CHAPTER IV
Some Neglected but Handsome Plants
The sweet old columbine—Bocconia cordata at Hampton Court—Campanulas as continuous bloomers—The heavenly larkspurs—Christmas roses—The tall and brilliant lobelias—The Chinese-lantern plants—Tufted pansies.
We will begin alphabetically, therefore I will first say a few words regarding the pink-flowered anemone japonica. Though the white variety (alba) is to be seen in every garden, the older kind is not grown half enough; perhaps this is owing to the peculiar pinkish shade of the petals, a colour that will harmonize with few others, and might be termed æsthetic; it should be grown in a large clump by itself or mixed with white; it flowers at the same time as A. j. alba, and equally approves of a rich and rather heavy soil, and also likes a shady place. Both kinds spread rapidly.
Aquilegias, or columbines, are most elegant plants, generally left to the cottage garden, though their delicate beauty fits them for the best positions; they do well on borders, and generally flower about the end of May; in a light soil they seed freely, and spring up all round the parent plant. Asters, the botanical name for Michaelmas daisies, are beautiful flowers for a small garden if the right sort are chosen; those that take up a great deal of room should be discarded where space is an object, and such kinds as A. amellus bessaribicus, planted instead; this is perhaps the finest of the genus, and is first-rate for cutting. It is only two feet high, of neat habit, and bears large, bright mauve flowers with golden centres very freely, from the beginning of August right into October. A. ericoides is another one of neat habit, and is only half a foot taller than the last; it bears long sprays, covered the whole way up the stem with tiny white flowers and mossy foliage. Some of the novi-belgii asters are also very good and easy to grow. One of the most effective and beautiful plants in the summer months is bocconia cordata; it has delicate, heart-shaped foliage of a clear apple-green, silvered beneath, and creamy flower-spikes which measure from three to five feet in height; though so tall, it is eminently fitted for the town garden, for it is not a straggling plant and rarely requires staking. At Hampton Court Palace it is one of the most striking things in the herbaceous border during July.
The hardy campanulas are good things to have, and in their own shade of blue are not to be beaten; of the taller varieties, the blue and white peach-leaved kinds are the handsomest, and come in very usefully for cutting. C. carpatica and C. c. alba are shorter, being only one foot high; they flower continuously, and look very well in a bed with the double potentillas, which are described further on.
Coreopsis grandiflora is handsomer than the old lanceolata, and bears large bright yellow flowers, which are very handsome when cut and bloom for a long period.
It is difficult to imagine what we should do without delphiniums (larkspurs) in the hardy flower-border; they are absolutely invaluable, and seem to have almost every good quality, neither are they at all difficult to grow; some of their blossoms are of an azure blue, a rare colour in nature; then they can be had of a Cambridge blue, purple, white, rose, and even red; the last, however, is a fickle grower and not to be recommended, save for the rockery. Though one may give 21s. and even more per dozen for them, beautiful kinds can be had for 10s.; these plants run from two to five feet high in good soil, but need plenty of manure to do them really well, as they belong to the tribe of “gross-feeders.”