Talks About Hardy Perennials 
over and the extending 
leaves of the Funkia hide 
their ragged appearance. By 
making this combination 
you are economizing space 
and making two gardens 
out of one. 
There are several species 
of the genus Funkia, all 
hardy and all liking the 
same method of cultivation. 
Funkia grandiflora has 
fragrant white flowers, 
blooming in luly, and is 
somewhat like Funkia sub- 
cordata. Funkia ovata has 
smaller flowers of a bluish- 
lilac tint and is the species 
most commonly grown and 
its variety, marginately is 
sometimes used as a bed¬ 
ding plant, its foliage being 
margined by a white band. 
Funkia Sieboldn has white flowers with pale lilac tinge. 
These plants look well and do well in angles 
caused by bay windows or side wings, and will stand 
the shade of the house even on the north side. 
Often a roadway runs moderately close to a house, 
leaving but a small margin between the two for 
planting purposes. Perhaps the surroundings are 
such that a plain run of grass would look monoto¬ 
nous, and the requirement of light for cellar win¬ 
dows precludes the planting of shrubs. Here this 
A PERENNIAL BORDER—GERMAN IRIS AT THE RIGHT 
THE PLANTAIN-LEAVED DAY LILY 
plant offers itself as a proper subject for the situa¬ 
tion. However, one should remember that this 
plant requires good soil, and good soil is seldom 
found near the cellar wall. It is generally com¬ 
posed of the excavations from within, together with 
donations of brick and mortar from the mason and 
chips and shavings from the carpenter. A hole two 
or three feet deep and of the same width should be 
made for each plant and tilled with good soil. 
Where Funkias are grown in groups, set four feet 
apart, lilies may be used in 
between them, either alone 
or in addition to any spring¬ 
blooming bulbs. The shade 
at their roots, afforded by 
the Funkias’ foliage, repro¬ 
duces the same conditions 
surrounding them in their 
habitat, where the natural 
grasses protect their roots 
from the direct rays of the 
sun. 
Some lilies seem to like 
to grow amidst a tangled 
mass of roots. I have an 
old plant of the Inula glan- 
dulosa out of which grows 
a single plant of Lilium 
elegans, a strong, vigorous 
specimen. It has been there 
several years, but how it 
got there is a mystery. The 
dwarfer forms should not 
be used but those like Lilium 
bulbiferum, Canadense, etc. 
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