June 1, 1903. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
7 
Perennials. 
~6s6se 
HOW TO RAISE THEM. 
[‘‘ The Gardener.” | 
There are Campanulas suited to all posi- 
tions in the garden; tiny plants for the 
rockery, symmetrical plants for the beds, 
and giants of great beauty for the borders. 
Certainly we cannot afford to be without 
Campanulas, so let us raise them from seed, 
so that we may have them, inexpensively, 
in large quantity. 
I raise all my Campanulas from seeds 
sown in glass-covered pans of rich, light 
soil, on a bed of cinder ashes, along a north 
border. If the pans are sunk in the ashes 
the earth in them will keep moist longer, 
and noxious insects, such as slugs, will not 
be able to crawl across sharp cinders. 
T'he best compost to use is made of good 
loam, old cow manure, silver sand, and 
plenty of leaf mould. It is a fancy of 
mine to add a sprinkling of wood ashes and 
soot to all the composts used, mixing this 
in thoroughly before using; it seems to 
aid the healthiness of the seedlings. The 
soil must be kept moist, the glass should 
fit tightly, and no air should be given. un- 
til the seedlings are up. 
July is an excellent month for sowing 
soed, but any time until the end of August, 
will do. Indéed, from April to August 
the work may be satisfactorily performed. 
The earlier seedlings can safely be 
pricked out where they are to remain; the 
later ones should be ready to move in early 
October, or else must be left where they 
are until the following March, when  tt- 
nig must be done so carefully as not to dis- 
turb the roots. 
The Peach-leaved Campanula is greatly 
prized for all purposes for which cut 
flowers are needed, especially for church de- 
coration. Campanula persicefolia is its 
title ; the flowers of this are lavender blue, 
alba being the white variety. There are 
also Campanula p. alba grandiflora, and 
C. coerulea grandiflora, the improved, 
larger-blossomed sorts, or C. pallida, which 
carries pale blue flowers. 
The Chimney Bellflower, Campanula 
pyramidalis, is one of the grandest. of . 
herbaceous plants. It is a five-footer, and 
has been known to grow to 8. feet where 
the soil and situation pleased it! The 
blue, clustered blossoms appear up all the 
sides of the noble flower stems. There is 
a white variety of this also, and a com-. 
facta, of deep blue color, for those garden * 
owners, if there can be any, who do not 
like plants taller than 3 feet. 
We all love the English Harebell, do we 
not? Well, its scientific title is Cam- 
panula rotundifolia, so we may grow it by 
hundreds on our sunny banks, in turf if 
we prefer, or among the rockery chinks. 
spot; 
Campanula turbinata is either purple or 
white; it grows only 4 foot high, but the 
bells, set singly on graceful stalks, are al- 
most as large as the individual blossoms 
of persiczfolia. 
Quite the prettiest of the dwarf Cam- 
panulas is carpatica, in lavender blue or 
white, and the foliage is dainty and fresh 
looking in the extreme. It makes a beau- 
tiful bordering to flower beds. 
Campanula attica; deep purple and 
white, is only a few inches high, while car- 
patica is 1 foot. 
The list of varieties that we may grow 
from seed is not yet exhausted ; next comes 
C. alliarizfolia, which grows 3 feet high, 
has spikes of drooping white flowers, and 
large heart-shaped leaves. 
Campanula fragilis and C. garganica are 
violet-blossomed rockery or basket plants, 
prostrate in habit, but a quarter of a foot 
in height. C. latifolia macrantha (3 feet) 
has fine purple flowers, and loves a damp 
Campanula mirabilis, from the 
Caucasus, has pale blue flowers that are 
especially valuable for cutting (2 feet). 
M. Hawrnorne. 
> SECS SESESES 
TREES AND SHRUBS. 
“RHODODENDRONS IN LARGE 
GROUPS. 
[From ‘he Garden.” ] 
The value of a simple grouping of one 
good flowering plant or shrub can hardly 
ve too highly rated. It is a lesson of 
such importance in good gardening, that 
_ we desira to take every opportunity of 
referring to it. A group of Rhododen- 
drons—towering masses of bloom, some 18 
ft. high—shows how a noble mass of one 
thing alone goes to the composing of a 
satistying garden picture. It also shows 
the beneficent service of shrubs of large 
growth in giving interest to the hard line 
of a rectangular pool by breaking over it, 
and boldly insisting on the display of its 
own unrestrained growth. 
For this class of treatment no kinds are 
better than well-chosen seedlings of R. 
ponticum. But there are also two good 
old garden hybrids, namely album grandi- 
florum and album elegans, that have tall, 
vigorous growth and abundance of bloom, 
qualities that befit them for large and pic- 
torially-treated groups, while their color 
suits admirably with the seedlings of pon- 
ticum. But as these vary a good deal in 
tint, it is well to pick them out in the 
nursery at blooming time, when it is easy, 
by taking two blooms in the hand, to go 
round and assort plants, either for one or 
two groups of the warmer and cooler shades 
respectively. The effect is much better, 
even in a large planting, if one only of 
these shades of purple is used throughout 
with the tall growing whites. 
Such a grouping would have a fine effect 
in a rather large space of moist, peaty 
ground, and it would look all the better 
for some well-grown groups of Silver Birch. 
Jeifium , Longifforum 
IN JAPAN. 
Lilies now form such an important arti- 
cle of commerce in Japan that some of 
them are grown as a field crop, notably 
Lilium auratum, L. speciosum, and, lastly, 
L, longiflorum. The last-named is a uni- 
serval favorite, as the spotless purity of its 
large white trumpets, combined with the 
profusion in which they are borne and 
their delicious fragrance, all cause it to 
stand out as one of the most charming of 
this beautiful class. A breadth of closely- 
packed blossoms may by some be regarded 
as monotonous, but even if such is the 
case, from all points of view it forms a 
truly imposing feature, that appeals even 
more strongly to one owing to the fact 
that nothing like it is ever seen. It is 
not the ordinary form of L. longiflorum 
which has been so long grown by the 
Dutch, but a very superior kind, the flower- 
tube being longer, while the blossoms are 
arranged in a more horizontal manner 
than in the older form. The bulk of those 
sent here from Japan consist of this kind, 
and though they are disposed of as L. 
longiflorum tuey are really identical with 
the variety-Wilsoni, while the much-talked- 
of L. Harrisi cannot be distinguished from 
it if they are grown a few years together 
under similar conditions. The variety 
giganteum is a fine bold form of L. longi- 
flor'um, remarkable for the number of 
flowers on aspike. <A distinct variety also 
grown in’ considerable numbers by the 
Japanese is Takesima, with longer and less 
numerous, leaves than the other kinds. 
The most prominent feature, however, is 
the fact that the base of the stem is of a 
blackish-brown tint, while the unopened 
buds are also suffused with the same hue. 
The huge numbers of L. longiflorum sent 
to England every year from Japan are 
readily disposed of, though ib is at least 
doubtful if more than 1 per cent. of them 
aré*planted in the open ground, for it has 
proved so amenable to pot culture, to forc- 
ing, retarding, and so on, that it is pos- 
sible now to have L. longiflorum in bloom 
nearly throughout the year. In a cut 
state nothing is finer for large vases than 
this, and if taken when the buds 
are fully developed they will ex- 
pand beautifully in water. With the love 
of flowers so deeply inculcated in the 
Japanese as a nation, it will be no sur- 
prise to learn that this Lily holds a high 
place in popular favor, and during its 
flowering period it is the subject of much 
laudation; and no less in our own country 
than in far-off Japan is the beauty and 
utility of this charming flower appreciated. 
With different periods of the year devoted 
to the honor of the Cherry, Wistaria, Iris, 
Pony, Lily, Camellia, and Chrysanthe- 
mum, Japan’ well merits the name of the 
Flowery Land.—H. P. in “ The Garden,” 
