■;>. is'is. 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE. 
223 
THE HARDY PLANT INDUSTRY. 
U «. to mind the many distinct, 
and rich colour effects which are 
by the hardy plants that have 
» M . n Vell-arranged borders, as tliey 
4 ^ •: t rocission during the period he¬ 
ir^- opening days of the season of 
• r., .Uhl the close of the autumn, 
t. <41 1 .'I but feel that few pi obably 
tin* importance of the in- 
m »h; h enables us to furnish our 
ami borders at a minimum of ex- 
>•*•!!.] ‘rouble with tlie most beautiful 
pression that in large numbers of gardens 
zonal pelargoniums, calceolarias, and 
similar subjects still predominate. A 
quarter of a century ago such reference 
would have (been ap-propriate, but now we 
need only concern ourselves with the hardy 
plants, for they hold undisputed sway, 
and where it is not found desirable to 
wholly banish tender plants from the flower 
garden during the summer months tlie 
great superiority of the hardy kinds is 
fully recognised. This is as it should be. 
bitions. For the embellishment of the 
flower garden the chief dependence was 
upon hardy annuals and perennials, and, 
according to the author of an important 
book published about the middle of the last 
century, ten out of twelve kinds of each 
class were worthless trash, being weedy in 
appearance and unattractive in colour. 
At this period cultivators appear to have 
wholly failed to appreciate the importance 
of so grouping the several kinds as to pro¬ 
duce distinct and tasteful colour effects. 
A BOLD SWEEP OP HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS (DOWNSIDE, LEATHERHEAD). 
‘T-.d r.U at a 
''it hav.’ a 
'tu« th., J«ken advantage i 
■.- * far tiin 1 * ^ 
institute 
the. fl.: flowers 
a time 
'■ ’th^'’"8h writers no’ 
«y are under tb 
for their strong individuality in habit of 
growth, in the form of their flowers, and 
in the varied shades of colour, render them 
not less valuable for their absorbing in¬ 
terest than for effectiveness. 
Hardy Plants in the Early 
Victorian Days. 
In the early Victorian days the flower gar¬ 
den was in a rapid state of transition, as 
at that time there was a reaction in favour 
of greater brightness than that which had 
prevailed for some years previously. In 
the early part of the last century very 
dose attention does not appear to have 
been given to the ornamental features of 
the garden that depended more or less 
upon flowering plants. There was ooi»- 
siderable interest in flowers, but it was 
chiefly shared by the auriculas, carnations, 
pinks, polyanthuses, ranunculuses, tulips, 
and other florists^ flowers, that were then 
grown in considerable numbers for exhi- 
Hence beds and borders were singularly 
lacking in attractiveness. The endeavour 
on the part of the greater proportion of 
growers was to form collections of spe¬ 
cies and genera, rather than study the 
beauty of individuals, or the effect they 
were capable of producing. The formation 
of collections was not so pronounced in 
England as in Scotland, where a consider¬ 
able number of gardens miglit have been 
found containing from 500 to 1,000 species 
and varieties. Wlien the reaction set in 
against the dull and unattractive borders 
the change was effected with great 
rapidity, and, it should be added, with 
but little discrimination. Good and bad 
kinds were turned out of the borders with¬ 
out differentiation, and many hardy plants 
of great value in garden decoration were 
practically banished from cultivation. In 
the days anterior to the appearance of the 
brilliantly coloured Tom Thumb pelar¬ 
gonium a^bove the horticultural horizon 
