THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDB. 135 



to make an ample return for whatever trouble is bestowed upon ifc. 

 To grow phloxes, you need a mellow, deeply-stirred, and well- 

 manured loam, and a sunny position. The plants should be set out 

 one foot to eighteen inches apart, according to their height and 

 robustness of habit, all the taller kinds requiring more room than 

 the dwarfs. To propagate them is most easy. The best plants are 

 those propagated in March or April, but strong stools may be divided 

 in April or May, and if planted again with care will flower well. 

 Plants that have survived the winter in the ground, or that have 

 been kept in pots, begin to grow in March. The shoots should be 

 cut away when an inch to two inches long, one or two of the lowest 

 leaves removed, and be dibbled in close together in pans or pots, 

 filled with any light sandy soil. A mixture of sand and peat is the best 

 but it does not greatly matter what it is, if clean and sandy. These 

 cuttings soon root if shut up close in a frame, and kept regularly 

 sprinkled and shaded. The shortest mode of disposing of them is to 

 allow them to grow in the pans till they are three or four inches 

 high, and then to plant them where they are to flower. By this 

 simple method they do well, and occasional watering and shading for 

 a time after planting is, of course, beneficial. But a better plan is 

 to pot them ofi" separately in small pots as soon as rooted, and keep 

 them in a frame till the pots are full of roots, giving them plenty of 

 air, and planting out at last during moist weather. 



To obtain a fine bloom, occasional watering will be necessary^. 

 and liquid manure may be used with advantage. Bat this trouble 

 may be dispensed with, for if the soil is good, and well manured in 

 the first instance, they only want a little watering for a week or two 

 after being first planted, and for the rest of the season will take care 

 of themselves. When first planted, slugs and snails are very fond 

 of them. To prevent the ravages of these pests, plant with them a . 

 batch of lettuce, and while there is a young lettuce left, the phloxes 

 will be untouched. When established, vermin will not touch them. 



Phloxes make a good third or fourth row in the rear of geraniums 

 and other bedders. The older and hardier kinds are superb shrub- 

 bery ornaments ; some of the pure whites, and rose and purple selis^ 

 make huge tufts if left alone for several years, and flower earlier than 

 the choicer kinds which are annually propagated. But for a fine 

 bloom fit for exhibition purposes, the system of annual propagation 

 should be followed, and a luxuriant growth should be promoted by 

 affording them abundance of food. 



Named phloxes are classed in two sections : the first bears more • 

 or less affinity to P. suffruticosa, which flowers in July and August ; 

 the second to P. decussata, which flowers in August, September,, and" 

 October. As may well be understood, many of the varieties partake^ 

 pretty equally of the characteristics of both sections. The selection^ 

 which follows is made to comprise an equal number of each section 5/ 

 but it may be well to add that the late-flowering varieties are those 

 which are in the highest repute. There is great sameness among 

 phloxes, yet in the selection here offered the most distinct kinds 

 only have been taken ; and though in many instances the brief 

 descriptions are the same, the varieties themselves differ sufficiently 



