24 
September 8, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS IN 
FLOWER. 
Physostegia virginiana. —The stems of this hardy 
plant vary from 3 ft. to 5 ft. in height or more according 
to circumstances, so that it should be placed well 
back in the herbaceous border. The rosy purple 
flowers are paler within on the lower lip, and some¬ 
times almost white, striped with purple. On account 
of these distinctions it is we'l worthy of a place in 
the border when yellow Composites are all too pre¬ 
valent. The root-stock may be multiplied by division 
in the autumn after the flowering stems have been 
cut down. 
Lysimachia clethroides. —Many still continue 
to regard this species as the best of the genus for 
border culture, and in many respects they are 
doubtless right, for the dense, nodding spikes of 
pure white flowers are conspicuous and well shown 
off by the dark green foliage. The plant is not parti¬ 
cular as to soil provided it does not get too dry in 
summer, for in light sandy soil during a droughty 
period we have seen the leaves flagging and the 
flower stems stunted. Propagation is most easily 
accomplished by division. 
Lilium tigrinum.— The glory of this Lily in 
August and September can hardly be overrated, and 
it is moreover most easy to cultivate. There are 
several forms that flower at different times and 
altogether keep up a display for six or eight weeks. 
The single form of L. t. splendens and L. t. flore 
pleno are perhaps the most common in cultivation, 
the former being by far the best and much more 
handsome than the double one, which we consider 
lumpy and ungainly. We do not consider double 
forms an acquisition either among the members of the 
Amaryllis or Lily family. The Tiger Lily in its various 
forms, flowers during July, August and September, 
and is therefore a late species. The large and widely 
expanded orange-red flowers are richly spotted with 
large dark-purple or almost crimson markings. 
They are borne in triangular racemes, and every 
flower hangs with its face downwards. It makes a 
handsome subject in the herbaceous border, with its 
dark stems and black bulbils in the axils of the 
leaves. 
Helenium autumnale.- —This differs from the 
well known H. a. pumilum chiefly in its greater 
stature and smaller flower heads. The latter 
measure ij in. to 2J in. across and are of a clear 
bright yellow. The leaves are lanceolate, dark green, 
and decurrent upon the stems forming wings. The 
stems themselves vary in height, from 3 ft. to 6 ft. 
according to soil and the season. Considering its 
size, it is a very neat plant, moreover, and flowers 
much later than H. a. pumilum. It should be 
planted in the back line of the border, because when 
it gets properly established, and in wet seasons it 
gets very tall but is perfectly upright, branches very 
little if any, and takes up but a small amount of 
space. 
Monarda didyma.— The Oswego Tea plant is a 
highly ornamental subject, and certainly the best of 
the genus both as to its dwarf habit and the rich 
colour of its scarlet flowers and bronzy red bracts. 
The plant grows about 18 in. high, and the stems be¬ 
ing relatively stiff, no staking is required. Division 
is easily effected either in autumn or in spring before 
growth has made much progress. 
Sidalcea Candida.— When planted in fertile and 
fairly moist soil, this plant keeps growing on and 
flowering great part of the summer season. The late 
growths come into bloom in succession when the 
early ones have become quiescent or are ripening 
seed. It is a much neater and more compact grow¬ 
ing plant than S. oregana and different in the 
colour of the flowers. The latter are white with red 
anthers but very thin between the veins, the effect of 
which is to give them a satiny appearance. We are 
surprised that this neat plant is not more commonly 
cultivated. 
Achillea Millefolium roseum.— The typical 
wild plant still keeps flowering away as grandly as 
ever, indeed it is a question whether it does not 
flower better in the cool days of early autumn than 
in the heat of summer. The beautifully coloured 
variety under notice behaves in a similar manner. 
The flowers now expanding are from late developed 
stems, and are as brightly coloured as ever. The 
plant may be propagated with the greatest facility 
by cuttings in early summer or by division. 
Helianthus rigidus. —Owing to the abundant 
moisture which we experienced during the summer 
months this plant has not ripened off so early as it 
sometimes does In some well situated gardens it is 
still very handsome. Being dwarfer than most other 
species of Sunflower, it may be accommodated in 
small gardens where the late flowering and tall 
growing ones would be inadmissible. 
-- 
ORIGIN OF THE SWEET PEA. 
Could any of your readers give me any information 
as to the origin of the Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odora- 
tus) of gardens ? Perhaps it is asking too much, as I 
find that it was introduced to this country from 
Sicily about the year 1700, and therefore its origin 
may be lost in the mists of antiquity. My reason for 
asking the question is this, I heard a gentleman 
make the assertion the other day, that his Sweet 
Peas had all degenerated to common Tares. He tells 
me in good faith, that he purchased a packet of 
Sweet Peas from a leading English seed house, and 
the first year he had no Tares. He saved his own 
seed, sowed them the second year, result a few Tares, 
which he carefully pulled up. He saved the seed 
again, result nearly all Tares, thence his belief that 
the bees had turned all his Sweet Peas into Tares. 
Now is this really the case, or is it the result of foul 
seed, coupled with the belief that he had really 
pulled out all the weeds, when it was not the case. 
Tares are more prolific than Sweet Peas, and any¬ 
one with immature knowledge would naturally 
pull the pods where they where the thickest- 
However, it may be the case. A good many 
plants show a tendency to degenerate. Violas, for 
example, soon show a tendency to go back to the 
common Heartsease without proper precautions. I 
shall be glad if anyone can give the desired informa¬ 
tion, as I consider that crude ideas, the result of in¬ 
sufficient observation, should never be allowed to 
pass unchallenged.— J. Holmes 
[The Sweet Pea is a native of Sicily, Crete, and 
probably other islands and countries bordering upon 
the Mediterranean. We do not think it has been 
much, if at all, altered by cultivation beyond the size 
of the flowers, and their greater variety in colour. 
Botanically it is Lathyrus ordoratus, while the Tare 
is Vicia sativa. Seeing that they belong to different 
genera, there is not the slightest chance of Sweet 
Peas reverting to Tares. We would sooner believe 
that an enemy came out and sowed them by night. 
The seeds of the two kinds are very similar, and 
eaily mixed by mistake, though they are in most 
cases sufficiently distinct to be separated by a keen 
observant eye. The seeds of Tares are somewhat 
flattened ; those of the Sweet Pea are round. Tares 
often come in stable manure. You are quite right 
in saying that large garden Pansies degenerate in the 
course of a few generations to the Wild Heartsease ; 
but this is only what might be expected. They 
are still Pansies, however small the flowers may be.— 
Ed.] 
PLANTS~IN ROOMS. 
In our wandering from one home to another we have 
been much struck with the great differences between 
the health of plants in some rooms, and their state 
in others. In one they are evidently at home, in the 
other it is a struggle for existence—and not a long 
one at the best. In spite of the enormous circulation 
of garden literature, there are many homes where 
plants are treated in the worst possible way. We 
are induced to pen these few lines at the present 
time because we are fast approaching those lengthy 
autumnal and winter evenings when the fire sheds a 
pleasing glow, the pipe or cigar is brought forth and 
curtains drawn. Very soon the poor plant nearest 
the smoker is in more or less distress. 
We do not say the fumes of tobacco are the sole 
cause of this, but the heated and smoke-laden atmos¬ 
phere is not favourable to any plant. Add to this 
the fact that the next change—often following the 
other very closely—is to an extreme of cold draught 
caused by the maid opening the windows early in 
the morning, the very time when the atmosphere is 
keenest, and can we wonder at any plant failing to 
do so well as a neighbour's, who treats his pets in a 
more rational manner ? No ; we must give a little 
more thought to our room plants than is generally 
accorded them, or failure and disappointment will 
be the inevitable result. It will not do to give them 
so close a temperature that even we, amid our 
excitement, are apt to exclaim about the heat. 
When we not only do this, but afford a keen draught 
a few hours after, and while the room is still very 
warm, how can we reasonably expect the plant to 
retain any semblance of good health ?— Experience. 
A WALK IN THE 
COUNTRY (5). 
(Continued from p. 5.) 
We parted last week on the Pilgrims' Way, a road 
which does not exist in its entirety at the present 
day though it may be traced from time to time 
by the still existent names such as “ Pilgrim’s 
Farm,” “ Pilgrim’s Lane,” &c. Yew trees also at 
places mark its course. The habit of using roads 
on the tops or sides of the hills does not seem to 
have been very new even in the time of the Pilgrims 
to St. Thomas A’ Beckett’s shrine at Canterbury, 
for twenty-five hundred years before then we find 
Deborah and Barak exulting saying, “ In the days of 
Shanyar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the 
highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked 
through by-ways.” 
We still ascended and found the Rock Roses still 
in bloom, the stamens of which are most sensitive, 
for touched by a needle or the wing of an insect 
they at once lie down on the petals. The Carline 
Thistle and the Blue Fleabane we also gathered. 
At the top of the hill we turned our steps eastwards 
skirting the woods of Titsey Park, and beyond a 
fossil or two among the flints found nothing of 
interest till we reached a bye path, evidently at one 
time the high road leading from Oxted to Croydon, 
I would mention, however, that we found the Yellow 
Bedstraw which, common as it is in other parts, 
I have not met with hereabouts. The bye-way leads 
down from the summit of the hills through Titsey 
Park, and the trees on both sides of us were grand 
and picturesque. We began by finding a magni¬ 
ficent clump of Rose Bay in full bloom, certainly 
one of the most beautiful and stateliest of our wild 
flowers, and, hard by, a prize to any one with an 
interest in the rarer kinds—the Broad-leaved Helle- 
borine. We had found Roman Snails and it was 
therefore but fitting that we should find the Roman 
Nettle, a somewhat rare species, bearing its fruits in 
clusters. Culpepper, in his own quaint way, says of 
the Nettles that as everyone knows them he need not 
describe them, but " if anyone does not know them, 
he will soon do so by feeling for them in the dark.” 
The Enchanters’ Nightshade was growing very 
prolifically here, and the Bitter Sweet or Woody 
Nightshade was in flower and berry to be found 
everywhere, but we hardly expected to find the third 
of the Nightshades, the Deadly Nightshade, in 
these parts, but the unexpected often turns up, and 
we found as we descended the hill a fine bush of it 
growing some 3 ft. high, with sickly-looking flowers 
on some of the stems, and green and also black 
ripe fruit on others. This is a plant still used in 
British medicine, and I understand that fruits, 
flowers, leaves, and stems, root and branch, are all 
most poisonous. “ Dwale ” is the old English name 
of the plant, said to be akin to the French word 
deuil or mourning. I don’t think we need go across 
the channel for a derivation, for it certainly is a devil 
of a plant. 
It was meet that close by them should be growing 
a plant that had a very wide reputation for healing 
and all that is good. I speak of the Wood Sanicle. 
Here it was, though its virtues are not any longer 
recognised. Celui qui sanicie a de mite affaire ilna is a 
very old French saying, and may be translated " He 
who has Sanicle has no need of the doctor.” The 
name in itself would seem to show its meaning, sain 
being sane—sound or healthy, though there may be 
others I understand who give its derivation from its 
being a plant which was used by Saint Michel—a de¬ 
rivation which reminds me of one given by a dear old 
friend of mine of the word ostler, which he declared 
was merely a contraction of oat stealer. By the way- 
side the red berries of the Cuckoo Pint were show¬ 
ing in clusters, with a hint, too, that winter is at 
hand. The Flannel-leaved Mullein was standing 
with its upright stalk flowerless, and only its seed 
vessels left, but the Clustered Bell flower and the 
Harebells were still blooming luxuriantly amidst 
the verdure of the Small Woodruff with its tiny 
flowers. 
In a chalk pit at the bottom of the hill we found 
growing in a disused kiln a plant with yellow flowers, 
