370 THE GARDENER. [Aug. 



structed of cast iron, is considered more durable in every respect than 

 if formed of wrought iron ; and being in sections, it may be passed 

 through any doorway that is 18 inches in width. 



NOTES ON SOME FLOWERS AND GRASSES SUITABLE 

 FOR DRYING. 



Possibly some of the readers of the ' Gardener ' who do not possess a 

 stove or other heated structure in which to grow flowers all the year 

 round, find it at times very difficult to obtain them for the decoration 

 of the dinner-table and other purposes of house ornamentation. To 

 those so situated I would recommend the following flowers and grasses, 

 all of which come under the general head of Everlastings, as suitable 

 for drying, and so capable of being turned to account when fresh 

 flowers may not be obtainable. 



Of these the Helichrysums are a most interesting class of plants. 

 They are easily cultivated, and, if the flowers be cut before the disc 

 becomes fully expanded, will retain their colour for upwards of two 

 years. Rhodanthe manglesii and some of its varieties are also well 

 worth growing for the same purpose, but they require a warm situa- 

 tion. Ammobium alatum is another, and, as its generic name indi- 

 cates, will thrive in a poor sandy soil. Waitzia, or Morna, grandinora, 

 I may mention, requires the protection of glass, unless in the more 

 southern counties of England, where it may be planted out of doors 

 after the middle of June. The Apholexis is allied to the Helichrysum ; 

 all of them are greenhouse evergreen shrubs, but they are not one and 

 all hardy. The Statices are a numerous class, and so useful that they 

 must be included in this list. Several kinds of Gnaphalium, together 

 with the varieties of Gomphrena globosa, or the Globe amaranth, 

 are more or less pretty, especially the latter, and well deserving 

 more extended cultivation. Humea elegans is not by any means 

 to be despised. When dried, its bronzy-red spikes show to great 

 advantage, when other things of the same character are not so plenti- 

 ful. The Xeranthemum is a true Everlasting ; the flowers, after being 

 dried, may be, and are, dyed of any colour, and it can be grown from 

 seeds sown in the open border. Accroclinium roseum must also be 

 in this list. Many others might be named, but these are sufficient for 

 the purpose at present. 



In the way of grasses, as suitable for use with the above-mentioned, 

 the following will be found to afford much satisfaction to those who 

 have not hitherto grown them, and are not well acquainted with this 



