Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/265

253 HARDY PERENNIALS.] HORTICULTURE 253 R. Filipenclula florc-plcno, li feet, and S. I lmaria (lore-plcno, 3 feet, both white; S. palniata, 2 feet, rosy-crimson ; and S. venusta, 3 feet, carmine rose, are some of the best. Statiee. Pretty plants with broad radical leaves, and a much-branched inflorescence of numerous small flowers. S. lattfolia, 2 feet, greyish-blue ; S. tatarica, 1 foot, lavender-pink; S. speciosa, 14 feet, rose colour; ami S. exiniia, li feet, rosy-lilac are good border plants. S. bellidifolia, 9 inches, 1 -wonder; S. emarginata, 6 inches, purple; S. globulariasfolia, 9 inclies, white ; and S. iiana, 4 inches arc good sorts for the rockery. Stenactis. S. speeiosa, 1 to 2 feet, is a showy composite, of easy culture in good garden soil ; it produces large corymbs of flower-heads, with numerous narrow blue ray-florets surrounding the yellow disk. Stipa.S. pennata (Feather Grass), 1J feet, is a very graceful-habited grass, with stiff slender erect leaves, and long feathery awns to the flowers. Siokesia.S. cyanea, 2 feet, is a grand autumn-flowering composite plant, with blue flower-heads, 4 inches across. Sandy loam and warm situation. Si/inphytum. Rather coarse-growing but showy boraginaceous plants, succeeding in ordinary soil. S. caucasicum, 2 feet, with blue flowers chang ing to red, is one of the finer kinds for early summer blooming. Thalictrum. Free-growing but rather weedy ranunculaceous plants, in many cases having elegantly cut foliage. T. aquilegifolium, 2 feet, purplish from the conspicuous stamens, the leaves glaucous, is a good border plant ; and T. minus has foliage somewhat resembling that of the Maidenhair fern. Ordinary garden soil. Triteleia.Chatrmlng spring-flowering bulbs, thriving in any good sandy soil. T. Murrayana, 8 inches, lavender-blue, and T. uniflora, 6 inches, white, are both pretty plants of the easiest culture, either for borders or rockeries. Tritomn. Splendid stoutish-growing plants of noble aspect, familiarly known as the Poker plant, from their erect rigid spikes of flame-coloured flowers; sometimes called Kniphofia. T. Tvaria, 3 to 4 feet, bright orange- red, passing to yellow in the lower flowers, is a fine autumnal decorative plant. They should be protected from frosts by a covering of ashes over the crown during winter. Trollius. Showy ranunculaceous plants, of free growth, flowering about May and June. T. europams, IN inches, lemon, globular ; T. asiaticus. 2 feet, deep, yellow ; and T. napellifolius, 2 to 2A feet, golden yellow, are all flue showy kinds. Rich and rather moist soil. Tulipa. Splendid dwarfish bulbs, thriving in deep sandy well-enriched garden soil, and increased by offsets. They bloom during the spring and early summer months. T. Gesneriana, the parent of the florists tulip (par. 71), 12 to 18 inches, crimson and other colours ; T. Eichlsri, 1 foot, crimson with dark spot ; T. Greigi, 1 foot, orange with dark spot edged with yellow, and having dark spotted leaves; T. oculus solis, 1 foot, scarlet with black centre ; and T. sylvestris, 12 to 18 inches, bright yellow, are showy kinds. r erbaseuin. Showy border flowers of erect spire-like habit, of the easiest culture. V. Chaixii, 4 to 5 feet, yellow, in large pyramidal panicles ; V. phoeniceum, 3 feet, rich purple or white ; and V. formosum, G feet, golden yellow in dense panicles, are desirable species. Veronica. The Speedwell family, containing many ornamental members ; all the hardy species are of the easiest cultivation in ordinary garden soil. The rotate flowers are in close erect spikes, sometimes branched. V. crassifolia, 2 feet, dark blue ; V. incarnata, li feet, flesh-colour ; V. corym- bosa, 1 feet, pale blue in corymbosely-arranged racemes ; V. gentianoides, 2 feet, grey with blue streaks ; and V. virginiea, 5 feet, white, are distinct. Vinca. Periwinkle. Pretty rock plants, growing freely in ordinary soil. V. herbacea, of creeping habit, with purplish-blue flowers; V. minor, of trailing hain t, blue ; and V. major, 1 to 2 feet high, also trailing, are suitable for the rock garden. The last two are evergreen, and afford varieties which differ in the colour of their flowers, while some are single and others double. Viola. Violet. Charming dwarf plants, mostly evergreen and of tufted habit, requiring well-worked rich sandy soil. V. calcarata, 6 inches, light blue ; V. cornuta, G to 8 inches, blue ; V. lutea, 4 inches, yellow ; V. altaica, (&amp;gt; inches, yellow or violet with yellow eye ; V. palmaensis, G to 8 inches, lavender-blue ; V. pcdata, G inches, pale blue ; and V. odorata, the Sweet Violet, in its many single and double flowered varieties, are all desirable. yucca. Xoble subarborescent liliaceous plants, which should be grown in every garden. They do well in light well-drained soils, and have a (dose family resemblance, the inflorescence being a panicle of white drooping till i] &amp;gt;- shaped flowers, anil the foliage rosulatc, sword-shaped, and spear-pointed. Of the more shrubby-habited sorts Y. gloriosa, recurvifoh a, and Treculcanji. are good and distinct : and of the dwarfer and more herbaceous sorts. filamentosa. flaccida, and angustifolia are distinct and interesting kinds, the first two flowering annually. The taste for cultivation of the class of plants of which the fore going list embraces the more prominent members is on the increase, and our gardens will benefit by its extension ; but we may hope that the folly of limiting the interest of the flower garden to this class of subjects alone, to the exclusion of the brilliant bedding flowers which have been evolved out of less showy materials by the gardener s skill, as some writers would seem to desire, may never be realized. &quot;We now proceed to notice at greater length the more important plants of this class, those to which horticulturists have devoted the greatest attention, with the result, in many cases, of largely in creasing the varieties of these &quot; florists llowers.&quot; 45. The Anc,mrmc (Anemone coronaria), often called the Poppy Anemone, is a tuberous-rooted plant, with parsley-like divided leaves, and large showy poppy-like blossoms on stalks of from G to 9 inches high ; the flowers arc of various colours, but the principal are scarlet, crimson, blue, purple, and white. There are also double-flowered varieties, in which the stamens in the centre are replaced by a tuft of narrow petals. It is an old garden favourite, and of the double forms there arc named varieties. They grow best in a loamy soil, enriched with well-rotted manure, which should be dug in below the tubers. These may be planted in October, and for succession in January, the autumn planted ones being protected by a covering of leaves or short stable litter. They will ilower in May and June, and when the leaves have ripened should be taken up into a dry room till planting time. Anemones are easily raised from the seed, and a bed of the single varieties is a valuable addition to a flower- garden, as it affords, in a warm situation, an abundance of hand some and often brilliant spring flowers, almost as early as the snow drop or crocus. The genus contains many other lively spring blooming plants, of which A. hortcnsis and A. fulgens have less divided leaves and splendid rosy-purple or scarlet flowers; they require similar treatment. Another set is represented by A. Pulsa- tilla, the Pasque-flower, whose violet blossoms have the outer surface hairy ; these prefer a calcareous soil. The splendid A. japonica, and its white variety called Honorine Jobert, the latter especially, are amongst the finest of autumn blooming hardy perennials ; they grow well in light soil, and reach 2J to 3 feet in height, blooming continually for several weeks. A group of dwarf species, repre sented by the native British A. nemorosa and A. apennina, are amongst the most beautiful of spring flowers for planting in woods and shady places. 46. The Antirrhinum (Antirrhinum maj us) is very easily managed. AutirrLi Sown in heat, and forwarded until the general time for planting out, num. it becomes a summer annual, and may be so treated (par. 33) ; but under a slower and more hardy regime it may be sown in boxes in August, and pricked off into other boxes and wintered in a frame, for, though not often destroyed, it sometimes suffers greatly in a severe season. So treated, and planted out in well-prepared beds of good friable garden soil, it will become very showy and effective, and if a good strain of seed has been obtained many very beautiful kinds may generally be selected from the progeny. The named sorts are propagated by cuttings, and wintered in a frame. Some of the double-flowered sorts are interesting. There are forms with white, yellow, rose, crimson, magenta, and variously mottled and striped flowers, some of them of great beauty, but the named sorts are too fugitive to make it desirable to record a list of them. 47. The Auricula (Primula Auricula), a native of the Alps, has been Auricula, an inmate of British gardens for about three hundred years, and is still prized by florists as one of their choicest flowers. The auricula loves a cool soil and shady situation. The florists varieties are grown in rich composts, for the preparation of which numberless receipts have been given ; but many of the old nostrums are now ex- ] &amp;gt;loded, and a more rational treatment has taken their place. Thus Mi- Douglas, the most recent authority, writes (Hardy Florists Flowers) : &quot; There is no mystery, as some suppose, about the potting, any more than there is about the potting material. The compost should consist of turfy loam four parts, leaf-mould one part, sharp river or silver sand one part, and a few bits of broken charcoal mixed with it. The pots to be used should lie from 3 to 4} inches in diameter, inside measure ; about 1 inch of potsherds should be placed in the bottom of each pot, and over this some fibrous turf, from which the fine particles of earth have been removed. The old soil should oe shaken from the roots of the plants to be potted ; and before potting cut off, if necessary, a portion of the main root. In potting press the soil rather firmly around the roots.&quot; Auriculas are best grown in a cold frame mounted on legs about 2 feet from the ground, and provided with hinged sashes. A graduated stage formed of wood battens 6 inches broad, with arise of 2 inches, should be fixed so as to take each one row 7 of pots, with the plants standing at about 15 inches from the glass ; the spaces between the shelves should be closed, while the top board of the back and tho front should be hinged so as to be let down when desired for ventila^ tion, the sashes, too, being movable for the same purpose, and also to afford facilities for examining and attending to the plants. This frame should face the north, and stand tinder shelter of a wall or hedge. Xo protection will be needed except in very severe frosts, when two or three thicknesses of garden mats may be thrown over the glass, and allowed to remain on until the soil is thawed, should it become frozen. Auriculas may be propagated from seed, which is to be sown as soon as ripe, iu July or August, in boxes, kept under cover, and exposed only to the rays of the morning sun. When seed has been saved from the finer sorts, the operation is one of considerable nicety, as it not unfrequently happens that the best seedlings are at first exceedingly weak. They generally flower in the second or third year, a few good sorts being all that can be expected from a large sowing. The established varieties arc increased by taking off the offshoots, an operation which is performed at the time of potting in July or the beginning of August. The original of the auricula is a hardy perennial herb, of dwarf habit, bearing dull yellowish blossoms. This and the commoner forms raised from seed, as well as one or two double forms, are interest ing hardy border flowers. The choice florists varieties are divided into five classes: the green-edged, with the margins of the flowers green ; the grcy-cdgcd, with t lie green margins powdered, with meal so as to appear to be coloured grey ; the irjntc-cdgcd, with the mealy powder so dense as to cover the green ; the self a, which have none of the green variegation of margin seen in the fore going, but are of some distinct colour, as purple, maroon, &c., but have, like the preceding, a white paste surrounding the eye ; and the alpincs, which resemble the selfs in not having any green marginal variegation, but differ in having a yellow centre more or less dense. The individual flowers of the first three groups of florists auriculas show four distinct circles : first the eye or tube, which should have the stamens lying in it. but sometimes has the pin-headed stigma instead, which is a defect ; second, the paste or circle of pure white surrounding the eye ; third, the body colour, a circle of some dark tint, n.s mnroon or violet, which feathers oct more or less towards