September 3, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
5 
CONVOLVULUS MAURITANICUS 
The intrinsic beauty of this species, and the variety 
of purposes to which it can be put, should argue in 
favour of a more extended cultivation. In the southern 
and more favoured parts of the country, it proves 
sufficiently hardy to withstand all but the severest 
winters without protection, especially if planted in a 
dry situation at the foot of a wall or on a rockery, 
where its roots can ramble among the stones and enjoy 
good drainage. It is also accommodating on account 
of its short pendent stems, that do not twine or require 
any support if grown where the stems can hang about 
loosely. For this reason it is well adapted for covering 
the more prominent ledges of the rockery ; for basket- 
work, in a cool conservatory, it is quite at home and 
looks very graceful. A greenhouse, where the back 
wall is covered with netting supporting soil for the 
insertion of plants, is also a most convenient situation 
for this elegant Bindweed. 
-- 
HARDY PLANTS AT TOTTENHAM 
Those only who grow an extensive collection of 
hardy plants can form any just idea of the quantity of 
bloom, the variety obtainable, and the continuity with 
which one class follows another throughout the entire 
twelve months of the year. It literally follows, then, 
that we are never without hardy flowers of some sort ; 
and a few of the winter-flowering subjects are, withal, 
so chaste and beautiful that a little protection may 
ungrudgingly be given them. Furthermore, the fact 
must not be overlooked that many of the most useful 
subjects for forcing are perfectly hardy, and, therefore, 
belong to the category of plants under consideration. 
One of the leading features of Mr. T. S. Ware’s 
nurseries at the Hale Farm, Tottenham, this season, is 
the collection of Gaillardias that have recently been 
brought into great prominence. It may safely be said 
that no class of hardy plants more merits the eulogium 
rightly bestowed on Gaillardias ; and their behaviour 
during the trying season we have just passed through 
speaks in silent yet indelible language that we may 
rely upon them for a supply of bloom in the hottest 
and driest of seasons, when many of our old favourites 
are threatening to succumb altogether. Great improve¬ 
ments have been, and are still being, effected in this 
beautiful Composite at the Hale Farm ; and not only 
has the supply of bloom been continuous all through 
the drought, but it is now in greater profusion than 
ever, and will continue so till frost puts an end to 
growth. G. maximus and G. grandiflorus are now 
well-known varieties that speak for themselves ; and 
if they are superseded in brilliant and telling colours, 
the former, at all events, will long maintain its 
superiority in size, while the colour is really excellent 
in itself. Its constitution is strong, and its flowering 
properties both profuse and continuous. A dwarf, new 
variety is Admiration, with a dark chestnut-brown 
centre, a crimson ring round this, and a broad yellow 
margin. Equally novel and even more showy is that 
named Venus, whose central disk is almost black, 
surrounded by a reddish crimson ring with a broad 
yellow margin. Splendens is similar to Maximus, but 
has smaller flower heads and darker colours. In 
Magnificus, the red colouring of the ray florets is con¬ 
fined to the base, so that collectively they form but a 
narrow ring surrounding the central disk. We have 
the opposite extreme in Sanguinea, where a deep 
crimson-red displaces the yellow, except at the tip of 
the florets ; this is a very distinct and striking variety. 
Lutea is a good florists’ flower, with golden yellow, 
flat flower heads. Improvement and selection still 
continue, so that before long many fine things will 
have been added to the more prominent and distinct 
varieties here mentioned. 
Besides the Gaillardias, one might here make a 
selection of Composites as varied, beautiful, and so 
distinct that the most fastidious might feel satisfied 
with the infinite variation in colour. Coreopsis lanceo- 
lata, a perennial species, is now almost universally 
acknowledged as the best hardy composite for cut- 
flower purposes, and is, undoubtedly, equally good 
for the hardy flower border. So much has been 
said as to the value and beauty of Olearia Haastii, 
that we may merely add that it was flowering 
grandly at the time of our visit. Those who 
rejoice in soft blue or mauve colours will find in 
Erigeron glaucus a subject to their liking, and 
its lasting properties, when cut and placed in water, 
we can fully endorse. It is by no means so common 
as its large beautiful flower-heads should warrant. 
The woolly-leaved Yarrow, with its golden yellow 
umbels of bloom, hugs the soil closely, forming a 
capital subject for the rock-garden. Helianthus 
japonicus is earlier by a month than H. rigidus, but 
both continue in bloom for a great length of time, 
constituting them amongst the dwarfest and best of 
Sunflowers. There is a very dwarf form of Chry¬ 
santhemum maximum here, which is considered by 
some to be the typical form. Amongst Rudbeckias of 
more recent introduction, none are more distinct than 
are R. californica and R. marima. Both have un¬ 
divided leaves and yellow flower-heads ; but while the 
former ranges from 12 ins. to 18 ins. high, the latter is 
a tall and handsome plant, with beautifully glaucous 
and very distinct foliage, something in the way of 
Senecio macrophyllus. The purple-flowered R. pur¬ 
purea is generally known as Echinacea purpurea, and 
is unquestionably a fine thing, with reddish purple 
heads 3 ins. to 4 ins. in diameter. The Blue Globe 
Thistle (Echinops ritro) offers a shade of colour but 
rarely matched, while in form it is equally distinct. 
Two fine forms of a native weed are Matricaria inodora 
grandiflora plena and M. i. fimbriata plena, both being 
perfectly double and pure white. 
The Evening Primroses and their allies are very 
numerously represented, amply testifying to their 
utility and popularity as ornamental garden plants. 
CEnothera macrocarpa, (E. taraxacifolia and OH. eximia 
or (E. marginata are procumbent species, with remark¬ 
ably large and showy flowers—the first being yellow, 
and the latter two white, while the Dandelion leaved 
species is easily distinguished by its deeply cut or 
jagged leaves. A dwarf and very floriferous form of 
(E. fruticosa is that known as (E. Youngi, and being 
grown in quantity, was highly effective, as was (E. 
riparia, a very distinct species of remarkably low 
stature, owing to the excessive drought, but profusely 
laden with bloom. The bright scarlet flowers of the 
Fuchsia-like Zauschneria californica characterises this 
as one of the choicest hardy plants, whether grown in 
pots or planted in the rock-garden, where its extensive 
rhizomes may ramble over a considerable area of ground. 
Blue flowers predominate among the Gentians and 
Campanulas, although Albinos are frequent among 
the species of both genera, the dwarfer forms being 
among the best ornaments of the rockery. Here we 
noted the handsome Gentiana septemfida, G. asele- 
piadea, G. a. alba, and others. Among Bellflowers, 
Platycodon grandiflorum pumilum, a very dwarf dark- 
flowered form, should find a place in every garden ; for 
its handsome appearance is undeniable. A consider¬ 
able number of species of the true Bellflowers or 
Campanulas are cultivated in quantity, but, possibly, 
none of them has a wider fame than the cottage- 
window plant, C. fragilis, which responds to the 
cottager’s care in windows—whether grown inside or 
on the outer sill. The stems and foliage court the 
light, while the former hang suspended laden with 
bloom, sometimes a length of 3 ft. It is unquestion¬ 
ably the best of the Bellflowers for window decoration. 
The ordinary or typical yellow, the orange and white 
varieties of Papaver nudicaule, are widely distributed 
in gardens, but a variety named Sulphurea has flowers 
of the palest sulphur or primrose tint, and may give 
rise to some further and interesting variation. The 
Iceland Poppies, as they are frequently called, are 
extremely handsome and elegant either for garden 
decoration or for cut-flower purposes. The curious 
flowers of Asclepias tuberosa furnish us with a different 
shade of orange from that of Papaver nudicaule 
miniata. Its dwarf habit and floriferous character are 
strong recommendations for this fine old-fashioned 
garden plant. Hypericum patulum and H. Kalmi- 
anutn are fine - foliaged species, with large yellow 
flowers ; and the former especially is amongst the 
most choice of small hardy shrubs. They, as well as 
the greater number of the dwarfer subjects mentioned, 
are planted on the rockery, which consists of a series 
of undulating mounds or rounded knolls, variously 
planted, securing sun and shade, dry spots and wet 
spots, according to the natural habitat of the subject 
intended to be grown. 
Cloveworts, of various kinds, are planted about on 
the rockery, or in different parts of the grounds, 
according to their use or nature. How very distinct 
from Gypsophila paniculata is the prostrate G. repens 
creeping over the stones, which it enlivens with its 
attractive little white flowers ! Arenaria balearica 
delights in a little shade, so as to ensure a tolerably 
moist surface on the stones over which it creeps and 
clings, and forms a living carpet of green, dotted 
with its myriads of starry white blooms. The double 
scarlet Campion, Lychnis chalcedonica, needs no 
recommendation beyond an acquaintance with its 
showy umbellate cymes of flowers, which are familiar 
in many a cottage garden. The white variety con¬ 
stitutes a strong contrast to the glowing scarlet forms. 
Lychnis vespertina plena is a double form of the 
evening scented or white Campion, which is an 
interesting and showy wilding of fields, hedges and 
waysides. It has flowered profusely all the summer at 
Hale Farm. These are by no means exhaustive of the 
list of this ornamental family, some of which flower 
from early spring till late in autumn. 
Climbing plants are not neglected, and although 
their rambling habits exclude them from places where 
the choicer and more compact-growing subjects are 
cultivated, they nevertheless exhibit a kind of vegeta¬ 
tion that might with great propriety and advantage 
enjoy greater liberty in covering naked banks, walls 
and similar unoccupied places that are generally fre¬ 
quent enough about private and other establishments. 
To this category belongs the Everlasting Pea, Lathyrus 
latifolius, and its white variety that affords no end of 
cut bloom. The pretty double pale purple or pink 
Bindweed (Calystegia pubescens) and the Seammony 
(Convolvulus Scammonia), with its white flowers and 
halbert-shaped leaves, are allowed to ramble over the 
shrubs here in a charming way. The crimson-flowered 
Tropaeolum speciosum dislikes the dry atmosphere of 
the southern part of Britain, and gives most satisfaction 
when screened from the scorching rays of the sun—as it 
is here—by a hedge. 
Less reputedly hardy flowers are "grown in various 
positions and under different conditions. The truth of 
this will be obvious by mentioning such things as 
Aciphylla Lyalli and A. squarrosa, curious spring¬ 
leaved Umbelifers, known in their native country as 
the Wild Spaniard. They delight in a dry situation, 
particularly in winter. Scirpus zebrinus, kept in small 
sunken tubs, has healthy stems 3 ft. to 4 ft. in height. 
Todea superba and Sarracenias, in moist shady places, 
contrast with Opuntia Rafinesquiana that has been 
exposed to all weathers for the last two years and 
flowers profusely. Phormium tenax variegatum not 
only lives but produces flowers freely. Planted in a 
dry but sheltered place the white Poppywort (Romneya 
Coulteri) has made fine growth this season. The sin¬ 
gular-looking and heath-like Veronica salicornoides, 
otherwise known as V. cupressoides, enjoys a modicum 
of care. 
Subjects requiring special treatment are the Japan 
Iris (I. Kfempferi), Bamboos and Gunnera scabra. The 
