8 May, 1907.] Garden Notes. 289 



kind is valuable for decoTation of .mixed groups or for lifdding purposes. 

 The flowers do nnt last long on the bushes, l:)ut the ealvx. which is about 

 half an inch in length, is also bright scarlet, and Lasts for a considerable 

 time. There are several other shrubby kinds that are worthv of a place 

 in the garden, being free blooming plants, and nf easy culture. The 

 common sage, 6'. officinalis, is a member' of this genus, and is not more 

 hardv than se\eral varieties grown for their flowers. 



Culture — Propagation — Varieties. 



^lost of the salvias will grow into nice bushes from 3 to 5 feet 

 in height, and flower well in any fair garden soil. " Bonfire " mav be 

 seen growing in the public gaaxlens and nurseries in anv j)art of the metro- 

 politan district, thriving splendidly in the most widely dift'erent soils. If 

 llie plants are given a fair amount of water during the summer, and are 

 .sheltered from devastating winds, thev will grow practically anywhere. 



S. patens requires a cooler soil and more shaded position to attain per- 

 fection than other kinds. It is one of the mO'St beautiful of the genus, pro- 

 ducing spikes of bright blue flowers. This variety is tuberous-rooting and 

 is propagated bv divisions of the tuberous roots in spring, or from cuttings 

 of the young shoots in a hot hO'Use or hot bed frame. It iiroduces seed 

 freelv and young plants raised in spring in pots or lioxes of soil placed 

 in a cold frame will bloom during autumn. 



6*. azurea produces flowers of a pale blue colour, and will thrive under 

 ordinary border treatment in almost anv kind of soil. The habit of growth 

 is loose and straggling, the plants requiring to be staked and trained as 

 growth advances. Propagation is effected bv di\isions of the crowns in. 

 spring, the plants producing sucker-like growths like a chrysanthemum. 



In' many gardens salvias " Bonfire"' and " Gloire de Studgardt " are 

 treated as annuals, young plants being raised each season from seeds. 

 The plants seed freely during summer, and this method is undoubtedly the 

 easiest. Seed should be sown for early planting in heated frames, for 

 later in cold frames. The plants are cut down bv frost in winter unless 

 protected. In the various metropolitan plant nurseries, thousands of 

 young plants are propagated each spring from cuttings taken from plants 

 that have been grown in glass houses during the winter months. The 

 plants are watered sparingly during winter, and are placed in heat and 

 started intO' growth early in spring. Cuttings of the voung growths about 

 1 inches long are inserted in sandy .soil and root readily, after which they 

 are potted and kept growing, and gradualK' hardened preparatory to being 

 planted out in October and November. Such plants will bloom early m 

 summer, successive plantings till early in January ensuring an abundance 

 of bright flowers until winter. In places where frost is not severe the old 

 plants will survive and break into growth near the base in spring. They 

 mav be pruned back to the young growths, and will make large plants 

 during the summer, Ijut on the whole, young plants each season, whether 

 from seeds or cuttings, are more satisfactory. Other shrubby kinds worthy 

 of culture are: — Bethelli, bright rosy pink flowers, tipped with whiter 

 Bruanti, scarlet; Hoveyi, dark purplish blue; Grahami purpurea, purplish 

 crimson ; Rutilans, majenta ; and splendens, scarlet. These are evergreen 

 shrubs that may l)e ])ro]iagated from cuttings inserted in sandy soil iu 

 autumn. 



45.30. K 



