THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
153 
to public view, for, as a general rule, a hardy plant 
border is not showy. 
A collection of one hundred plants will furnish flow¬ 
ers of all colors from earliest spring to latest fall. 
There is always something new, and you can always 
And plenty of flowers to decorate your rooms or make 
a bouquet. 
The question will be asked, Where these trees and 
plants spoken of can be obtained ? They can be ob¬ 
tained of nearly all large nurserymen who grow orna¬ 
mental trees and shrubs, and it will be found always 
more satisfactory to deal directly with the nurseryman 
himself. 
After your place is made it must be taken care of. If 
it is attractive to yourself and friends, it will be a 
pleasure to keep it so, and the work will not be a 
drudgery. The lawns should be mowed at least once a 
week, when the grass is growing vigorously; the weeds 
should not be allowed in the beds, drives and walks, and 
the trees and shrubs kept in good shape by trimming. 
Trees, when young,’ should be trimmed into the shapes 
you want them to grow, after that is established they 
will require little care. Most Evergreens do not require 
much trimming, but they should not be allowed 
to become unshapely. The Retinisporas spoken of 
should be trimmed some every year to keep the foliage 
compact on the outside. 
Many shrubs should be cut vigorously, to keep them 
in shape, either after they are done growing in the fall, 
or before they begin in the spring; they can be shaped 
more or less in the summer, while they are growing, by 
pinching off the young branches. If a shrub is awk- 
wark and ungainly, cut it nearly to the ground; it will 
throw up vigorous shoots, and make a good-shaped 
planh 
Reading, Mass. "WARREN H. MANNING, 
THE TURBINATE BELL-FLOWER. 
(Campanula Turbinata). 
This pretty Bell-flower illustrates in a pleasing man¬ 
ner the prevailing difference between the flowers of the 
mountain and those of the plain. The rambling botanist 
of large experience can tell us in a moment the kind of 
country whence a plant has been derived, even if he 
cannot name the country or the plant offhand. When 
he finds the leaves small and in a compact tuft, and the 
flowers large and somewhat prominently displayed, he 
will declare it to be a plant of the mountains, accus¬ 
tomed to a strong light, to frost and snow, and keen 
breezes. The plants of the valley are by comparison 
large and leafy, with flowers less conspicuous; and 
however beautiful, as many of them are, they lack the 
tufty, closely-packed, pin-cushion growth, and brilliant 
colors of the true mountain flower. This Bell-flower 
may be compared with the average of garden Campan¬ 
ulas advantageously for purposes of instruction. We 
find no tall stem, no free leafy growth, and no drawn- 
out spike of flowers. The whole thing is, as one may 
say, in a nutshell, for the mountain plant cannot afford 
to make a tall stem and to develop its flowers slowly. 
Its conditions of life are unfavorable to the development 
of abundant material; it must make the very most of 
a short summer with a pure strong light, and many 
sudden transitions from extreme heat to extreme cold. 
Do you know how the sunshine roasts one at Ynidday in 
many a flowery spot on the Alps and the Pyrenees? 
And do you know how, in the very height of the sum¬ 
mer, the night frost is often keen enough to make the 
herbage crackle beneath the feet of the late wanderer, 
as also of the early riser? The Alpine flowers have to 
live through such extreme conditions; and if they do 
not ripen their seeds and scatter them quickly their race 
must soon come to an end. Therefore, they have not 
time to grow tall and leafy and luxurious; they hug 
down close to the ground to escape the keen wind, and 
concentrated life is of more importance to them than a 
luxurious display of delicate green garments. 
The Turbinate Campanula is a native of the Carpa¬ 
thian Mountains and Transylvania, and when trans¬ 
ferred to the garden is essentially a rock plant, requiring 
a dry, sunny position, and a light, deep, well-drained 
soil. It is at once beautiful and interesting, the small¬ 
ness of the leaves and the largeness of the flowers ren¬ 
dering it conspicuous; while the fine blue purple color 
and bold cup shaped form of the flowers compel atten¬ 
tion to detail. It may be grown in the common border 
where the conditions are favorable, the soil being sandy 
and the situation open, when it forms large leafy 
tufts, from which the flowers rise freely during the 
summer. 
■ As rock plants the smaller Campanulas have especial 
claims on our attention. The following will gratify the 
collector of such things: C. alpina , a silky or woolly 
little herb, bearing a loose pyramid of deep blue flowers; 
C. ccespitosi, very dwarf and tufty, the flowers deep 
blue; C. carpatica, a very fine rock and border plant, 
well known for its neat cushion-like growth and lovely 
flowers, which are blue or white, or combining both 
colors—this will thrive in almost any border; C. gar~ 
ganica, somewhat like the last, but more inclined to run, 
and the flowers are expanded, and have white centres; 
C. hederacea, an exquisite gem, creeping, with small, 
ivy-like leaves and bluish-purple flowers, a bog plant, 
very plentiful in the southern counties on marshy, un¬ 
cultivated lands, the companion commonly of the 
beautiful Buck-Bean ( Menyantlxes trifoliata); C. fso- 
pliylla, a handsome dwarf plant with pale-blue flowers, 
it requires a limestone soil and is a good plant for a wall 
or ruin; O. Raineri, very dwarf and pretty, the flowers 
blue, the plant adapted for either rockery or border in 
well-drained sandy soil; C. rotundifolia, the well-known 
“ Harebell"” of the hedgerow and the mountain. It is 
a good garden plant, adapted for rockery or border in 
any light soil, and there are three or four distinct va¬ 
rieties in cultivation. 
Having Campanulas in general for a moment before 
us, we must embrace the opportunity to mention two 
very fine species, which are usually ranged in the genus 
Platycodon. Number one is Campanula or ( Platycodon) 
autumnalis, a handsome perennial plant, rising a foot 
and a half high, bearing in the autumn bold panicles of 
brilliant blue, white, lilac, and dove-colored flowers— 
for there are several varieties, and some of them are 
