THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



107 



nook by itself, too coarse for a neat border 

 line ; Giant Prince's Feather, five feet, has 

 a superb effect iu front of a privet fence, 

 among evergreens. In the next line of 

 intermediate kinds, ranging from eighteen 

 inches to two feet, are the following : — 

 Amaranthus caudatus ; Arctotis grandi • 

 flora, handsome foliage, and a profusion of 

 orange flowers ; Beta braziliensis ; Calen- 

 dula hybrida ; Calliopsis bicolor nana, and 

 Burridgi ; Scorpiurus ; Centranlhus ; Chry- 

 santhemum tricolor and Burridgeanum ; 

 Chrysocephaluni arenaria, good silvery 

 foliage if it does not bloom ; Clarkia integri- 

 petala, a great improvement on the old 

 pulchella; Dianthuseoronatus; Gaillardia 

 hybrida grandiflora ; Helichrysum capi- 

 tatum ; Lindheimeria texena ; Tagetes 

 erecta and signata ; Salpiglossis ; dwarf 

 scarlet Scabious, to please the bees ; red 

 Valerian (the white never comes good near 

 London on a heavy soil). The front, or 

 dwarfest, line includes — Aster tenellus, 

 blue, eight inches ; Campanula pentigonia 

 and speculum, blue, eight inches ; Candy- 

 tufts, white and purple, separate ; Lobel's 

 Catchfly, red and white, twelve inches ; 

 Clintonia elegans and pulchella, six inches, 

 also forward in heat ; Cochlearia acaule, a 

 little gem, with dove-coloured blossoms 

 only an inch high, charming on shelves of 

 a rockery; Cotula aurea, yellow, six inches ; 

 Cynoglossum, blue, four inch es ; Escholt- 

 zia tenuifolia, primrose, pi'etty leaves, and 

 only six inches high; lai'ge-flowered Forget- 

 me-not, under the shade of trees blooms 

 abundantly the first season ; Gilia tricolor, 

 nine inches ; silver Hawkweed, twelve 

 inches ; Isotoma petrsea alba, a close- 

 growing and true bedding annual, starry- 

 white flowers, one foot, and may be 

 clipped like a box edging, and flower 

 all the better for it. Kaulfussia amel- 

 loides, blue, six inches ; Lotus Indica (or 

 Trigonella corniculata), yellow, six inches ; 

 Nemophila marmorata, a charming new 

 variety, flowers marbled white on a dark 

 ground, similar to, but better than inacu- 

 lata, the muslin flower ; Nierembergia fili- 

 caulis, white and lilac, eight inches, also 

 forward in heat ; QEnothera bistorta, 

 Veitchiana, prostrata, and Drummondii 

 nana ; Tom Thumb yellow Tropaeoluin, 

 Trentham pansy, blue, from cuttings ; 

 Portulacca roseo pallida, rose, four inches ; 

 Sabbatia campestris, rose and yellow, six 

 inches;; Saponaria calabrica, rose, six inches 

 or less ; Schizopetalon Walkeri, six 

 inches ; Spraguea umbellata, the new Ca- 

 lendi-ina-like plant brought out by Mr. 

 Veitch last year, red-crimson flowers, nine 

 inches, also forward in heat from early 



sowings ; Veronica Syriaca, blue and 

 white, also capital for pots, as a companion 

 to the pretty Fenzlia diaathiflora. Six 

 beds on the turf are sown in match pairs 

 with Veronica Syriaca, Escholtzia lutea, 

 and Kaulfussia amelloides. Sow very 

 thin in large patches, cover with a little 

 very fine earth, and thin the plants when 

 up, the largest growers to three or four 

 iu a clump, and the dwarfs to three or 

 four inches apart. Poor soil and thick 

 sowing make annuals like weeds. Rich 

 soil, plenty of room, and large clumps, aud 

 then they do their duty. 



Now this assortment does not include 

 all the annuals available for lines and 

 masses. There are the Viscarias, Oxyuras, 

 Sileue9, Phlox Drummondii in twenty va- 

 rieties, Zinnias, Asters, etc. ; and all these 

 last-named, and all named in the foregoing 

 enumeration, may be sown on the open 

 border to bloom well this season, some 

 late, but the majority in good time to be 

 useful ; for though the wind is now N.N.E,, 

 and the temperature of the earth at its 

 lowest, the change will be great and sud- 

 den within the next three weeks, and all 

 sorts of tender things will start away with 

 vigour, and many of them beat those raised 

 in pots for turning out. When pressed 

 for space to get up a batch of half-hardy 

 things in frames, I adopt a plan which is 

 very simple and efficient. The patches are 

 sown on a sunny border, and covered with 

 twelve-inch circular seed pans, bottom up- 

 wards. The moisture of the earth pene- 

 trates the pan, the sun makes it hot, and 

 the ground temperature is not only in- 

 creased but maintained, aud sudden night 

 frosts can do no harm in nipping the seed- 

 lings as they come bristling through the 

 ground. Of course, if the pans are not 

 lifted then, the seedlings would be blanched ; 

 and the pans are removed, and their places 

 supplied with squai'es of glass, tilted at the 

 back with pieces of tile, just sufficient to 

 give the young plants head room. Short 

 branches of fir, or other evergreens, stuck 

 in" front of the seed patches, will do much 

 to keep off the keen winds and break the 

 force of hail and snow, and also help the 

 soil in storing up sun-heat. Better still, 

 with such things as portulaccas, asters, 

 balsams, and marigolds, is to sow in a 

 frame placed in the full sun, under a wall 

 or fence; and cover with a mat or tarpaulin 

 for a week to give the seeds a first start 

 in darkness, and a warm, close air. After 

 that be careful not to get them damped, 

 but there will be little danger even for a 

 fortnight. Another plan I adopt to get 

 up seeds of tender things and save the 



