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The Day-Lily: Hemerocallis

As garden plants the day-lilies deserve much more attention than they have as yet obtained. Their flowers are showy and fragrant, and there are in cultivation about a dozen species and varieties, all highly ornamental. The commonest of the series are the yellow (Hemerocallis flava) and the copper (H. fulva). Amongst the many good things secured to us by the late Mr. Robert Fortune--most fortunate of botanical travellers--was the Japan species (H. kwanso), of which there are two or three varieties. One of these, called Kwanso flore pleno, has green leaves and double yellow flowers; the other, called Kwanso flore pleno foliis variegatis (which, if not long enough, may be lengthened by prefixing the generic name Hemerocallis), has splendidly variegated leaves and double yellow flowers, and atones for the length of its name by the fact that it is the finest hardy variegated-leaved plant in cultivation ! There are many costly stove plants grown for the beauty of their leaves that really come short of the splendour of this hardy plant, which may be purchased for a couple of shillings and grown in the commonest soil, and will, with very little care, make a superb ornament for the conservatory or for the choicest rockery or border.

To do justice to the three day-lilies that have been named thus far, H. flava, fulva, and kwanso, will prove an agreeable task for one who is earnest in gardening. But there are a dozen more worth having, such as Dumortier's (H. Dumortieri), with narrow leaves and reddish-brown flowers; the grass-leaved (H. graminea), also with narrow leaves, but with yellow flowers, which are scarcely so handsome as those of H. flava. The two-rowed (H. disticha) has the leaves set in two rows very distinctly; the flowers are yellow without and reddish within. Nor need we stop here, for there is a pink-flowered species called H. Japonica, less robust in growth than the others, but well adapted for a place on a rockery, where its form will contrast well with the tufted plants. And yet one more, which brings us back to the subject of the plate. The common yellow day-lily may be obtained in a variegated form, the variety being catalogued as "striatis." It is not equal to the variegated kwanso, but it is a fine plant, and worthy of pot-culture to decorate the conservatory while its elegant striped leaves have the freshness of new growth upon them. Shady borders give much trouble, and whatever may be grown in them with some degree of certainty must be made much of. The day-lily is one of the very best of plants for such places, provided it can obtain a fair share of the rainfall of the winter. Deciduous trees permit the herbs at their feet to live by affording access to them of the rain that falls between November and April; but evergreens are less merciful and kill everything beneath their shade. The veratrums are noble associates with day-lilies in shady borders, and two very humble but elegant weeds, the Enchanter's nightshade and the dwarf elder, may be allowed to run amongst them.

The starved appearance of shady borders is often the consequence of starving treatment. In a general planting or renovating, a really radical system should be adopted. All ill-looking shrubs that are in a dying state should be rooted out and cast on the rubbish-heap. The ground should be well dug and liberally manured, care being taken to spare the large roots of the trees from injury. If a few "wigs" of the smaller roots are cut out it will not much matter. The ground being thus prepared, strong well-rooted plants of suitable kinds should be planted, the most useful shrubs for the purpose being common Privet evergreen and deciduous Euonymus, Yew Box, Holly, Ruscus, Skimmia, and all the kinds of Ivies, the green-leaved ivy, known as "Hibberd's Emerald" being one of the best. The large-leaved Periwinkle and the sweet Woodruff may be mixed in the front line or put in clumps, with sheets of white violets between. THE ROSY YARROW. Achillea asplenifolia.

TO liken a flower to a gem or jewel of any kind is probably unfair, but the temptation is often too great to be resisted. The forget-me-not suggests the turquoise, the pimpernel may be likened to a coral, and the lovely flower before us is like a ruby, if it is like anything save its own sweet self. When a tuft of this yarrow is in full bloom there will not be found in the garden, however rich it may be, a flower of any kind that can surpass it in beauty, although many make more show and are not less worthy of our admiration. It is well to bear in mind that this is a distinct species of yarrow, because it is commonly classed as a variety of the British Achillea millefolium, which in all its states and stages is unworthy of attention as a decorative garden plant; whereas the rosy-flowered or asplenium-leaved yarrow is at once a different plant, and far more beautiful both in leaf and flower. As regards cultivation there is not much to be said. Any soil will suit this plant, but it needs a sunny aspect, or it becomes drawn and wiry, and fails to hold up its head. To increase the stock, it is sufficient to divide the roots when growth commences in the spring, but they may be divided at any time if it is a matter of importance to secure a quantity for any purpose. A large clump or bed has a rich and interesting appearance when in flower, and continues so for a considerable length of time. We have used it advantageously to plant amongst lilies, which really need some light spreading herbage to partially clothe and conceal their stems, and in fact the bare ground ought never to be visible where lilies grow, for it is their nature to rise out of grass and other light herbage, the roots of which are also indirectly advantageous to the lilies by quickly taking up any excess of moisture resulting from heavy summer rains.

The common yarrow we dismiss for the present as a mere weed, but we shall restore it to the garden presently, for a particular purpose. The yarrows most worthy of cultivation, in addition to the one here figured, are the following:--The sneezewort (A. ptarmica), a neat-habited British plant, with white flowers; the double variety is a serviceable thing to supply cut flowers. The woolly yarrow (A. tomentosa), a neat plant, with woolly leaves, and successive corymbs of gay yellow flowers. The great yarrow (A. filipendula), with rough pinnate leafage, and large heads of bright yellow flowers that rise to a height of four or five feet in a good soil and sunny situation. The silvery yarrow (A. clavennoe), a very neat plant, with white leaves and pretty heads of white flowers. This is a mountain plant, and requires a dry position on a rockery, in a peaty or sandy soil, when it soon becomes a striking and interesting object. There are a few others of less importance that the hungry collector will soon discover, but they will not suit many of our readers.