OUR HARDY FLOWER BORDERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2082, 18 January 1894, Page 4

OUR HARDY FLOWER BORDERS.

I have never seen the general growth of plants in tbis district so fine as it is this season, owing to the unusual amount of showery weather with which we have been blessed. With increase of growth we have also a corresponding increase of bloom, and it may prove interesting to those readers of the Witness who are of a horticultural turn of mind to give a few rambling notes on the hardy border plants" which at this time adorn the flower borders of our public gardens and wbich call forth expressions of surprise from the many visitors who favour us with a call.

The first thing to attract attention on entering the gardens is a large bed filled with our native Solanum avicnlare and single dahlias of many colours. The dahlias were planted by man; the Solanum were self-sown, and were allowed to grow up, and they now form a unique and pretty bed, which has many admirers. In the mixed borders, Salvia patens, a hardy perennial with flowers of the loveliest shade of bine, and said to be the finest in the whole range of blue flowers, is very attractive at present. Clumps of 'Lilium auratnm, the grandest of all lilies, have been flowering since January. The flowers are nearly lft across, and emit a delicious fragrance. It is perfectly hardy, and I find it to succeed best when planted and left undisturbed for several years. The orange lilies not yet past large clumps about 4ft high and the same through, have been very fine. Clumps of Lilium longiflorum, with from 30 to 50 flowers, make a show in themselvee. These have done extra well tbis season. Lilium eximium, a variety of Longiflorum, has larger flowera. These two varieties, with their immense trumpet-shaped blooms, cannot be excelled, tbeir snow-like purity and delicious fragrance making them great favourites. The double perennial sunflower is a fine hardy herbaceous plant, of which we have many growing about the grounds. They are beginning to flower, and will continue to do so for months. The flowers are produced all up the stems in great numbers and of various sizes, the finest flowers, as a matter of course, being nearest the top of the stem. It is one of the beßt of yellow flowers for catting, as it will keep fresh and nice for a week or more.

Another class of plants of which we have several varieties is the everlasting pea, amoDgst them being pure white, deep pink, and several intermediate shades obtained from seed. These bloom for a long time, and are very showy when allowed to ramble at will over an old shrub, fence, or haDk. For the back of the flower borders when given a few pea sticks to keep them np they

make lovely objects, and for out flower xxeea they are excelled by none. One member of the mallow family which we grow in quantity is the musk mallow (Malva moschata alba). Its flowers are snow white and transparent, and with a Blight musk perfume. It is perfectly hardy, and will grow almost anywhere, flowers freely and continuously, and looks well in a cut state. Another choice and attractive plant, and one seldom met with, is the Alstrcemerias. These are very beautiful and easily managed plants. For supplying cut flowers during the summer months there is nothing to equal them either for beauty or lasting qualities. In the flower borders they are unrivalled, and when once planted need no further care. .

Gaillardias are now making a great show. For free-flowering qualities nothing can excel them. They are great favourites with the ladies for floral decoration, and therefore deserve to be grown in quantity. Chrysanthemum inodorum, a dwarf -growing plant with double white flowers, is very pretty. It is very free-growing, and the flowerß are useful in a cut state. Of quite a different habit is the Tritomas, known as the red-hot poker--very showy plants when grown in a mass. Some of our plants have over two dozen tall Bpikes of bloom, and are very conspicuous among other things. The prevailing colour is orange and red. We have a light yellow variety of dwarf habit, which is very pretty. Verbena venosa is a perennial species of verbena, the tops dying down in the autumn and sending up in the spring an immense number of flowering shoots. The flowers are of a beautiful shade of purple, and are very useful for cutting. Being a continuous bloomer, it is first-fate for garden decoration.

A showy, hardy plant growing alongside is Oenothera lamarokiana, of biennial duration. The flowers are bright yellow, some 3in or 4in across, and attract a deal of attention. The flowers remain closed during the middle of the day. As a rule they open about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and remain open till 10 or 11 o'clock next day. Another evening blooming plant is the NJcotiana affinis. This grows about 3ft high, and for months is covered with pure white flowers, filling the air with a delicious fragrance. The evening bloomers cannot be passed by without noticing the Marvel of Peru. These are very showy, evening flowering plants of rich and varied colours— such as white, crimson, yellow, violet, variegated, &c. Evening blooming plants are somewhat neglected, but I think nothiDg can be more attractive than these evening flowers with so much charming sweetness and beauty as they show to you when walking round the garden during the pleasant hours of evening and early morning.

Other well-known plants are also flowering freely, such as carnations, dahlias, hollyhocks, hyacinthus, candicans, agapanthus, yuccas, pentstemone, &c. 'These and many others, together with the usual run of bedding plants and annuals, are arranged with the main object of keeping up a floral display until frost asserts its power. James Gebbie, Jun. Public Gardens, Oamaru.