524 
THE GARDENERS* MAGAZINE. 
* 1 * ♦j* 45* ♦!♦ ♦!♦ ♦!♦ ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ *5^ ♦♦♦ ^ ^ 
TALL PERENNIALS. I 
Those who give up any considerable por¬ 
tion of their gardens to hardy perennials 
must often have felt that it is unfortunate 
that many of them grow so tall. This is 
especially the case with those of the late 
summer and autumn, which do so much to 
lighten up the garden in these seasons, when 
the occupants of the flower beds are at 
least past their best, and, moreover, prove 
such a stand-by as a source of cut flowers 
for the house. A small town garden, or 
what we usually understand by a suburban 
garden, has room for hardly any of these 
tall-growing iplants in fitness, except so far 
as it is necessary to provide some kind of 
screen, and even gardens of a quarter to 
half an acre must not have very many of 
them unless the effect of the whole is to be 
marred. If they are in the front of borders 
they hide something else from every point 
of view, and if they are at the back they 
make the wall or fence behind them useless, 
while if they are in beds in the central parts 
of the garden they need to be used with 
great care. 
In this matter we must exercise consider¬ 
able restraint, growing few of these tall 
plants, but so using them as to produce 
the maximum effect. Many of them are 
but little branched, producing nearly all 
their flowers at or near the summit, and the 
sight of a small clump of one of the tallest 
varieties of helenium, echinops, perennial 
aster, sunflower, inula, senecio, achillea, or 
thali<fl>rum, growing by itself, with plants 
of lower growth all round it, can scarcely 
be considered beautiful. If such plants 
are grown it should be recognised that the 
size of the clump or group should bear some 
proportion to its height, thus lessening its 
apparent height, and making the length of 
flowerl^s stem, and often sparse and un¬ 
attractive foliage, less prominent. If this 
principle is adopted, it follows that only 
gardens of a certain size can grow any of 
these tall plants, and that it needs large 
gardens indeed to grow many different 
kinds. To grow such plants on a narrow 
border is out of the question, and to fill a 
small bed on a lawn is scarcely less so in 
the case of the tallest varieties. A few 
examples of their use for decorations may 
serve ais suggestions for others. 
That tall sunflower, Miss Mellish, made a 
very effective object last summer grown in 
a mass about six feet in diameter, reaching 
almost from the back of the border to the 
front, with some self-sown nasturtiums 
climbing amongst the outer stems and fes¬ 
tooning them with gorgeous wreaths. A 
few stakes had been driven amongst the 
stems early in the summer, and most of the 
stems, at least all the outer ones, received 
some support from them, either directly or 
indirectly, and so kept the whole in an 
upright position—a necessary precaution 
with stems eight feet high, carrying leaves 
a foot in length. Aster oordifolius Ideal— 
a really tall variety—appeared quite low- 
growing by the side of it. 
The golden rods have been relegated to 
the wild garden of the wildest type, but 
that variety known as Golden Wings—its 
sj^ies seems doubtful^made another fine 
display in the same garden as the above. 
A large clump a foot or more in diameter 
at the crown was put in a specially pre¬ 
pared bed on a lawn, where it had the run 
of good soil for three or four feet all round 
and quite two feet downwards. It grew 
quite six feet in height, and as the outer 
stems inclined outwards at an angle of 45 
deg. the spread of the whole clump was 
not less than eight feet, while, all the stems 
being clothed with laterals, it producerl 
the effect of a handsome flowering shrub 
during the greater part of August and 
September, and was not without beauty 
up till Cfliristmas with its masses of 
fluffy seeds. 
Hollyhocks are so different from all other 
tall plants, that they must be mentioned 
separately. Grown in masses even 
in the largest garden much of their 
beauty is lost. A group of three plants to¬ 
gether is the utmost that should be allowed, 
and even two are enough if they are large 
plants, with three or four more main flower¬ 
ing stems each. The best way of all is as a 
double row, one on each side of a path, or 
even along one side only, as, for instance, 
along the margin of the kitchen garden. 
There they show off to perfection, for when 
coming up the path we see the whole of 
the plants at once. 
The untidiness or unattractiveness of 
some tall plants after flowering may be 
effectively screened by a proper use of some 
of the later-flowering tall perennials. Not 
only will they grow up in front of, or along¬ 
side them, so a<s to mask them as sum¬ 
mer advances, but some with less stout 
stems, such as Rudbeckia Golden Glow and 
Aster Novi-Belgii Wm. Marshall, may be 
trained horizontally over them. Less tall 
plants, such as Oriental poppies and Achil¬ 
lea ptarmica The Pearl, both untidy sub¬ 
jects after flowering, may be grown amongst 
gypsophila or some of the branching 
iVTichaelmas daisies, which will grow over 
them and completely hide them later in the 
summer. 
It is, perhaps, as a screen that the 
greatest value of these tall perennials lies, 
and there are few gardens which cannot 
use some of them to advantage in this way. 
There are two important features in their 
cultivation which must not be neglected. 
They must always be given good cultiva¬ 
tion, any attempt to grow them on starva¬ 
tion lines resulting in plants of poor weedy 
growth, which are but little better than the 
objects they are sometimes planted to hide, 
and the same applies for whatever purpose 
they are grown. People often condemn 
perennials because they spread so much 
or are weedy in appearance. Spread¬ 
ing can always be checked if the soil 
is properly cultivated among them, 
and many are better for being taken 
up and divided each autumn or spring, 
and some good rotted manure dug 
into the ground. They will never appear 
weedy then, especially if the weaker shoots 
are all pulled out in the spring. Even the 
old prairie sunflower, Helianthus rigidus, or 
harpalium as it used to be called, makes a 
handsome decorative plant when so grown. 
The other important feature is staking. If 
the stems are once allowed to fall down, 
and they are liable to do this very early in 
the summer sometimes, their beauty is 
marred, and it may even be spoiled for 
,the rest of the season. Alger Petts. 
. July 12, 191 . 3 . 
EDIBLE FUNGL 
A number of species of fungi that are oi 
value as food are allowed to go to wa^te in 
this country. As a people we have Wn 
taught that every fungus, except the 00-. 
mon mushroom, is poisonous, or at any w, 
the idea prevails, and every other form ef 
fungi is looked upon with grave suspicion 
The fact that in Continental countrir-^ 
many species are utilised in the preparation 
of toothsome dishes does not tend to de¬ 
stroy the prejudice that exists, and. al. 
though but few of us can reconcile oiirselvff- 
to a wide selection, there cannot be two 
opinions as to the wisdom of our Continen- 
t'al friends in utilising more tlian on- 
kind. Horticultural lecturers are doing a 
splendid work, under the auspices of t-b-^ 
various County Councils, and 1 have ofter. 
thought that they might, by ocular demon- 
stration and description, give much useful 
information with regard to both edible an' 
poisonous fungi. Tliis knowledge, if m'- 
spread amongst a small body of persons ;r; 
each di^rict, would rapidly be dissemi¬ 
nated, .and in time the country dwreller 
would become familiar .with the characterif;- 
tics and use of the native s.pecies. 
We are all acquainted with the commor 
mushroom (Agaricus campestris), and apart 
from natural supplies in autumn, they 
produced artificially in enormous quanti¬ 
ties at all seasons. Other edible forms of 
agaricus are seen in a tricholoma, fami 
liarly known as toadstools, wbich, as fbii 
dlren, we were told to carefullly avoid. 
When well cooked they are very appetis¬ 
ing and palataJble, and the same applies to 
an astreatus which is generally foimu 
round the base of trees in September anc 
October. The colour is dull white, and 
the species is commonly known as tno 
oyster mushroom. 
The basal part of elm tree trunb 
is often smothered with Agaricus 
marius, and they are by no men!' 
to be despised. A. procerus is very 
popular in France, and is said to form ve . 
fine ketchup. The St. George’s Mushroou= 
(Agaricus gambosus) appears in enonn ^ 
quantities in pastures in some 
and takes the form of rings, and iso a_ 
terised by its delicacy of flavouring . 
Horse Mushroom (Agaricus 
in our great cities and towns as 
mon species. It attains to enormous di ^ 
sions, and, apart from being coai'se, 
causes stomach trouble if not well coo _ 
Polyporus giganteus, as its j, 
plies, also attains to a great si^, 
mens have been known to weigh 1 jj 
thirty pounds. When fully d®''® 
is leathery, but very w 
Those of epicurean tastes will fi’i - ^]i 
admire in a dish of the , -jgan- 
whose botanical name is Lycoper g 
teum. It must be gathered when 
Boletus edulis must not he 
being one of the very best e^ «ctod^^ 
but great care must be exerois^ 
proper time of gather ing. JJ® f sur- 
teristic IS its brown cap, wnose 
face is white, followed by a y 
when it should be eaten. It 1 
food during the last stage, which is 
by a dark-green colouring. ^ 
The genus Lactarius are I- 
milky agarics, the 
delicicsus. It conitains a jts 
quantity of juicy fluid, which, 
stages, is red, and later green. ^ 
I have simply touched 
more important species, ^n^^ rrith" 
try dweller were acquaintea ^ 
many tons might be utilised a . fft. 
year Walter H- 
