The Flower Garden 143 i 



should be kept on the garden surface. This prevents loss of water from 

 the soil by evaporation; and the treatment necessary in maintaining such 

 a layer should result in the destruction of all weeds. The mulch can be 

 made by hoeing, followed by dragging the rake lightly over the ground. 



SOME COMMON FLOWERING PLANTS 



Ageratum 



Ageratum grows well on a wide range of soils, but sandy loam will 

 give better results than will clay loam. For early bloom the seed' should 

 be sown in hotbeds or in boxes in the house in March, and later trans- 

 planted to the open ground. For summer or fall bloom the seed may be 

 sown in well-prepared beds outdoors, \ to \ inch deep in rows 12 inches 

 apart ; later the plants should be thinned to 6 inches apart in the row. 

 The individual plants soon form neat, bushy, erect growths, with a con- 

 tinuous display of pretty blue or white flowers throughout the season. 



Ageratum is used frequently in beds and borders, for contrast with 

 other plants. 



Dwarf Blue and Dwarf White are desirable varieties. 



Alyssum 



A well-prepared, rich soil is best suited to alyssum. The seed may be 

 planted \ to \ inch deep in rows 12 inches apart; later the plants should 

 be thinned to 6 inches apart in the row. Alyssum is a hardy annual, 

 which grows \ to \ foot high and blossoms from June to frost. If the 

 dying flower-stalks are cut back after the first bloom, others will be 

 produced, and a profusion of bloom may thus be obtained throughout 

 the season. 



Alyssum is of the easiest culture, both indoors and out. It is well 

 suited for beds and borders in summer and for boxes indoors in fall or 

 winter. 



Some good varieties of alyssum are Saxatile Compactum (yellow), a 

 perennial, and Maritimum, an annual. Little Gem is the best of the 

 white annual varieties. 



Antirrhinum (Snapdragon) 

 The seed should be sown in the hotbed in March, the plants being 

 later transplanted to the garden in rows 12 inches apart, with 12 

 inches between the plants in the row. This hardy perennial, which grows 

 to a height of 12 to 36 inches, will give satisfactory blossoms the first 

 year. The blooming season lasts from July until frost. Snapdragon 

 thrives best in a light, warm, well-enriched soil. Most of the varieties 



