red and white Yarrow, purple, white, 

 and rose-colored perennial Salvias, and the 

 Bowman's Root, with its airy white flowers, 

 are all in their prime, and, together with 

 several other perennials, shrubs, and annu- 

 als, render the beds and borders gay enough. 



Many of these, as the Columbines, Sweet 

 Williams, Campanulas, Pinks, Day Lilies, 

 and Thermopsis, are readily obtained from 

 seeds, which you can order from any respect- 

 able seed-house. Sow the seeds as soon as 

 you get them, transplant and otherwise care 

 for them as you would seedlings generally. 

 Double flowering plants, as the Rockets, 

 Pyrethrums, and Lychnis, are increased by 

 division of the old plants, and so, too, are 

 distinct colored sorts — for instance, of the 

 Spiderworts and Irises. 



Beyond keeping the ground clean an cul- 

 tivated, lifting, dividing, and transplanting 

 afresh the clumps every year or two, and 

 otherwise treating them liberally, they re- 

 quire no special care. I have used several 

 botanical names in preference to English 

 ones, because there is no mistaking a plant 

 by its botanical name. Whereas, I should 

 have to manufacture an English name, or 

 use one not generally recognized, and that 

 would lead to confusion. But you will get a 

 description of the plants I refer to in any 

 catalogue or book relating to hardy peren- 

 nial plants. Wm, Falconer. 



FLOWERING PLANTS FOR SHADY PLACES. 



Among the choice native plants delighting 

 in a cool shady spot, moist if possible, is the 

 genus Cypripedium, and the most showy 

 species are C. spectdbile, with large, showy 

 rose-colored flowers ; C. pubescens, the larger 

 yellow Lady's-slipper; C.parviflorum, smaller 

 yellow Lady's-slipper, and C. acaule, stem- 

 less, with pale rosy bloom. The Rattlesnake 

 Plantain, Goodyera pubescens, frequenting 

 cool northern slopes, is well adapted for culti- 

 vation in shady spots. The showy Orchis, 0. 

 spectabilis, transplants readily and is very 

 conspicuous when in bloom. Several of the 

 genus Platanthera are also valuable, requir- 

 ing but little attention. All the above must 

 have a nicely prepared bed of peat to grow 

 in, else their fleshy roots will decay after the 

 first season. Ferns — and there are many of 

 them — are always in order in jiist such a lo- 

 cality, and harmonize well with other plants, 

 especially if placed on a little mass of rocks. 



Clumps of the well-known early white 

 Anemone, A. nemorosa, transplant easily and 

 are very satisfactory in a cultivated state. 

 Thes ame might be said of all the Violets ■ — 

 the Blood Root, Sangninaria Canadensis; 

 dwai'f Dogwood, Cornus Canadensis ; Trailing 

 Arbutus, Epigaia repens, although difficult to 

 transplant, but especially desirable when it 

 thrives properly ; Liver-leaf, Hepatica triloba; 

 the delicate little vine called Twin-flower, 

 Linnceaborealis ; another small trailing plant 

 known as the Partridge Berry, Mitchella re- 

 pens; all the species of Trillium and dog's 

 tooth Violets, Erythronium Americanwm. All 

 the foregoing are natives, and are usually 

 quite plentiful and widely distributed. The 

 Lily of the Valley loves a shady nook, and the 

 evergreen trailing vine, Periwinkle, is par- 

 tial to the same spot. Double English Daisies 

 and Primroses are the better for a partial 

 shade, and a clump of Fuchsias will grow and 

 bloom freely with little sun. — Josiah Hoopcs- 

 in New-York Tribune. 



VINES ON HOUSES. 



It is generally supposed that vines make 

 houses damp, for which reason there are not 

 nearly as many cottages and houses beauti- 

 fied with vines as there should be. It is only 

 when the climbers are allowed to cover the 

 eaves and obstruct the gutters, or find their 

 way under the shingles that they become 

 objectionable, and these conditions should, 

 of course, be carefully guarded against. The 

 Gardener's Monthly's remarks in this respect 

 are well taken : ' ' Vines should always be kept 

 cut down below the roof. It is a little trouble 

 to do this once a year, but we cannot get 

 even our shoes blackened without some 

 trouble. Those who know how beautiful 

 and how cozy looks a vine-covered cottage 

 will not object to the few hours' labor it re- 

 quires to keep vines from stopping up the 

 gutter. Vines really make a wall dry. The 

 millions of rootlets by which they adhere to 

 the wall absorb water, and an examination 

 will prove a vine-covered wall to be as ' dry 

 as an old bone.' One great advantage of a 

 vine-covered cottage, not often thought of, is 

 that it is cooler in summer and warmer in 

 winter than when there is but a mere naked 

 wall." 



EVERGREENS FOR SMALL LAWNS. 



The Cembrian Pine is one of the most 

 beautiful Evergreens, and is of very slow 

 growth during the first fifteen years, and is 

 well adapted to places of moderate size. 

 Of smaller trees, the Siberian and the Pyra- 

 midal Arbor Vitse, as well as the Swedish 

 and Irish Junipers, are desirable. The Pyra- 

 midal Arbor Vitas and the Irish Juniper 

 should be planted as single specimens, or 

 grouped with trees of broader form. Of 

 very small trees, the Parson's compacta and 

 pumilla Arbor Vitass, the Suecica nana and 

 the Betinospora plnmosa aurea are all de- 

 sirable. 



NEW LAWNS. 



To keep lawns free from weeds, special 

 care has to be given during the first year, as 

 many weeds grow so rapidly that they crowd 

 out the grass. Plantain, Dandelion, and 

 other perennial weeds are not yet deeply 

 rooted during the first year, and may be 

 easily pulled out, while in later years it be- 

 comes almost impossible to eradicate them 

 entirely. 



