Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers | Page 6

favourable condition may be easily afforded,
and will be more than repaid. Strong roots may be transplanted at any
time, and propagation is more quickly carried out by division of the
woody roots, which should be cut or split so that each piece has a share
of bark and a crown. Just before new growth has begun, as in January,
is the best time for this operation, so that there is no chance of rot from
dormancy.
Flowering period, May to September.

Andromeda Tetragona.
Syn. CASSIOPE TETRAGONA; Nat. Ord. ERICACEÆ.
A dwarf hardy evergreen shrub, which comes to us from Lapland and
North America; though a very beautiful subject for either rockwork or
border, it is rarely seen. It is not one of the easiest plants to grow,
which may, to some extent, account for its rarity. Still, when it can
have its requirements, it not only thrives well, but its handsome form
and flowers repay any extra trouble it may have given. In the culture of
this, as of most plants of the order Ericaceæ, there is decidedly a right
way and a wrong one, and if the species now under consideration has
one or two special requirements it deserves them.
[Illustration: FIG. 5. ANDROMEDA TETRAGONA.
(One-half natural size.)]
With me it never exceeds a height of 6in. or 7in., is much branched,
and of a fine apple green colour; the flowers are small but very
beautiful, bell-shaped, pendent, and springing from the leafy stems of
the previous year's growth. The leaves are small as well as curious,
both in form and arrangement, completely hiding their stems; their
roundish grain-shaped forms are evenly arranged in four rows
extending throughout the whole length of the branches (whence the

name tetragona), giving them a square appearance resembling an ear of
wheat, but much less stout (see Fig. 5); the little leaves, too, are frosted
somewhat in the way of many of the saxifrages. It is next to impossible
to describe this pretty shrub; fortunately, the cut will convey a proper
idea at a glance. All who possess more select collections of hardy
plants and shrubs should not fail to include this; it is fit for any
collection of fifty choice species.
I struggled long before finding out the right treatment, as presumably I
now have, yet it is very simple, in fact, only such as many other plants
should have; but, unlike them, A. tetragona will take no alternative; it
must have partial shade, sandy peat or leaf soil, and be planted in a
moist or semi-bog situation. On the raised parts of rockwork it became
burnt up; planted in loam, though light, it was dormant as a stone; in
pots, it withered at the tips; but, with the above treatment, I have
flowers and numerous branchlets. Many little schemes may be
improvised for the accommodation of this and similar subjects.
Something of the bog character would appear to be the difficulty here;
a miniature one may be made in less than half an hour. Next the walk
dig a hole 18in. all ways, fill in with sandy peat, make it firm; so form
the surface of the walk that the water from it will eddy or turn in. In a
week it will have settled; do not fill it up, but leave it dished and put in
the plant. Gentians, pyrolas, calthas, and even the bog pimpernel I have
long grown so.
A. tetragona can be propagated by division of the roots, but such
division should not be attempted with other than a perfectly healthy
plant. It should be done in spring, just as it begins to push, which may
be readily seen by the bright green tips of the branchlets; and it is
desirable, when replanting, to put the parts a little deeper, so as to cover
the dead but persistent leaves about the bottoms of the stems which
occur on the parts four or more years old. After a year, when so planted,
I have found good roots emitted from these parts, and, doubtless, such
deeper planting will, in some way, meet its requirements, as in this
respect they are provided for in its habitats by the annual and heavy fall
of leaves from other trees which shade it.

Flowering period, April and May.

Anemone Alpina.
ALPINE WINDFLOWER; Nat. Ord. RANUNCULACEÆ.
From Austria, the foliage closely resembling that of A. sulphurea, but
the flowers are larger and of various colours. It is said to be the parent
of A. sulphurea.
It flowers in June. See A. sulphurea.

Anemone Apennina.
MOUNTAIN WINDFLOWER; Nat. Ord. RANUNCULACEÆ.
This is one of the "old-fashioned" flowers of our gardens--in fact, a
native species, having a black tuberous root, which forms a distinct,
though invisible characteristic of the species. As the old names