178 



THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



from cuttings at any time without 

 heat, and which, if allowed to flower, 

 produces seed abundantly. The next 

 best, or we may say the equal of the 

 best, but of quite different habit, is 

 Cerastium tomentoaum. Plant where 

 it can remain, and it will be found 

 quite hardy, and in spring will bloom 

 beautifully. After blooming, it should 

 be cut close back, and will soon grow 

 again and be as beautiful as ever. 



The best crimson and purple- 

 leaved bedders are Coleus Verschaf- 

 felti, Amaranthus nielancholiras, and 

 Perilla Nankinensis. The first must 

 be increased by cuttings on a hot-bed 

 in spring ; the other two can be 

 raised freely from seed sown in pans, 

 very thinly covered, and placed in a 

 very mild heat in February or March. 

 The more hardy and less attractive 

 purple orach (Atriphx hortensis ru- 

 bra) is not to be despised. This plant 

 will always propagate itself if allowed 

 to do so, and its own way is the best 

 way, because then they come at the 

 season which suits them best. Allow 

 a few plants to grow as they please 

 in the shrubbery, rockery, or border. 

 They will flower and seed freely. Do 

 not distuib the soil till some time in 

 the next April ; there will be hun- 

 dreds of plants where the seed was 

 shed. On a showery day lift them 

 with a trowel, and plant where re- 

 quired, and they will grow ten times 

 more freely and more handsome than 

 by any artificial treatment. Self- 

 sown plants growing in the full sun 

 have leaves, three or more inches 

 broad, and of the richest shade of 

 bronzy purple. 



Annuals for Next Season. — 

 The finest show of annuals early in 

 the summer is to be had only by 

 autumn sowing. During the latter 

 half of August and the first half of 

 September is the best season to get 

 them strong enough to stand the 

 winter ; if sown earlier they get too 

 forward, and are apt to Puffer from 

 frost. An open quarter sheltered 

 from the north is to be preferred, and 



the ground should be as hard as 

 flint. On this hard surface lay down 

 a shallow bed of poor sandy soil, and 

 on that sow the sor:s in rows pretty 

 close together, each marked with a 

 good sized tally. Iu gardens that 

 are very dry or insufficiently drained, 

 the plants will have a better chance 

 if the bed is made to slope south- 

 wards ; this will carry off excess of 

 water, and the plants will start better 

 in spring. They are to be transplanted 

 singly into beds, borders, ribbons, 

 etc., as desired, as early in March as 

 the weather will permit. Toe soil in 

 which they are to bloom should be 

 rich and well worked, and as every 

 one of the plants will grow to twice 

 the size ordinarily attained by the 

 same sorts when sown in spring, they 

 must be planted at double the ordi- 

 nary distance apart. To make more 

 sure, it would be as well to sow at 

 least one pan of each of the same 

 sorts as those sown on the border ; 

 these to be kept in a pit or frame and 

 dealt with in the same manner for 

 blooming. Some of the improved 

 forms of hardy annuals are equal to 

 anything we possess for brilliancy of 

 colour and offset in masses ; for in- 

 stance, Iberis Kerraesina, a new crim- 

 son candytuft, makes as grand a bed 

 as the finest verbena or treranium in 

 our collections, though it does not last 

 in its prime more than four or five 

 weeks. The old Campanula speculum 

 is a charming thing for masses ; the 

 rich bluish purple of the flowers being 

 enhanced by the white eye. Indeed, 

 all the established annuals are worthy 

 of more attention than they commonly 

 receive, and will repay for all the 

 extra care bestowed upon them, be- 

 sides which they are particularly 

 interesting as botanical studies. Tne 

 following are among the best annuals 

 to be sown at once : — Calliopsis, 

 Clarkia. Collinsia, Convolvulus minor, 

 Escholtzia, Godetia, Hibiscus, Dwarf 

 Larkspur, Lupinus, Nemopbda, No- 

 lana, French Poppy. Schizanthus, 

 Saponaria, Virginian Stock. S. H. 



