JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 29, 1882. 
cultivated, and certainly one of the best; it is an elegant border 
plant, and a great favourite in the cottagers’ gardens. It grows 
about 2 feet high, and should find a place in every collection. 
Campanulas are numerous, and some are exceptionally fine ; 
C. corouata is a very showy species. C. Portenschlagiana is one 
of the dwarfest and most free-flowering of the genus; beautiful 
little tufts not exceeding 6 inches high are completely covered 
with light purple flowers, so much so that little foliage is dis¬ 
cernible. C. collina ranks amongst the best very dark purple 
fl wers. C. garganica is another elegant little species, not ex¬ 
ceeding 6 inches in height ; the flowers are drooping, pale blue 
and white. 
Amongst yellow flowers the Hieraciums must not be forgotten. 
H. vulgatum is compact and free-flowering, about 18 inches high. 
H. amplexicaule is also a free-flowering plant, H. villosum does 
not exceed 8 or 10 inches in height, and produces flowers a couple 
of inches high. There are other species that flower at different 
times that are worthy of consideration. Plants of Cineraria 
maritima that have remained in the borders through the winter 
are very handsome, the silvery, tomentose, finely cut foliage ren¬ 
dering it a desirable plant. 
The Pyrethrums, of which there are many fine forms, deserve 
special attention. The varieties of P. roseum are now classed 
amongst florists’ flowers, and deserve to be largely grown ; they 
are extremely useful for cutting. There are several other species 
that may be included, and are fine ornaments to the herb border. 
Callichroa platyglossa with its bright yellow Chrysanthemum-, 
like flowers is well worth a place, and is now very showy. Hv- 
menoxis californica and Lasthenia glabrata closely approach the 
latter in colour and shape of flowers. Platystemon californicus is 
loaded with its creamy white flowers. This is rather a curious 
little plant, the flower stems and foliage being densely covered 
with bristles. 
The garden Poppy is extremely showy when in flower, and 
amongst the most conspicuous species are Papaver pilosum, 
P. argemone, P. caucasicum, and P. orientale ; the latter a hand¬ 
some plant 3 or 4 feet high, the stems supporting one large scarlet 
flower with a dark crimson blotch at the base of the petals. 
We must not forget to mention the Eschscholtzias. They are 
great favourites, and well suited for the herbaceous border how¬ 
ever select. E. californica is considered to be the best. The 
typical form has bright yellow flowers, and rather loose and much 
branched in habit. There are many fine varieties of it, the colours 
varying from white, pink, and paler yellow, and all are well 
worth growing, as they continue to flower for a long time through 
the season.—W. K. 
GENTIANAS. 
Theke is now a multitude of hardy border and alpine flowers 
happily found in our plant collections, among which the Gentians 
are as much admired and sought after as any. This is undoubtedly 
due to the intensity of coloration in the flowers and their per¬ 
sistency. In point of colour there are no hardy plants, with 
perhaps the exception of the Delphiniums, which can at all com¬ 
pete with them, being so very distinctive. Take, for instance, the 
brilliancy of the flowers of our little native species G. verna. 
What alpine do we grow equal in this particular to it? and 
under ordinary circumstances the flowers last some time in per¬ 
fection, usually being of stout texture. When the plants are 
thoroughly established they are very free-flowering, and certainly 
very showy. As to their hardiness, we cannot find much fault 
with them, for the majority (all those described below) can ap¬ 
parently endure a very low temperature—much below what we 
usually experience in this country. The recent severe winters 
(excluding, of course, the very mild season just past) have tested 
the hardiness of all so-called hardy plants, and the Gentians have 
passed through the ordeal better than many others. During the 
severe season of 1880-81 the grand Himalayan species G. Kurroo 
did not yield to the severity of the frost, although planted in a very 
exposed position. I may here say the plant referred to was well 
established before winter set in, which is essential to the proper 
security of all plants respecting the hardiness of which there is any 
doubt. In the case of our introduced hardy plants the best time 
to plant them out is in spring, thus giving them a fair chance to 
become established during the severe months preceding winter. 
With such merits it is not surprising that Gentians are so eagerly 
sought by lovers of hardy flowers, especially by specialists in this 
interesting branch of floriculture. In fact, taking this and a few 
other primary genera in the proportion of their presence or absence, 
you have a fair index in the majority of cases of the extent and 
value of the collection under consideration. I refer to such genera 
in association with the Gentians as Primula, Androsace, Aquilegia, 
Campanula, Lilium, Fritillaria, &c., leading genera, because they 
are substantial representatives of the best hardy flowers known in 
our gardens. Some cultivators complain of the difficulty they ex¬ 
perience in establishing Gentians. There is surely no reason for it. 
The difficulty, if any exist, is to secure in the first instance good 
well-established plants, especially of the rarer kinds. By far the 
larger portion of them succeed well in ordinary border soil, enjoy¬ 
ing cool damp situations with a good drainage, and they all thrive 
admirably in rich loam, leaf soil, and sharp sand, with the exception 
of a few bog-loving species which revel in peat and leaf soil—such 
as G. Andrewsii, and in the bog garden they are to be had in much 
finer condition than under other circumstances. All of them can 
be fittingly employed for the embellishment of the alpine garden ; 
and where limestone is employed in the construction of the rockery 
the contrast between the deep colouring of the flowers and the 
material composing the structure is very striking. 
The species and varieties to be enumerated are all of them 
worth growing ; and although the selection excludes many equally 
as rare and desirable as those described, it represents a fair number 
of those best known and most easily secured. There are a great 
many species yet to be introduced. There are not less than thirty- 
five species found at various altitudes in the Himalayas, of which 
we know only about three in our gardens. 
G. acaulis. —This is a well-known species found in Britain, also 
occurring in many other parts of Europe. It is very dwarf, 
forming dense cushions. Leaves ovate, more or less acuminate, 
shining and evergreen. Flowers 1^ to 2 inches long, erect, bell- 
shaped, deep blue, and very persistent, on short stems about 
2 inches high, appearing during May and June. As well as being 
readily increased by division it is easily raised from seed, and 
perhaps the issue from seed are stronger. It is admirably adapted 
for rockeries and edgings, enjoying a rich loamy soil in a cool 
situation. 
G. acaulis alba is a white-flowered variety, precisely similar in 
other details. I think it is of Austrian origin, and may be had 
from Mr. H. Gusmus Villach, Austria, who is rich in alpine flowers. 
It is a lovely kind, being equally as floriferous as the type. 
G. (estiva. —A dwarf species from the Austrian Alps. Stem 
2 to 3 inches high, with distichous ovate-lanceolate leaves an inch 
or more long. Flowers bell-shaped, light blue, not so large as 
those of acaulis, appearing during July and August. This may 
be increased by division, and is a very attractivejittle species. 
G. alba. —A recently introduced and very beautiful species from 
the western States of North America. Stems a foot or more high, 
stout, crowded with sessile flowers at the top, also in the axils of 
the upper leaves. Flowers about inch long, white, more or 
less tinged with yellow, especially at the base. It succeeds well 
on the rockery or in borders in ordinary soil, and is perfectly 
hardy, flowering during July and August. 
G. alpina. —This is related to G. acaulis, having the same habit. 
The leaves and flowers are rather smaller, and the latter are paler 
in colour, with a white spot on each lobe of the corolla. It is 
found on the Swiss Alps, and flowers later than G. acaulis—July 
and August, and it is on that account very desirable, being increased 
the same way. 
G. algida. —A very lovely Siberian species, producing stout, 
erect, deciduous stems a foot or more high, with terminal clusters 
of flowers. Leaves lanceolate, acute and shining. Flowers to 
2 inches long, erect, bell-shaped, plaited, pale yellow, with blue 
spots and markings, especially on the exterior surface. It appears 
this plant was known in English gardens many years since, but 
was for a long time entirely lost to cultivation. It has, however, 
recently been re-introduced by Dr. Regel of Petersburgh, from 
whom I received several very fine plants. It is a free grower and 
quite hardy. 
G. Andrewsii. —This is a native of the eastern States of North 
America, a very common plant in low marshy places among grass. 
It grows from 1^ to 2 feet high, with terminal and axillary clusters 
of flowers. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, blunt, shining. Flowers an 
inch or more long ; the corolla limb remaining closed, or with 
only a slight opening, of a deep glistening purplish blue colour 
externally, striped with white internally, appearing during August 
and September. It is a very showy species, is well adapted for 
damp and boggy positions, and perfectly hardy. 
G. asclepiadca. —A South European species, producing slender 
stems to 2 feet high, with very long terminal and axillary 
clusters of erect bell-shaped flowers, about an inch long, of a deep 
blue colour, expanding during July and August. There is also 
a white-flowered variety named alba, which is rather stronger in 
growth, with umbels of white flowers. They are both very showy 
plants, and thrive well in ordinary garden soil. 
G. bavavica. —This is a very dwarf kind, native of Germany, 
little more than an inch high, with small ovate leaves and erect 
tubular flowers of a deep blue colour appearing in July, and when 
