CHAPTER XV.
SELECTIONS OF HARDY EXOTIC PLANTS FOR VARIOUS POSITIONS IN THE WILD GARDEN.
[ill163]
Ophrys in grass.
As it is desirable to know how to procure as well as how to select the best kinds, a few words on the first subject may not be amiss here.
A very important point is the getting of a stock of plants to begin with. In country or other places where many good old border flowers remain in the cottage gardens, many species may be collected therein. A series of nursery beds should be formed in some by–place in which such subjects could be increased to any desired degree. Free–growing spring–flowers like Aubrietia, Alyssum, and Iberis, may be multiplied to any extent by division or cuttings. Numbers of kinds may be raised from seed sown rather thinly in drills, in nursery beds in the open air. The catalogues should be searched every Spring for suitable subjects. The best time for sowing is the Spring, but any time during the Summer will do. Many perennials and bulbs must be bought in nurseries and increased as well as may be in nursery beds. As to soil, etc., the best way is to avoid the trouble of preparing it except for specially interesting plants. The great point is to adapt the plant to the soil—in peaty places to place plants that thrive in peat, in clay soils those that thrive in clays, and so on. Among coarse vegetation the best way is to dig the ground deeply before planting, so as to allow the planted subjects to become well established. The ground is so dried, and exhausted and impoverished in some woodland places with coarse weeds, that so much preparation is necessary.
A selection of Plants for Naturalisation in places devoid of any but dwarf vegetation, on bare banks, etc., and in poorish soil.
Dielytra eximia.
” formosa.
Cheiranthus alpinus.
Arabis albida.
Aubrietia, in var.
Alyssum saxatile.
Odontarrhena carsinum.
Iberis corifolia.
” sempervirens.
” correæfolia.
Thlaspi latifolium.
Æthionema coridifolium.
Helianthemum, in var.
Viola cornuta.
” cucullata.
Gypsophila repens.
Tunica Saxifraga.
Saponaria ocymoides.
Silene alpestris.
” Schafta.
Cerastium Biebersteinii.
” grandiflorum.
” tomentosum.
Linum alpinum.
” arboreum.
” flavum.
Geranium Wallichianum.
” striatum.
” cinereum, and others.
Oxalis floribunda.
Genista sagittalis.
Anthyllis montana.
Astragalus monspessulanus.
Coronilla varia.
Hedysarum obscurum.
Vicia argentea.
Orobus vernus.
” lathyroides.
Waldsteinia trifolia.
Potentilla calabra.
Œnothera speciosa.
” missouriensis.
” taraxacifolia.
Sedum dentatum.
” kamtschaticum.
” Sieboldii.
” spectabile.
” spurium.
Sempervivum calcareum.
” hirtum.
” montanum.
” soboliferum.
” sedoides.
Saxifraga Aizoon.
” cordifolia.
” crassifolia.
” crustata.
” longifolia.
” Cotyledon.
” rosularis.
Astrantia major.
Dondia Epipactis.
Athamanta Matthioli.
Cornus canadensis.
Scabiosa caucasica.
Hieracium aurantiacum.
Doronicum caucasicum.
Aster alpinus.
Tussilago fragrans.
Achillea aurea.
Symphyandra pendula.
Campanula carpatica.
” fragilis.
” garganica.
” cæspitosa.
Gaultheria procumbens.
Vinca herbacea.
Gentiana acaulis.
Phlox stolonifera.
” subulata.
Lithospermum prostratum.
Pulmonaria grandiflora.
” mollis.
Myosotis dissitiflora.
Physalis Alkekengi.
Pentstemon procerus.
Veronica austriaca.
” candida.
” taurica.
Teucrium Chamædrys.
Ajuga genevensis.
Scutellaria alpina.
Prunella grandiflora.
Stachys lanata.
Zietenia lavandulæfolia.
Dodecatheon Meadia.
Acantholimon glumaceum.
Armeria cephalotes.
Plumbago Larpentæ.
Polygonum Brunonis.
” vaccinifolium.
Euphorbia Cyparissias.
Iris cristata.
“ graminea.
“ pumila.
“ reticulata.
“ nudicaulis.