LmwA* • 



The American Botanist 



VOL. XXVIII. FEBRUARY, 1922. No. 1 



Vestured and veiled with twilight 

 Lulled in the Winter's ease, 

 Dim, and happ\), and silent. 

 My garden dreams hy its trees. 



— Rosamund Marriot Watson. 



OLD GARDEN FLOWERS^II 



Thk Evening Primroses 



T T is only in some old-fashioned garden \vhpr> the owner 

 ■'■ lia-^ time and iricHnation to bother with them that one is 

 likely to tind the evening primroses. The fact that many of 

 them are biennial has much to do with* their lack of popular- 

 ity for it is not always that one cares to wait two years for 

 the seeds he sows to produce flowers, or to make new sowings, 

 each year, to keep up the supply of bloom. Moreover, the 

 majority of species are, as their name indicates, evening bloom- 

 ers, with their noontide of life placed at that period of the day 

 when twilight is turning to darkness. Most of the species, 

 however, ha\ e such cheerful and. conspicuous flowers, produced 

 through such an extended blooming season that they may 

 be regarded as quite worth planting even if they do open only 

 at evening. The perennial species, and especially the day 

 blooming kinds, are, of course, among our most desirable bord- 

 er plants. All are easily grow-n from seeds. 



The flowers have long been noted for opening with a 

 celerity that makes the whole process of blooming perceptible. 



