1869.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
97 
In the Flower Garden. 
What should we put in the flower garden ? 
It is quite time this was settled, as these March 
winds are drying tip the ground, and the days 
when we can work will soon be here. Annuals, 
Fig. 1. — BLEEDING HEART. 
bedding plants, and perennials, all have their 
uses, and we do not sympathize with those who 
decry either. Among annuals arc some plants 
that we cannot well do without, and it is the 
same with bedding plants — by which we mean 
those soft-wooded green-house plants that are 
used for one season only — but of both of these 
we will speak another time ; at present, we wish 
to say a word about our favorites, the perenni- 
als. These are plants which die down every 
year, while the faithful old root lives, and when 
the sun calls warmly enough, sends up its 
shoots to gladden us. With our liking for 
plants of all kinds, we must own to a partiality 
for these ; when frost comes, or before, they go 
to their winter's rest, and all through the winter 
we enjoy thinking of thein as they lie under 
their covering of snow, and we long for the day 
when we shall welcome their return. At last, 
a tender shoot breaks the ground, and looks 
about to see if it i3 safe to venture out ; if all is 
right, the rest of the shoots soon follow. How 
vigorously they push, nourished as they are by 
the bountiful mother root ! and how soon they 
develop into things of beauty ! We wish people 
would take more to these perennial plants, 
which, once obtained, remain as a part of the 
place, the only trouble they give being that of 
Fig. 2. — NOBLE FUMITORY. 
reducing their size. Once in three or four years 
the roots get too large to do well, and they need 
to be taken up, divided, and reset. At present, 
we give an account of a few that are our espe- 
cial favorites ; the list might be extended indefi- 
nitely, but these are all good, and may all be 
had of the florists and nurserymen. Most per- 
ennials may be raised from the seed, in which 
case the young plants must be carefully culti- 
vated the first year, and they will flower in the 
second. All the plants here mentioned do best 
in a light, rich soil, but we have grown them 
satisfactorily in a very poor and sandy one. 
Bleeding Heart — Dicentra spectdbilis. — We 
put this at the very head of the list of perenni- 
als for its hardiness, grace, and beauty. It was 
known to Linnaeus, who called it Corydalis 
formosa, but it is less than twenty years ago 
that Mr. Fortune placed it in the hands of 
cultivators. Since that time, the poor thing 
has had a hard time of it as to names. It has 
been called Dielytra, Diclytra, Dylithra, etc., by 
the florists and nurserymen, who, as a general 
thing, if there is a wrong name for a plant, will 
he sure to hold on to it. Figure 1 gives an idea 
of a clump of this plant, which grows to the 
height of two or three feet. The foliage is much 
like that of a Pa;ony, but of a more delicate and 
tender green. The grace of the bending ra- 
cemes, and the beauty of the individual heart- 
shaped, rose-colored flowers, make it surpass- 
ingly attractive. It seeds sparingly, but multi- 
plies freely by the root. Blooms through spring 
and early summer. There is a whitish variety. 
Noble Fumitory — Corydalis nobilis. — This is 
not a true Fumitory, as the genus has been sep- 
arated ; but it is not easy to change common 
names when they are once well established. 
Fig. 5. — MISSOURI EVENING PRIMROSE. 
Figure 2 gives the general appearance of the 
plant, the resemblance of which to the Dicentra 
will be at once recognized ; they both belong 
to the same botanical family. This blooms in 
April, pushing up its clusters of light yellow 
flowers to about the hight of a foot. It is a 
plant that soon does up its work ; as the foliage 
dies down very early, and as all vestiges of it 
are soon gone, its place should be marked, for 
fear that it may be forgotten and that its sub- 
terranean life may be accidentally disturbed. 
Japan AsTn.BE — Astilbe Japonica. — The foli- 
age of this plant (fig. 3) would give it a place in 
the garden, as it is of so rich a green, and so 
handsome inform; but in addition to its fine 
leaves, it produces a pyramidal cluster of pure 
white, delicate flowers, upon a stem one or two 
feet high. A most charming, hardy plant for 
the border, and one that is often used for for- 
cing. Some two years ago, we figured the 
flowers of the natural size; the engraving now 
presented shows the habit of the plant. There 
is a variety with beautifully variegated foliage, 
which holds its golden markings until our hot 
days come on, when it is green for the rest of 
the season. Florists will persist in calling this 
Spiraea Japonica, but it is not a Spiraea, nor 
does it belong to the same botanical family. 
Missouri Evening Primrose — (Enolliera 
Mmourienm, also called CE. macrocarpa. — A 
low growing plant, with prostrate stems, a foot 
or more in length. The leaves are of a dull, 
hoary green. The flowers, which are of a fine, 
golden yellow, are from four to six inches 
across; they open towards evening, and remain 
until the next day's sun becomes too hot for 
Fig. 3.— JAPAN ASTILBE. 
them. The plant (fig. 4) blooms all summer, 
and is a very effective one to use in masses. 
Perennial Flax — Linum, perenne. — This, 
a native of the country beyond the Mississippi, 
is shown in figure 5, as far as its form and habit 
go, but we cannot give an idea of the beauti- 
ful blue of its flowers, which the French aptly 
call "celestial." The plant throws up numer- 
ous slender stems, about a foot and a half high, 
which bear great numbers of flowers, and has a 
remarkably airy appearance. The individual 
flowers soon wither, but they are each day re- 
placed by new ones, and the plant continues to 
produce its cloud of blue bloom all summer 
M m « -i ' ■ 
Packing and Shipping Vegetables to a 
Distant Market. 
BV 9. B. CONOVER, WEST WASHINGTON MARKET, N T. 
[A good share of the many persons who have 
gone to the warmer States for the purpose of 
raising fruits and vegetables for the markets of 
northern cities are destined to disappointment. 
They may be entirely successful in raising good 
crops, but they will be disappointed in the re- 
turns they receive, for the reason that their ar- 
ticles did not reach the purchaser in good order. 
In cities the appearance of a package has much 
Fi: 
r-.i'Offil-" 
4.— rERENNIAL FLAX. 
to do with the price it brings. To help those 
who need instruction in the matter, we have re- 
quested of Mr. Conover, one of our most expe- 
rienced commission-merchants, some articles on 
