Nort])Abin0on,Mass. 
Better Perennial Plants 53 
AQUILEGIA - Columbine 
ARTEMISIA - Wormwood 
The Columbines are among the best-known of the old-fashioned plants, 
thriving, as they do, under many adverse conditions of sun, shade, and varying 
soil. They are especially good at the edge of a shady border or as a ground 
cover beneath densely foliaged trees. For rock gardens the native canadensis 
is superb. In flower borders they are persistent perennials with a wide color 
range, especially among the newer hybrids, and all excellent for cutting. 
Their lacy, blue-green foliage is particularly attractive throughout the year. 
*Aquilegia alpina. Alpine Columbine. 12 in. May, June. Pure, deep blue 
flowers with short uncurved spurs. 
*A. caerulea. Colorado Columbine. 12 in. May to July. Lovely, long-spurred 
flowers with bright blue outside petals and white throats. 
*A. canadensis. American Columbine. 2 ft. May, June. Our well-known 
native species, with scarlet sepals and bright yellow petals. One of the 
gayest of all flowers and most useful for rock gardens. 
A. chrysantha. Golden Columbine. 3 ft. June to August. Numerous fragrant 
and showy golden yellow flowers with long, slender spurs. 
A. chrysantha alba. 3 ft. June to August. Showy white flowers with long, 
slender spurs. 
A. Crimson Star. Large flowers of bright crimson. Very free flowering. 
40c each; $4.00 per doz. 
A. Dobbies Imperial Hybrids. 3 ft. These new long-spurred Columbines 
are unequalled for range of colors and sturdiness. 
*A. flabellata nana alba. Ifhite Fan Columbine. 12 in. June. Dwarf, com¬ 
pact species with showy ivory-white flowers above gray-blue foliage, excel¬ 
lent for rock gardens. 
This family embraces many aromatic and bitter herbs from which various 
drugs are extracted. Mostly they are used in the garden or herb garden for 
their beautiful foliage effects, but the White Mugwort is a handsome flowering 
plant which has attracted considerable attention and has found many dec¬ 
orative uses in gardens. All these plants delight in poor, dry soil and in 
sunny situations, a fact that gives them unusual importance. 
Artemisia abrotanum. Old Man; Southernwood. 3 ft. Flowers inconspic¬ 
uous. Foliage deep green and finely cut with a pleasant aromatic fragrance. 
40c each; $4.00 per doz. 
A. absinthium. Common Wormwood. 3 ft. Flowers unimportant. An old- 
fashioned garden herb from which the bitter wormwood tea is brewed. 
A. dracunculus. Tarragon. 3 ft. Another old-fashioned herb with dark green, 
pointed foliage. Valuable for sauce, salads, and flavorings. The strain we 
grow is the true French type. 40c each; $4.00 per doz. 
*A. frigida. Fringed Wormwood. 18 in. Silvery gray foliage and tiny yellow 
flowers in loose clusters. 
A. lactiflora. White Mugwort. 4 ft. .August, September. Unlike the other 
varieties, which are grown for their foliage, this introduction from China 
bears sprays of creamy white flowers on tall, erect stems which are clothed 
with fine-cut, dark green foliage. It makes a splendid cut flower for mixing 
with flowers of decided color or form, such as Delphiniums. Fragrant. 
*A. pontica. Roman Wormwood. 12 in. Bushy, erect plants with silvery 
foliage and whitish yellow flowers in nodding heads. 25c each; $2.50 per doz. 
A. Mrs. Scott Elliott Long Spurred Hybrids. 3 ft. June, July. Huge 
flowers in a wide range of wonderful shades. (Color illustration, page 61.) 
A. Long-Spurred Blue Shades. 3 ft. June, July. We can furnish these 
Columbines in separate colors. 
A. Long-Spurred Pink Shades. 3 ft. June, July. 
A. vulgaris. European Columbine. 2 ft. May to July. Flowers in all shades 
of blue, white, red, and purple. Strong, vigorous habit of growth. An 
effective border plant. 
A. vulgaris alba. White European Columbine. 2 ft. May, June. Large, pure 
white flowers valuable for cutting. 
A. vulgaris nivea. Munstead White Columbine. 2 ft. May, June. Produces 
a great profusion of large, pure white flowers. 
ARMERIA - Thrift 
These are fine rock garden or edging plants, forming dense carpets or 
rosettes of foliage above which globular flower-heads sway on slender stems. 
♦Armeria cephalotes, Bee’s Ruby. 15 in. July to September. Bright, 
giant fiery-red, clover-like blossoms. 35c each; $3.50 per doz. 
A. caespitosa. 2 in. May, June. Low, compact, tufted plant with fine grass¬ 
like foliage and pale lavender-pink flowers. 
*A. cephalotes rubra. 18 in. July, August. Densely tufted plants, with 
large, rich crimson flower-heads on tall, slender stems. An exceedingly 
lovely and graceful plant superior to the other Armerias in all respects. 
*A. laucheana. 6 in. April to June. Bright rose-colored flowers, 
garden or edging. 
*A. maritima. 
lavender-pink. 
A., Silver King. Ghost Plant. 3 ft. July. White, silvery foliage and sprays 
of mist-like flowers. It is a fine border plant to combine with bright colored 
flowers. 
ARUNCUS 
Aruncus Sylvester. Common Goatsbeard. 4 ft. June. A bold and highly 
ornamental perennial, resembling the Astilbes, and producing long, feathery 
plumes of white flowers. Good for shade. 
ASCLEPIAS 
Asclepias tuberosa. Butterfly Weed. 2 ft. July to September. A handsome, 
low, bushy plant with heads of dazzling orange-colored flowers. Fine plant 
for naturalizing. Easy to grow in dry soil. 
ASPERULA 
*Asperula odorata. Sweet Woodruff. 6 in. May. Erect little plants with 
fine-toothed leaves in clusters and heads of snowy white flowers. Increases 
rapidly, and is used for carpeting shady places. A fine scented herb. 
35c each; $3.50 per doz. 
Excellent for rock 
Common Thrift. 6 in. May, June. Valuable for edging. Flowers fine 
Foliage grass-like in evergreen mats. 
ASTER - Hardy 
A very beautiful group of hardy plants, including a great variety of forms which vary a 
great deal in time of blooming, size of flowers, and stature. There are several dwarf kinds 
listed which bloom early and are splendid decorative plants for either rockery or border. 
*A8ter alpinus. Rock Aster. 9 in. Late May to June. Large, showy blue flowers, each on 
good stem for cutting. Desirable for rock garden or border. 25c each; $2.50 per doz. 
*A. alpinus albus. White Rock Aster. 9 in. White form of above. 25c each; $2.50 
per doz. 
*A. alpinus, Goliath. 10 in. May, June. Large, showy, bluish purple flowers. Indispensable 
for the rock garden. 
*A. alpinus. Star of Eisenach. (See color illustration on page 62.) 12 in. May, June. 
This is one of the new, recently-introduced Asters and a most valuable garden plant. Dark 
lilac-blue flowers with orange centers, 2% to 3 in. across, produced abundantly on 1-ft. 
stems. 40c each; $4.00 per doz. 
A. frikarti, Wonder of Staefa. 2l^ ft. Late July to frost. One of the most outstanding 
of recent introductions with lavender-blue flowers 2 to 2(4 inches across on long stems; 
excellent for cutting. It blooms persistently during the entire summer. No other hardy 
plant contributes so much to the garden. 40c each; $4.00 per doz. 
A. hybridus luteus. 2 ft. July, August. Dense heads of small yellow flowers resembling 
a glorified goldenrod. 
*A., Mauve Cushion. 9 in. October, November. A circular, cushion-like plant. The 
flowers are delicate mauve and are produced so lavishly as to completely cover the plant. 
A. novae-angliae. New England Aster. 4 ft. .\ugust, September. Our grandest Amer¬ 
ican species which adorns our Massachusetts hills and fields everywhere with thousands 
of large violet-purple flowers. 25c each; $2.50 per doz. 
Campanula persicifolia (See page 55) 
The Dainty Columbines are Lovely in Bouquets 
