HARDY FLOWERS. 
FIRST PAPER. 
We very often hear the complaint from flower lovers, 
that they would be anxious to enlarge their borders and 
increase their stock were it not for the impossibility of 
caring for their pets through the winter. It is certainly 
saddening to see our plant friends blackened and 
destroyed, as a local paper says, “by one fell swoop of 
the Frost King,” and still more so, when we know it is 
the end of their beauty. So it seems the most reason¬ 
able plan, where it is impossible to house plants for the 
winter, to go in chiefly for hardy perennials, which 
show their smiling faces, year after year, whether they 
receive much care or not. Our grandmothers were wiser 
than we, in this respect, as a look through an old garden 
will show. Of course there would be Roses, and plenty 
of them, though the grower might not be a critical and 
scientific Rosarian. And there would be Saxifrages, 
perhaps the dainty little London Pride, or None-so- 
Pretty, as they call it in Cornwall (Saxifraga umbrosa), 
perennial Phloxes, Columbines, Sweet Williams, Pinks 
and Love-in-a-Mist, Ladies’ Mantle and Love-lies-bleed¬ 
ing—I like to hear their quaint old-fashioned names— 
making the garden 
“ A populous solitude of bees, and birds, 
And fairy formed and many colored things.” 
We have a very extensive choice among hardy 
Roses, both old and new. The Prairie Rose 
is a very good sort, the best varieties being 
Queen of the Frairies and Baltimore Belle. It is 
very hardy, being native of the Western States, and 
flowers late in the season, producing great clusters of 
blooms, and making very rapid growth. Though not 
so delicately beautiful as the Climbing Teas, its hardi¬ 
ness and freedom of growth make it very desirable. 
The Hybrid Perpetuals offer some very useful hardy 
sorts, and in mentioning them we must not forget their 
founder, Rosa Damascena, the Damask Rose of the 
poets. It is a native of Syria, whence it was brought 
to Europe in 1573. It is very fragrant and very hardy, 
qualities shared by its hybrid progeny. We scarcely 
need mention the General Jacqueminot, the “Jack” of 
commerce, its beauty and fragrance are too well known. 
But I have been asked, on several occasions if “ Jack ” 
and Jacqueminot were not two separate and distinct 
flowers, so I beg to state that the former is its commer¬ 
cial--the latter its correct designation. 
Gloire de Dijon is a beautiful climbing Tea, hardy 
and deliciously fragrant. Its color shades from rose to 
salmon and yellow; the flowers are very large and glob¬ 
ular. It forms a lovely contrast wiih the foregoing. 
The Roses enumerated below are perfectly hardy and 
desirable for the garden. 
Anne de Diesbach, carmine; Mabel Morrison , pure 
white, very fine; Madame Boll, rose pink; Baroness 
Rothschild, light pink, free blooming and distinct; 
Charles Ma.rgottin, fiery red ; Baronne Prevost, rose 
pink, very hardy. 
Rosa rugosa is a Japanese single Rose. The flowers 
are very fragrant, and are succeeded in the autumn by 
bright scarlet hips of large size, which make a very 
handsome appearance. The foliage is very distinct, 
making an attractive shrub. There are two varieties 
R. rugosa rubra, flowers pink, and R. rugosa alba, 
white. 
Many herbaceous plants, such as the botanist delights 
in, are “caviare to the general,” as their beauties or vir¬ 
tues are not very striking. So we must only look to 
those distinguished by their personal attractions, so to 
speak. And when we take an old-fashioned garden for 
our model, I do not mean one belonging to the age of 
hoops and patches, with oppressively trim parterres, 
guarded by clipped Yews, cut into grotesque forms, but 
a “ Naturall wildnesse,” as Lord Bacon says. To quote 
his words: “ Trees I would have none in it; but some 
Thickets, made only of Sweet-Briar and Honny-suckle, 
and some Wilde-Vine amongst; and the ground set with 
Violets, Strawberries and Prime-Roses. For these are 
sweet, and prosper in the shade. And these to be in the 
Heath, and here and there—not in any order. I like also 
little Heaps in the Nature of Mole-hils (such as are in 
Wilde Heaths), to be set, some with Wilde Thyme; some 
with Pincks; some with Germander, that gives a good 
flower to the eye; some with Periwinckle; some with 
Violets; some with Strawberries; some with Cowslips; 
some with Daisies; some with Red-Roses; some with 
Lillium Convallium; some with Sweet Williams Red; 
some with Beares-Foot, and the like Low Flowers, being 
withal, sweet and sightly.” 
Can you imagine a more charming garden than the 
learned, though little-read, philosopher pictures us? We 
may make it the ground-plan of our campaign, bearing 
in mind the fact that if we have a rocky border or rocky 
slope we are thrice blessed, for it can be filled with 
lovely Alpine flowers. 
Of hardy climbers the Clematis offers a great variety; 
C. Jackmani, with its large deep purple flowers, being 
perhaps the best known. C. Fortunei has fragrant 
creamy-white flowers; C. montana. Mountain Clematis, 
has large pure white flowers; in old-established plants it 
will show wreaths of blossom ten feet long. C. Virgin. 
iana, Virginis Bower, is to be met with in our woods, 
the downy seed-clusters being a noticeable object in the 
autumn. They may be provided with support, or al¬ 
lowed to spread over the ground, where they make a 
perfect mass of foliage and flowers. They require a 
good loamy soil, with a liberal top-dressing every spring. 
Akebia quinata is a very handsome Japanese climber, 
very nearly an evergreen, with clusters of fragrant 
maroon flowers. It is certainly hardy, as I have known 
it to stand to twenty-five degrees below zero. It grows 
and spreads indefinitely. 
We might fill a border of early fiow-ers with 
“ The coy Anemone that ne’er uncloses 
Her lips until they’re blown on by the wind.” 
Anemone fulgens, Scarlet Windflower, is very 
striking, while a gorgeous contrast with it is A. 
ranunculoides, bright yellow. A. Pidsatilla, with 
purple flowers, is the European Pasque Flower, so 
called because it flowers about Easter tide. A. Japonica 
with rose-colored flowers, blooms in the autumn; sc 
does A. Japonica var. Honorine Jobert, pure white 
