Ranun- Ranunculus repens, flore plena. The leaf, of course, is neither so thick, 
CULUS nor so glossy, as the pachysandra, but it grows so wonderfully for me 
that it is sometimes difi&cult to keep it in bounds. Its sturdy roots 
will hold the earth on almost any slope, any soil seems to suit it, and 
starvation and thirst only serve to make it a more valuable ground 
cover, for the leaves grow smaller, and the stems shorter, and the 
blooms less frequent. It will also thrive even in the shade of trees, if 
it is not too dense. As a ground cover it has one disadvantage only, — 
its brilliant yellow blossoms that continue over a period, alas, far 
longer than that of any perennial border flower. For the whole month 
of June the ground is aglow with the yellowest possible yellow, and 
not content with such a display, the plants continue to bloom sparsely, 
but still brilUantly, all through the summer. It is the flower I have 
always called "Fair Maids of France," but I find that Bailey gives 
that name to the white flowered Ranunculus aconitifolius, var. flore 
plena, the yellow variety of which (var. luteo plenus), is the not un- 
common double yellow buttercup of our borders. This last-narned 
is quite distinct from the ranunculus repens, whose blossoms are larger, 
and therefore seem much yellower, and whose blossoms and leaves 
are very glossy, while the blossoms of ranunculus aconitifolius are 
only sHghtly glossy, and the leaves and stems are covered with a fine 
hairy bloom that is at times almost wooly. 
Forsyihia suspensa makes a splendid ground cover for the boldest 
situations, and is perfectly hardy for such a use. I do not always find 
it hardy where the long branches can be whipped about too much 
by the winter winds. It does not seem to withstand our winters as 
well even as the variety intermedia, and both will kill back dreadfully 
if they are fertilized too late in the season. I think late fertilizing is 
one of the causes of any of the Forsythias shyness of bloom with us, 
for even when the bloom is apparently all lacking some seasons, a few 
blossoms can be found far back on the stems, showing that it was not 
necessarily the frost that had blighted the rest, but rather a condition 
of the plant itself that made it unable to resist the frost on the last 
growth it made the previous season. 
EuoNYMUs Euonymus radicans, which is perfectly hardy in Boston, has not 
Radicans proved hardy for me. It fives, but kills back a Httle farther each year. 
Possibly, I have not learned to grow it. I shall keep on trying, how- 
ever, for it may prove to be like some of those difficult plants that 
are not strong enough in their root systems to produce hardy growth 
that can withstand the winter sun and wind until they have become 
thoroughly established, sometimes a matter of five or even ten years. 
I befieve that to be so with Wistaria, for instance. Euonymus radicans 
is good as a vine, and as a ground-cover, and grown along a fence and 
trinamed Hke a hedge, it can be made to look very Hke box. I am par- 
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