178 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
[ August 28, 1868. 
firmer said about his married life, “I beeu wedded fifty years this very 
day, and I can court my wife now as well as ever I could—aye ! and a 
sight better, too—because I fare tj understand now what she ‘dew ’ like, 
and what she ‘ don’t like.’ ” 
(II). Next let me call your attention to utility, and peculiar charm that 
attaches to the hardy herbaceous family. 
First.—Their utility— 
Decoration for the garden all the year round. 
Why should there be blanks of bare soil in spring and early summer, 
when beds and borders of shrubberies may be all ablaze with Primroses 
of a dozen colours, with seedling Pansies and Polyanthuses, Phlox subulata 
and setacea, Auriculas, Aubrietias, Daffodils, Crown Imperials, Lilies, 
Saxifrages, Alpine Primulas, such as Primula rosea and nivea, pulcber- 
rima and denticulate, Snowflakes and Snowdrops, Caltha palustris, 
Anemones fulgens, apennina, Ranunculi, Iris, Fritillarias, Dielytras, 
Trollii, Scillas, Alyssum, Adonis vernalis, Hepaticas, and others too 
many to mention, to be qui kly followed in June by more Lilies, summer¬ 
flowering Irises, Campanulas, Columbines, Delphiniums, Gladioli, Tuberous 
Geraniums, Veronica, Lychnises, Potentillas, Gaillardias, Coreopsis, &c. 
and a vast host of similar plants P And th n again, 
Why throughout the months of July and August should we be con¬ 
demned to gaze upon the same pattern of carpet-bedding, upon scarlet 
Pelargonium, yellow Calceolaria, and Golden Feverfew, upon the Lobelia 
and Ageratum, &c., and on these alone, when there are such splendid 
allies and adjuncts to these, more beautiful in blossom, more graceful in 
habit, more varied and brilliant in colour, and nearly all more striking in 
shape and bloom— eg., as summer-flowering Chrysanthemums, Pent- 
stemons, Helianthi, Phlox decussata, Leucanthemum maximum, (Eao- 
thera, a'pine Asters, A 'hilleas, &c. ? Why stick to one family of plants 
when we may have the stateliness of the double Hollyhock and the 
brilliancy of the (-ingle Dahlia to regale our sight, enliven our parterres, 
snd decorate our rooms ? Why, indeed ? Echo answers, Why ? 
And, finally, in au'umn, the scarlet L belia, the Japanese Anemones 
(white and pink), the perennial Sunflowers, Pyrethrum uliginosum, 
Tritomas, Senecio pulcher, and Michaelmas Daisies complete the floral 
chain of beauty, which leaves nothing to be desired. 
(2). The charm of these flowers is manifold. 
There is the charm of their endless variety of form, height, and 
co’ours, for back rows, and middle rows, and front rows, for massing and 
grouping, for carpeting and covering the naked soil, for creeping, droop¬ 
ing, trailing over wood and stone. 
There is the charm of their ever-renewed freshness, new flowers 
each succeeding month, nosegays bright for every season of the year, 
giving an unflagging interest to the flower garden to master, to mistrese, 
and to man. 
There is the charm of their individuality. 
For each has its history, its associations, its romance, its memories. 
These plan’s, for instance, were collected in Switzerland, or in Cali¬ 
fornia, or in Norway, in company with comrades dear. 
These once grew in the dear old garden at home, where dwelt the dear 
ones who now girni-h the garden up above. 
Over this plant, look you, this very identical plant, as she was fasten¬ 
ing one of its lovely blooms in her shining hair, a young man asked a 
beauteous maiden an important question, and as the answer was satisfac¬ 
tory, their mutual love, like the flower he gave her, has become “ peren¬ 
nial ! ” 
Again, in these plants we often observe that there is but one step 
between the sublime and the ridiculous. 
“What do you call that flower, Sir?” said a rheumatic old woman 
in my brother's parish, who had come to visit his garden. 
“ Monarda diityma, or Bergamot,” said he. 
“ Why, that's what they make my Bergamy plaisters of for the Rheu¬ 
matics. You go to the Chemisist and you ax for a Bargaroy root ; then 
you bile it till its right, pulpy like, then you ‘ spreed ’ it on the paper in 
sun till its right crumbly like ; then you hold it afore the fire till it is 
right clammy like, then you clap it smHck bang on where you feel the 
■misery —and that fare to ea-e yer bootiful 1 ” 
Finally, there is the charm to the Christian man, and, above all, 
to the clergyman, of the lessons which they teach us of God’s love; of 
Immortality and Resurrection to eternal life. Who but those who have 
experienced it can descrihe the delight of going to a certain spot in our 
herbaceous border, as each season comes round again, to see if some old 
asiociate has survived the winter, and the joy of recognising some former 
familiar flower springing up into newness of life ? Truly— 
“ In all places, then, and in all seasons, 
These flowers expand their light and soul-like wings, 
Teaching us by most persuasive reasons 
Eow akin they are to human things. 
‘ And wish childlike, credulous affection, 
We behold their tender bu s expand; 
Emhhm- of our great Pe-urc ction, 
Emblems of the bright ani better land. 
“ Wondrous truths, and manifold as wonlrous, 
God has written in the stars above ; 
But not less in the bright flowerets under us, 
Stands the revelation of HiB love.” 
(III.) Yon vail, no doubt, now expect me to say something (f their 
arrangement in borders and shrubberies. There are four thirgs t> be 
kept in mind in considering this—height, colour, habit, and season of 
blooming. 
(a) Height.—Place the tallest plants at the back, and graduate the 
rest towards the front of your border. 
( h ) Place them in groups, so as the colours will contrast and blend 
for general effect, giving each plant sufficient room for the expanse of 
three or four years’ growth. 
(c) So arrange each group as shall make it impossible to have a blank 
at any season of the year, except midwinter. 
(d) Plant the mo-sy, shade-loving species under the shadow of the tall 
and spiky ones, so that, as far as possible, the bare soil is carpeted below 
as well as illumined from above. 
We want in cur gardens, not so much to gaze upon neatly raked 
mother earth as upon flowers. Like a ceitain American, who on calling 
one day at a house to see a young lady, was asked if he would like to see 
her parents, to which he replied, “ Waal, no ! I guess I didn’t come to 
see the parents." So “ I guess ” we, as gardeners don’t want to see soil, 
but flowers. 
By this method, while you escape monotony you will maintain order 
and reproduce as near as near as possible the luxurious beauty of Nature. 
Perhaps some are incredulous about the possibility of such arrangement 
and such variety to suit every season. I can only answer to such an 
objection : You have a vast number of different species of perennials at 
your disposal of every imaginable colour and habit, and if with this wealth 
of plants, in addition to the regular troops of annuals, biennials, and 
usual bedding stuff, you cannot so arrange your army as to cover every 
flank and every blank, then you are a worse general than I am inclined to 
believe. Set your mind to it and try. “ Be not faithless but believing,” 
and then success is sure. “ Palmam qui meruit ferat." 
(IV.) And now a word ab ut cultivation of these herbaceous perennials. 
They love a deep loamy soil. If you have not got it in your gardens 
already, get it. 1 see heaps of leaf mould and rotten sods ready to hand 
for your potting and bedding plants, and you have to do this for them 
and spend endless labour on them yearly for only a year’s bloom. Well, 
give it to the herbaceous plants at first planting, and you need not touch 
them for five years, except to supply occasional blanks or to check luxu¬ 
riant growth. 
Let your borders be 3 feet deep with this good food, and then in the 
hottest summers they will be safe from drought, and in the coldest winter 
secure from frost, and last for years without further trouble. I do not 
deny that they are better for mulching in late autumn and early spring, 
and with good soakings of water in midsummer. The mulching that 
never fails is this, for I have tried it : thoroughly rotten manure, which, 
as graphically described by a Sheffielder, “cuts as tender as a seed 
cake.” When this has been spread over the whole border, burnt earth as 
a blanket on the top keeps the border cool in summer and warm in 
winter, and gives to the whole throughout the seasons a tidy appearance. 
Against one evil I must warn you— never dig amongst your herbaceous 
borders; it is harmful to all, to some instant death; mutilates their 
fleshy roots besides chopping in pieces secreted bulbs. 
(V.) Finally, as it is not within the scope of this short paper to give a 
full list of herbaceous perennial plants, I shall content myself with giving 
you just a few hints on the cultivation of special yet standard perennials 
which should occupy a position in every garden, and with reminding you 
that such nurserymen as Messrs. Backhouse of York, Messrs. Fisher, Son, 
and Sibray of Sheffield, and though last not least, Messrs. Thos. Ware of 
Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham, London—than whom none have a more 
extensive collection or a more matured experience of this particular class 
of flowers—will be glad to give further information. And here I grate¬ 
fully acknowledge my indebtedne'8 to Messrs. Ware, to Messrs. Fisher 
and Sibray, and to W. A. Milner, Esq., Totley Hall, Sheffield, for their 
kindness and courtesy in supplying floral specimens wherewith to illus¬ 
trate my remarks. 
Hints on the Cultivation of Some of the Very Best 
Hardy Perennials Grown. 
Campanulas (perennial) should be planted out from March to June, with 
the exception of robust kinds, such as glomerata, dahurica, and latifolia. 
They never do well the first season if planted later , and often get 
destroyed during the winter. Nearly the whole of the family prefer a 
somewhat heavy soil, with plenty of water during the growing season. 
Dwarf varieties are adapted for rockwork, taller kinds for ordinary 
borders. 
The Platycodons (C. grandifiora and C. autumnalis) prefer a light dry 
soil. A few sorts in the way of fragilis, isophylla, &c., are capital plants 
for hanging baskets and windows. In many Continental towns windows 
are filled with such varieties, and most charming they look. Achilleas, 
Coreopsis laneeolata, Geum coccineum, CEnotheras, Veronica longifolia 
subsessilis, Gaillardia grandifiora, Malva, Matricaria, Scabiosa caucasica, 
and similar plants are well adapted for ordinary borders, and require no 
special treatment. If the soil be heavy spring planting is advisable; if 
light, autumn is the best season. In fact, this remark applies to all 
perennials of this class. Some sorts—Coreopsis laneeolata, for instance 
—flower so freely and continually that in order to store up the necessary 
reserve food in its fleshy ro-ts for the winter it should be cut down in the 
beginning of September. 
All Alstrcemerias, with the exception of A. aurea, should be planted 
in a light soil and given plenty of moisture during the summer ; the 
