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T\\ I N-LARCI IES N URSERV, WEST CHESTER, PA. 



Arabis • Rock Cress 



One of the best of dwarf, very early-flowering 

 perennials. I t has been rather extensively used for 

 carpeting beds of spring-blooming bulbs, but there 

 is no reason why this practice should not be extended 

 so as to apply to Late-flowering ones as well; lilies, 

 for instance, will do all the better for a mat of Rock 

 Cress shading their roots. We Americans have never 

 attempted to realize the possibilities of this style of 

 double planting, which not only gives two blooming 

 periods to the same space of border, but avoids the 

 Stiff" effect, given by so many bulbs when planted by 

 themselves. A gently sloping, rocky bank can be 

 turned into a delightful spring garden by being 

 planted with a few suitable shrubs and dwarf 

 cedars and carpeted with arabis, alyssum, iberis, 

 vinca, with many colonies of bulbs, from crocuses 

 and scillas, to narcissi and May-flowering tulips. 



Alpina, the best variety, has downy, gray-green 

 leaves, much like alyssum, but darker, and in early 

 April is covered with sheets of small, star-shaped 

 blossoms, snowy white and very fragrant. 8 to 12 

 in; space 1 ft. 



Artemisia 



Lactiflora. New. A strikingly distinct plant, and 

 the only one of its genus with desirable flowers. 1 1 is 

 an easy, robust grower, reaching a height of 5 feet, 

 and both the fresh green, deeply cut foliage and the 

 huge heads of innumerable tiny cream-white flowers 

 are very attractive. Its habit somewhat resembles 

 the tall golden rod, and it blossoms shortly before 

 that plant, through most of August and September. 

 It is very effective massed in the shrubbery border, 

 and still more so planted in front of evergreens. In 

 the garden it can be combined with hardy asters, 

 although the blooming season of the two plants 

 does not overlap quite accurately. But no matter 

 how used, its masses of foamy white arc very wel- 

 come at their season, especially as the flowers have a 

 pleasant aromatic fragrance. Space 18 in. 25 ets. 

 each, S2.50 per do/.. 



Astilbe • Spiraea 



Most people are familiar with the florist's Spireas 

 that are forced into bloom at Kasler, but few know 

 that they are excellent garden plants, and perfectly 

 hardy. Though they will grow in almost any situ- 



g . .. i 



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ation, a rich, moist soil will show them at their best, 

 and they may be planted in nooks at the edges of 

 ponds, or along the banks of streams. 1 n such places, 

 the bronzy green, fern-like leaves grow to a luxuriant 

 size, and the plants send up many great feathery 

 spikes of bloom. They will thrive in partial shade, 

 and arc fine for cutting. 



Queen Alexandra. This is the popular forcing 

 Spirea, and a very pretty plant, with graceful 

 spikes of pale rose-pink flowers. Late June and 

 July. 18 in.; space 1 ft. 



Salmon Queen. Perhaps the best of the new 

 Arendsii hybrids. Of splendid habit, taller than 

 Queen Alexandra, with large fleecy plumes, held 

 well above the foliage. Color a charming shade of 

 pale salmon-pink. 2}/ 2 ft.; space 18 in. 30 cts. 

 each, $3.50 per doz. 



Asclepias • Butterfly Weed 



Tuberosa (Butterfly Weed). Every American 

 flower-gardener who is unfamiliar with this gorgeous 

 wild flower should feel heartily ashamed of himself. 

 I wish every such person could be transported", in 

 July, to northern Indiana, where the Butterfly 

 Weed grows at its loveliest. There, in the ricli, 

 black loam, the roots penetrate to a surprising 

 depth, and the vigorous stems raise to a height of 

 4 and even 5 feet, their huge panicles of glowing 

 orange blossoms. These (lowers are sometimes 

 cut from the wild plants and shipped to Chicago, 

 where admiring visitors no doubt mistake them for 

 rare greenhouse exotics. 



Orange, much more than blue, is a rare color in 

 hardy plants, and in the Asclepias tuberosa, next to 

 the trollius, it is shown at its purest. The clusters 

 Ot bloom are flatter and more branching than those 

 of the common pink milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), 

 but the individual dowers arc of the same delicate 

 and curious shape; and they are followed by the same 

 long, pointed seed-pods, filled with masses of fleecy 

 thistledown-like seeds. Provided it has full sun, the 

 Buttcrlly Weed will grow in almost any soil or 

 situation. _ It rather resents moving, so is better 

 lelt undivided for several years. Perhaps it is seen 

 at its very best naturalized along the edges of 

 woods, or shrubbery, where its vivid color can 

 blaze out with no danger of "killing" more delicately 

 hued neighbors. July and August. I ' ., to 2 1 ■> ft!; 

 space 18 in. 



