Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers. John George Wood

Knapweed; Nat. Ord. Compositæ

      This is an "old-fashioned" and favourite flower. Every one must be familiar with its thistle-like formed flowers; it is sometimes called the large or perennial Cornflower and also the Large Bluebottle. The blue variety has been grown in English gardens since 1596. There are now white and pink coloured varieties, all rampant growers, very hardy and perennial. They are in every way superior to the annual kind, which is so largely grown, the flowers being more than twice the size, and produced two months earlier; the blooming period is maintained until late autumn.

      The flowers, as before hinted, are thistle-shaped; the pericline or knob just under the florets is cone-shaped, covered with evenly set and pointed scales, green, edged with a brown margin, set round with short bristle-like teeth. The florets of the outer ring are 1½in. long, tubular half their length, the wider portion being five to seven cut; the centre florets are short and irregular, richly tinted with pink at their bases; the whole flower or ray, when expanded, is 3in. across. They are produced on stems over 2ft. long and of a somewhat procumbent habit, angular and branched near the tops; the leaves are 3in. to 6in. long, lance-shaped, entire and decurrent, giving the stems a winged appearance. They are of a greyish colour—nappy—whence the name Knapweed.

      This vigorous species, with its white and pink varieties, may be grown in any kind of soil. It requires plenty of room; a two-year-old plant will form a specimen a yard in diameter under favourable conditions. The effect is good when all the three colours are grown near each other in bold pieces. They yield an unfailing supply of flowers, which are of a very useful type; in fact, the more they are cut the more they seem to bloom, and it is a good plan to cut short half the stems about June. They will (in a week or two) produce new shoots and large flowers in abundance, the gain being flowers of extra size during autumn.

      Propagated by division of the roots any time.

      Flowering period, June to September.

      Centranthus Ruber

Syn. Valeriana Ruber—Red Valerian; Nat. Ord. Valerianaceæ

      This is a strong and vigorous garden plant, with a somewhat shrubby appearance; it is herbaceous, perennial, and sometimes classed as a British species, therefore hardy; but though its classification among British plants is justifiable, it is only so on the ground of its being a naturalised subject, its original habitats being in the South of Europe. It is a favourite and "old-fashioned" flower, and it fully justifies the estimation in which it is held, the flowers being produced in large bunches of a fine rich colour, which are very durable. Its shrubby habit is not one of its least recommendations; seen at a distance—which it easily can be—it might be taken for a ruby-coloured rhododendron, to which, of course, it has no resemblance when closely inspected. It grows 2ft. high or more.

      The flowers are a bright ruby colour, very small, but closely massed in great numbers, borne in corymbs, terminal and much branched; "the calyx-limb, at first revolute, afterwards expanded into a feather-like pappus;" the corolla is tubular, long, slender, and spurred; the segments or petals are small and uneven, both in form and arrangement; the germen is long; anther prominent and large for so small a flower, viz., ¾in. long and hardly ¼in. in diameter. The stems are stout, round, hollow, and glaucous; they are furnished with leaves of various shapes at the nodes, as lance-shaped, long oval, heart-shaped and plain, elliptical and pointed, wavy and notched, and arrow-shaped, lobed, and toothed. The root leaves are mostly ovate, lanceolate, and entire. The whole plant is smooth and glaucous. From the description given, it may readily be seen that when in flower it will be effective—massive heads of ruby flowers topping a shrub-like plant of shining foliage and glaucous hue. It is eminently fitted for lines or borders where other strong growers are admitted. In a cut state the flowers are very useful; they are strongly scented, something like the lilac, with just a suspicion of Valerian in it. I ought not to omit mention of its extra brightness as seen by gaslight—this fact adds much to its value for indoor decoration.

      It may be grown in any kind of garden soil, needing nothing at any time in the way of special treatment; but if it is supplied with a little manure it will pay back with interest, in the form of extra-sized bunches and brighter flowers.

      C. r. albus is a white-flowering kind of the above; its main points of difference are its paler green foliage, smaller sized corymbs, shorter growth, and rather later season of bloom.

      C. r. coccinea is another kind; the specific name is misleading. It is not scarlet, but nearer a rose colour, and when compared with the typical colour it appears much inferior; still, it is a good variety. All the three colours, when grown side by side, are very showy when in bloom.

      This species, with its varieties, may be easily propagated by root divisions at any time from late summer to spring; the long fleshy roots should not be broken more than can be helped; every piece with a crown on it will make a flowering plant the first season.

      Flowering period, June to September.

      Cheiranthus Cheiri

Common Wallflower; Nat. Ord. Cruciferæ

      Fig. 24. Chieranthus Cheiri

      (One-fourth natural size.)

      This well-known evergreen shrub (see Fig. 24) is more or less hardy in our climate, according to the conditions under which it is grown. Although a native of the South of Europe, it rarely happens, however severe the winter may be in this country, that we are totally deprived of the favourite bouquet of Wallflowers in winter or early spring, while it is equally true that, during the hard weather of one or two recent winters, in numerous gardens every plant was killed. In favourable seasons its blooms are produced throughout winter, but the full blow comes in April. Three hundred years ago it was known by its present name; in this respect it is a rare exception, as most flowers have many and widely different names, especially the "old-fashioned" sorts, so that often the varied nomenclature hinders the identification of the species. At one time the Wallflower was called the "Gillyflower," but the name is now only applied to a biennial and single-flowered variety of the stock—a near relation of the Wallflower. More than 200 years ago Parkinson wrote, "Those Wallflowers that, carrying beautiful flowers, are the delights and ornaments of a garden of pleasure."

      Of its well-known beauties, as regards its form, colour, varieties, and delicious perfume, description is needless, though I may say, in passing, that its fragrance renders it of value to those whose olfactory nerve is dead to the scent of most other flowers.

      Two errors are frequently committed in planting the Wallflower; first, at the wrong time, when it is nearly a full-grown specimen and showing its flowers; next, in the wrong way, as in rows or dotted about. It should be transplanted from the seed beds when small, in summer or early autumn, and not in ones and twos, but in bold and irregular groups of scores together; anything like lines or designs seems out of harmony with this semi-wildling. There is another and very easy method which I should like to mention, as a suggestion—that of naturalisation; let those near ruins, quarries, and railway embankments and cuttings, generously scatter some seed thereon during the spring showers, when the air is still; in such dry situations this flower proves more hardy than in many gardens. Moreover, they serve to show it to advantage, either alone or in connection with other shrubs, as the whin, which flowers at the same time; here, too, it would be comparatively safe from being "grubbed up."

      Flowering period, January to June.

      Cheiranthus Marshallii

Marshall's Wallflower; Nat. Ord. Cruciferæ

      A distinct and very hardy hybrid, being shrubby and tree-like in shape, but withal very dwarf. From the compact habit, abundance and long duration of its flowers, it is well suited for showy borders or lines. It is not yet well known, but its qualities are such that there can be no wonder at its quickly coming to the front where known.

      It differs from the common Wallflower in being more dwarf and horizontally branched, while the leaves are more bent back, hairy, and toothed; immediately below the floriferous part of the stem the leaves are more crowded, the stems more angular, the flowers much less, not so straggling, and of a dark orange colour. Other hybrids in the same way are being produced, differing