92 VILLA GARDENING part I 



quickly in the open border, or they may be sown in the frame and 

 transi:)lanted when large enough. 



The Columbines are nice for cutting, and in a cool house in pots 

 they flower early ; the hybrid forms are very pretty. All the 

 Asters or Starworts are useful for cutting, and they come at a 

 season when flowers are becoming scarce ; the same may be said 

 of the autiunn Anemones or Japan Windflowers. The Canter- 

 bury Bells are delightful for filling large vases in the hall, and 

 these, too, are easily raised from seeds ; they are biennials, and 

 should be sown in April for flowering the following year. There 

 are also the Delphiniums, the Pyrethrums, the double scarlet 

 Geum, all the Irises, and the Everlasting Peas (Lathyrus). What 

 grand things the P?eonies are for eff'ect in a large vase, in a 

 corridor or hall, mixed with plenty of foliage ! Indeed, in making 

 a large provision for cut blossoms, foliage must not be neglected. 

 Cut sjjikes of the old white Lily (candidum), looking out of a base 

 of green leaves, have a splendid ajipcarance. The Spiraeas and 

 Veronicas are useful for this piu-pose, as are also the Poppies, both 

 perennial and annual forms. 



The perennial Sunflowers, especially the double form of Helian- 

 thus nndtiflonis, the Phloxes, Rudbeckias, Funkias, Senecios, 

 Statices, Coreopsis, Gypsophilas, and the spotted Foxgloves, are 

 all valuable, when cut, for some of the various purposes for which 

 cut flowers are now employed. Then the Dianthus family are a 

 host in themselves ; the Carnation, Picotee, Pink, and Sweet 

 AVilliam are indispensable. The blossoms of Pentstemon and 

 Antirrhinum, though lacking fragrance, are not without value as 

 cut flowers. The Grasses, both the flowers and foliage, add a 

 grace and charm to bouquet and vase which nothing else can give. 

 All plants which produce handsome foliage should have at least some 

 of the leaves cut to mix with the flowers in setting them up. 

 Though there is still nuich room for improvement, yet cut flowers 

 are arranged in a better and more natural manner than was 

 common only a few years ago. With many people the great aim 

 apparently was to get as much into the vases as possible, instead of 

 showing every flower ofi" to the best advantage. How unhappy it 

 makes one feel to see a lot of beautifid flowers (Nature's sweetest 

 productions) tied up in a bundle and thrust into a vessel of water, 

 with their crushed and damaged blossoms all too conspicuous ! It 

 is impossible for any person of taste to enjoy flowers treated in 

 this way. Half a dozen sprays of blossom, in two or three 

 varieties, looking out from amid a mass of greenery, will be more 

 efiiective, and give more real pleasure, than when overcrowded — be 

 the flowers ever so costly or rare. A good collection of hardy 



