FLOWERS FOR THE HARDY GARDEN 



37 



Salvia, continued 



Uliginosa. This variety was introduced last 

 year with a great flourish of trumpets, but to me 

 at least it proved something of a disappointment. 

 It is a very robust, gracefully branching grower 

 between 4 and 6 feet tall, with long (lower-spikes, 

 raised well above the foliage, and it is a wonderfully 

 profuse bloomer, from July until frost. The indi- 

 vidual flowers, however, are comparatively small — 

 hardly half the size of Azurea, and though of a 

 very pretty sky-blue with white markings, not enough 

 are open at one time to make a very showy gar- 

 den effect. Probably the plant will be found most 

 useful for naturalizing in large masses, particularly 

 as it spreads rapidly by sending out innumerable 

 underground stems. Space 2 ft. 25 cts. 



Greigi. This species, also introduced last year, 

 is a very distinctive plant. Though in reality a 

 little shrub, it never grows higher than 2 1 /2 feet, 

 and, like the new Buddleias, a small plant set out in 

 the spring will attain full size the first summer. It is 

 a neat and compact grower, with small rounded 

 leaves, strongly scented, and slender spikes of (low- 

 ers of the most unique and delightful color — deep 

 cerise, a shade possessed by no other perennial with 

 the possible exception of the phlox, Sigrid Arnoldson. 

 The plant blooms more or less continuously all 

 summer, being at its best in early September, though 

 at no time is the amount of bloom great enough to 

 make a notably showy effect. Delightful in small 

 separate beds, and most unusual and effective 

 planted in front of Salvia azurea. A native of Texas, 

 it can stand considerable heat and drought. Should 

 have full sun and good winter protection. 25 cts. 



Rudbeckia • Giant Cone-Flower 



Purpurea. An unusually striking (lower; daisy- 

 shaped, with a very large rusty red cone-shaped 

 center, curiously dry and stiff. From this, the long, 

 purplish red petals hang as if smoothed down by an 

 invisible hand. The plant stands stiffly erect, 3 feet 

 high, and a small group of them in the border has an 

 extremely decorative effect. From July to Septem- 

 ber the flowers make a brave showing, with no sign 

 of flagging or changing color. Space 18 in. 



Sedum • Japanese Stonecrop 



Spectabile. "The English Flower Garden" says 

 of this plant: "Most distinctive and beautiful; erect, 

 with broad, glaucous leaves. Its rosy purple flowers 

 appear in dense, broad corymbs, about the end of 

 August, and remain in perfection for two months. 

 The glaucous foliage, even before the flowers come, 

 is a pleasant relief to any high-colored plant that 

 may be near it. It withstands extreme cold, heat, 

 drought or wet, and, unlike most plants, will grow 

 and (lower to perfection in shaded places, thriving 

 in any soil." 18 in.; space 1 ft. 



Thermopsis 



Caroliniana. This beautiful and little-known 

 plant is another of our native wild flowers. It is 

 nearly related to the lupines, though taller and more 

 slender in habit. The long spikes of pea-shaped 

 flowers are a soft lemon-yellow that combines per- 

 fectly with the blues of the delphiniums, which 

 bloom at the same time. Mrs. Frances King has 

 told of the splendidly decorative effect of the Ther- 

 mopsis- when planted in the formal garden. Equally 

 good for naturalizing, growing best in rich, moist soil. 

 Late June and July. 3 to 5 ft.; space I ft. 25 cts. 



Trolliu.s (sec page 38) 



Thalictrum • Meadow Rue 



Thalictrums all have in common a charming re- 

 finement and delicacy of foliage, finely divided and 

 symmetrical, in form midway between the columbine 

 and the maidenhair fern. It spreads out in wide 

 fronds near the ground, diminishing in size as it 

 rises up the tall, smooth flower-stem, which carries 

 a large, finely branched head of tiny, feathery 

 llowers. Grouped in the border, Thalictrums lighten 

 things up surprisingly, and form a beautiful setting 

 for any delicately colored plant. 



Cornuti. Early in the spring one sees the fresh 

 green fronds of this Meadow Rue springing up along 

 the banks of streams and in moist places among 

 rocks. By July it will have attained its full growth 

 and begun opening its huge clusters of fleecy white, 

 fragrant bloom. It is seen at its best in a situation 

 where it can get a constant supply of water and still 

 have good drainage, but it will thrive in the border 

 in any good, mellow soil in open sun or partial shade. 

 In the woods near my nursery there are giant 

 Thalictrums 10 feet high, marvels of stately beauty 

 and grace. On an average, however, the plants only- 

 reach a height of from 3 to 5 feet. One of the love- 

 liest pictures imaginable is to be seen in our July 

 woods and meadows, when foamy masses of Tha- 

 lictrum grow side by side with tall colonies of vivid 

 orange-red Liliam Cunudense. And such chance 

 natural effects could be reproduced with very little 

 difficulty. July and early August. Space 18 in. 



Dipterocarpum. Much-heralded novelties fre- 

 quently fail to live up to their claims, but in Un- 

 case of this new Thalictrum from the Far East, 1 feel 

 no hesitation in saying that it is one of the most 



