150 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



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excellent eammer bedding plants if they have a sheltered spot where 

 the sun does not strike them too strong, the tuberous-rooted varieties 

 being particularly recommended for this purpose. But a variety called 

 "Vernon," coming in all shades between pure white and deep crimson, 

 is doing better in this section of the country than the tuberous-rooted 

 sorts. 



Cannas have grown to great popularity in the last five or six years 

 since the introduction of the dwarf french sorts, and we have no plant 

 that will make a greater display for the same amount of care. They do 

 well ia the full sun and produce highly attractive flowers in all shades 

 of yellow and red. Among the most attractive standard varieties are 

 Charles Henderson, Florence Vaughan, Paul Bruant, Paul Marquant^ 

 Madam Crozy, Souv. De Antoine Orozy and Koenigin Charlotte. Dur- 

 ing the last year two new varieties have been extensively introduced,,, 

 and are truly worthy of all the praise bestowed upon them. They are 

 the varieties Austria and Italia. These varieties produce flowers with 

 the individual florist eight and ten inches in diameter. They are 

 magnificent specimens of horticultural progress. There is but one fault 

 possessed by them ; that, on account of the extreme large size of the 

 flower they do not stand the strong winds that often prevail here, and 

 should be planted in a slightly sheltered spot. 



Chrysanthemums, such as are advertised in the florists' catalogues, 

 cannot be recommended as bedding plants. But many of you have 

 some old clumps of the hardy varieties of our grandmothers' gardens, 

 which are truly ornamental and worthy of greater care than has been 

 bestowed upon them during the past few years. The new varieties are 

 for the most part too late in blooming to be of any value to the person 

 that wants a display out of doors. 



Clematis Paniculata, an improvement on the common virgins 

 bower, which is a native of this country, is a magnificent vine, perfectly 

 hardy, and covered in summer with masses of clusters of white, highly 

 fragrant flowers; it should be in every yard. 



Dahlias are beautiful flowers, produce large quantities of highly 

 colored blooms in the latter part of summer, and as there is a large 

 variety of colors in them, you can get a great deal of pleasure out of 

 planting a collection. 



In geraniums we have made, a great deal of progress in recent 

 years in the matter of size and brilliant coloring of the flowers. Queen 

 of the West, an old favorite, is still the most called for variety, but a 

 few of the newer bright reds are worthy of mention. Among them are 

 Duke of Fife, James Kelway, Jules Privat and Red Shirt. It is bard 

 to say which of these is the best, but all are worthy of a trial. 



