Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers Part 4

This is the double form of the common British species; in every part but the flower it resembles the type. The flower, from being double, and perhaps from being grown in more exposed situations than the common form in the shaded woods, is much more durable; an established clump has kept in good form for three weeks.

The petals (if they may be so called), which render this flower so pleasingly distinct, are arranged in an even tuft, being much shorter than the outer or normal sepals, the size and form of which remain true to the type. The pure white flower--more than an inch across--is somewhat distant from the handsome three-leaved involucrum, and is supported by a wiry flower stalk, 3in. to 5in. long; it is about the same length from the root, otherwise the plant is stemless. The flowers are produced singly, and have six to eight petal-like sepals; the leaves are ternately cut; leaflets or segments three-cut, lanceolate, and deeply toothed; petioles channelled; the roots are long and round, of about the thickness of a pen-holder. This plant grown in bold clumps is indispensable for the choice spring garden; its quiet beauty is much admired.

It enjoys a strongish loam, and a slightly shaded situation will conduce to its lengthened flowering, and also tend to luxuriance. Soon after the flowers fade the foliage begins to dry up; care should, therefore, be taken to have some other suitable flower growing near it, so as to avoid dead or blank s.p.a.ces. Pentstemons, rooted cuttings of which are very handy at this season for transplanting, are well adapted for such use and situations, and as their flowers cannot endure hot sunshine without suffering more or less, such half-shady quarters will be just the places for them.

The double white Wood Anemone may be propagated by divisions of the tubers, after the foliage has completely withered.

Flowering period, May.

Anemone Pulsatilla.

PASQUE FLOWER; _Nat. Ord._ RANUNCULACEae.

A British species. This beautiful flower has long been cultivated in our gardens, and is deservedly a great favourite. It may not be uninteresting to give the other common and ancient names of the Easter Flower, as in every way this is not only an old plant, but an old-fashioned flower. "Pa.s.se Flower" and "Flaw Flower" come from the above common names, being only derivations, but in Cambridgeshire, where it grows wild, it is called "Coventry Bells" and "Hill Tulip." Three hundred years ago Gerarde gave the following description of it, which, together with the ill.u.s.tration (Fig. 9), will, I trust, be found ample: "These Pa.s.se flowers hath many small leaues, finely cut or iagged, like those of carrots, among which rise up naked stalks, rough and hairie; whereupon do growe beautiful flowers bell fashion, of a bright delaied purple colour; in the bottome whereof groweth a tuft of yellow thrums, and in the middle of the thrums thrusteth foorth a small purple pointell; when the whole flower is past, there succeedeth an head or knoppe, compact of many graie hairie lockes, and in the solide parts of the knops lieth the seede flat and h.o.a.rie, euery seed having his own small haire hanging at it. The roote is thick and k.n.o.bbie of a finger long, and like vnto those of the anemones (as it doth in all other parts verie notablie resemble) whereof no doubt this is a kinde."

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 9. ANEMONE PULSATILLA.

(One-half natural size.)]

This flower in olden times was used for making garlands, and even now there are few flowers more suitable for such purpose; it varies much in colour, being also sometimes double. It may be grown in pots for window decoration or in the open garden; it likes a dry situation and well-drained soil of a calcareous nature. In these respects it differs widely from many of the other species of Windflower, yet I find it to do well in a collection bed where nearly twenty other species are grown, and where there are both shade and more moisture than in the open parts of the garden. It may be propagated by division of the strong root-limbs, each of which should have a portion of the smaller roots on them. Soon after flowering is a good time to divide it.

Flowering period, March to May.

Anemone Stellata.

STAR WINDFLOWER; _Nat. Ord._ RANUNCULACEae.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 10. ANEMONE STELLATA.

(One-half natural size.)]

This gay spring flower (Fig. 10) comes to us from Italy, but that it loves our dull climate is beyond doubt, as it not only flowers early, but continues for a long time in beauty. _A. hortensis_ is another name for it, and there are several varieties of the species, which mostly vary only in the colours of the flowers, as striped, white and purple.

The typical form, as ill.u.s.trated, is seen to be a quaint little plant; its flowers are large, of a shining light purple colour, and star-shaped; the dwarf foliage is of the well-known crowfoot kind. When grown in bold clumps it is richly effective, and, like most other Anemones, is sure to be admired.

It thrives well in a light loam and in slight shade; I have tried it in pots kept in cold frames, where it flowers in mid-winter. It would doubtless make a showy appearance in a cool greenhouse. To propagate it, the roots should be divided after the tops have died down in summer.

Flowering period, February to June, according to position and time of planting.

Anemone Sulphurea.

SULPHUR-COLOURED WINDFLOWER; _Syn._ A. APIIFOLIA; _Nat. Ord._ RANUNCULACEae.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 11. ANEMONE SULPHUREA.

(One-fourth natural size.)]

This is a grandly beautiful Windflower from Central Europe. The names, combined with the ill.u.s.tration (Fig. 11), must fail to give the reader a proper idea of its beauty; the specific name in reference to the colour falls far short, and cannot give a hint of its handsome form and numerous finely-coloured stamens; and the drawing can in no way ill.u.s.trate the hues and sh.e.l.l-like substance of the sepals; there is also a softness and graceful habit about the foliage, that the name, _apiifolia_ (parsley-leaved), does not much help the reader to realise.

It may be parsley-like foliage in the comparative sense and in relation to that of other Anemones, but otherwise it can hardly be said to be like parsley. It is said by some to be only a variety of _A. alpina_; if so, it is not only a distinct but an unvarying form, so much so that by others it is held to be a species; the line of difference in many respects seems so far removed, even granting it to be a variety (as in hundreds of similar cases), as to warrant a specific t.i.tle. It may be more interesting to state that it is a lovely and showy flower, and that the shortest cut to an enjoyment of its beauties is to grow it.

The flowers are 2in. to 2in. across when expanded, but usually they are cup-shaped. The six sepals are egg-shaped but pointed, of much substance, and covered with a silky down on the outside, causing them to have changeable hues according to the play of wind and light. The stamens are very numerous, the anthers being closely arranged and of a rich golden colour; the flower stems grow from 9in. to 18in. high, being terminated by one flower; it carries a large and handsome involucre of three leaves, a little higher than the middle of the stem, and just overtopping the radical leaves, umbrella fashion; the leaves of the involucre are like those of the root, but stalkless. The radical leaves are stalked, well thrown out, drooping, and over 1ft. long, ternate and villous; the leaflets are pinnatifid and deeply toothed.

This desirable plant is of the easiest culture, thriving in common garden soil, but it prefers that of a rich vegetable character and a situation not over dry. The flowers are persistent under any conditions, and they are further preserved when grown under a little shade, but it should only be a little.

For propagation see _A. decapetala_.

Flowering period, May and June.

There are two other allied kinds which not only much resemble this, but which flower at or near the same time--viz., _A. alpina_ and _A.

decapetala_, which see.

Anemone Sylvestris.

SNOWDROP A.; _Nat. Ord._ RANUNCULACEae.

This hardy herbaceous species comes from Germany, but it has been grown nearly 300 years in this country, It is distinct, showy, and beautiful; it ranks with "old-fashioned" flowers. Of late this Windflower has come into great favour, as if for a time it had been forgotten; still, it is hard to make out how such a fine border plant could be overlooked.

However, it is well and deservedly esteemed at the present time; and, although many have proved the plant and flowers to be contrary to their expectations in reference to its common name, "Snowdrop Anemone," the disappointment has been, otherwise, an agreeable one. It only resembles the snowdrop as regards the purity and drooping habit of its flowers.

Well-grown specimens have an exceedingly neat habit--the foliage spreads and touches the ground, rounding up to the flower stems (which are about a foot high) in a pleasing manner. The earliest flowers are very large--when fully open quite 1in. across--but they are more often seen in the unopen state, when they resemble a nutmeg in shape. Whether open or shut, they are a pure white, and their pendent habit adds not a little to their beauty, as also does the leafy involucre. The leaves are three-parted, the two lower lobes being deeply divided, so that at a first glance the leaves appear to be five-parted; each of the five lobes are three-cleft, and also dentate, downy, and veined; the leaf stalks are radical, red, long, slightly channelled, and wiry; in all respects the leaves of the involucre resemble those of the root, excepting the size, which is smaller, and the stalks are green, like the flower stems.

In a cut state, the pure satin-white blossoms are fit for the most delicate wreath or bouquet; they have, morever, a delicious clover-scent. It enjoys a light vegetable soil in a slightly shaded and moist situation; if it could be allowed to ramble in the small openings of a front shrubbery, such positions would answer admirably.

The roots are underground-creeping, which renders this species somewhat awkward to manage when grown with others in a collection of less rampant habit. On the other hand, the disposition it has to spread might very well be taken advantage of by providing it with a good broad s.p.a.ce, than which nothing could be more lovely for two months of the year.

It is needless to give directions for its propagation, as the runners spring up all round the parent plant. Slugs are very fond of it, and in early spring, especially when the new growths are appearing, they should be kept in check, otherwise they will eat down into the heart of the strongest plant; a dose of clear lime water will be found effective and will not hurt the new leaves; if this is followed up with a few sprinklings of sand, the slugs will not care to occupy such unpleasant quarters.

Flowering period, May and June.

Anemone Vernalis.