FLOWERS FOR THE HARDY GARDEN 



5 



Achillea • Milfoil or Yarrow 



Ptarmica, The Pearl. This and the following 

 variety have little in common except their unusually 

 long blooming period. The Pearl is one of the best 

 perennials of medium height for furnishing a mass 

 of white in the garden. By means of underground 

 steins, it spreads with astonishing quickness, and 

 for this reason is often used for carpeting graves. 

 Large spaces are soon covered by its narrow, droop- 

 ing^ light green Ieaves ancl close branching heads 

 of tiny, tufted, pure white (lowers. Fine for cutting. 

 Blooms from June to September. Space 1 ft. 



Eupatorium, Parker's Variety. This is a 

 plant of decided distinction of form; its deeply cut 

 leaves, stiff, upright stems, and broad flat heads of 

 brilliant yellow llowers have a decorative value that 

 is very considerable where an incisive note of form 

 and color is needed. The curiously stiff, dry blos- 

 soms stay fresh and bright for fully two months, 

 and new spikes generally keep up the succession of 

 bloom well into the Tall. Blooms from early July 

 on. 3 ft.; space 18 in. 



Alyssum 



Saxatile compactum. The hardy Alyssum, 

 together with the arabis, iberis, and some others, 

 is a carpeting plant whose full value is only just 

 beginning to be realized. Its thick mats of downy, 

 gray-green leaves, clouded over in early April with 

 innumerable branching clusters of tiny golden (low- 

 ers, should be a feature of every garden. Plant it 

 as an edging to walks or borders, both in sun and 

 shade; let it heap itself around the stems of tall 

 growing perennials, or use it as a carpet through 

 which Holland bulbs can spring up, and so have a 

 setting for their bloom and a covering for their 

 yellowing leaves. Early crocuses may peep through, 

 or May-flowering tulips, or even Speciosum lilies to 

 blossom in August and September. Alyssum saxatile 

 will flourish in the rock-garden or on rocky slopes, 

 where it is charming combined with blue-eyed 

 forget-me-nots or white arabis. 6 to 10 in.; space 1 ft. 



Anchusa Italica • Alkanet 



Now that the Anchusa has so definitely "arrived," 

 I sometimes wonder what we ever did for early blue 

 llowers before we had its incomparable shades. 

 Certainly, next to the delphinium, it is by far the 

 best hardy plant of its color — and what flower- 

 gardener ever had too many blue llowers? A large 

 bed filled solid with Anchusas makes a splendid 

 effect. After the flower-spikes have been cut 

 down, the spaces between the plants can be filled 

 with annuals, such as snapdragons or zinnias, to 

 give a supply of bloom for the remainder of the 

 summer. In the mixed border, Anchusas are of 

 course invaluable. Alternating them with later- 

 developing plants, such as asters, is an effective 

 means of avoiding a very large flat space after 

 they have finished blooming. 1 should like to warn 

 every purchaser not to count on their plants living 

 more than two seasons for after that the huge, 

 fleshy crowns almost invariably split up and rot 

 from dampness during the winter. As an aid in 

 lengthening their lifetime, I should advise planting 

 them in rather poor soil, where they will not make 

 so rank a growth. Encouraging the formation of 

 new crowns by cutting the stems to the ground im- 



Tujted while blooms of Achillea Ptarmica, The Peart 



mediately after (lowering is another aid, and, prob- 

 ably, if the crowns were covered with sand during 

 the winter, they would stand less chance of rotting; 

 but all these expedients are something of a gamble 

 at best. In any case, if your old plant has given 

 up the ghost, do not trust to any of the generally 

 innumerable young seedlings to carry on the suc- 

 cession — they will invariably be inferior. Only 

 plants raised from root-cuttings come true. Anchusas 

 bloom from the middle of May to the end of June. 

 Space 2 ft. 



Dropmore Variety. When out of bloom this is 

 a huge, rosette-like cluster of long, pointed leaves, 

 sage-green, succulent and hairy; when in bloom, a 

 pyramidal branching mass of (lowers, feet tall. 

 Like its distant relative, the forget-me-not, the 

 buds and newly opened llowers are pale pink, but 

 they change almost immediately to a pure, rich 

 blue, about l /2 inch across. 



Opal. Is exactly the same in habit, but with 

 llowers considerably lighter — a lustrous, light tur- 

 quoise; perhaps even more charming. 



Perry's Variety. Is a much deeper blue than 

 either of the other two sorts, but the llowers are 

 smaller, and the plant more awkward and sprawling 

 in habit. 



Anemone Japonica 



Japanese Windflower 



No perCrtnial is more decorative and beautiful 

 than the Japanese Windflower when well grown, 

 and few are more disappointing when starved and 

 stunted. It is one of those irritating plants that, 

 though really not difficult, is nevertheless distinctly 

 capricious with the average flower-gardener. No one 



Unless otherwise noted, all plants in this catalog, 15 cts. each, $1.50 per doz., $10 per 100 

 Six plants sold at the dozen rate. All plants listed at 25 cts. each are $2.50 per doz., $15 per 100 



