THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



207 



most skillful pansy-grower in Great 

 Britain. 



The Portulaca can not brook the 

 shade, nor smile when the cool air of 

 evening comes on. It revels in the 

 full noontide heat, laughs in the face of 

 the blazing sun, and asks »mly for clear 

 skies and brightest sunshine. The 

 weather is never too dry and the sun 

 too hot for its comfort. It must have 

 a sandy soil to be satisfied, for it will 

 not tlirivc in clay or muck. The seed 

 may be sown in the spring after the 

 weather has become warm enough to 

 give some warmth to the ground, and 

 {18 the weather grows hotter the plants 

 will grow faster, and soon cover the bed 

 with their gay flowers, which are both 

 single and double, and rosy purple, 

 crimson, yellow or rose in color. 



The Salpi'jlossis is better shewn in 

 our colored illustration than by any 

 word picture we can give. The rich 

 and varied coloiing of the flowers 

 make them very attractive. The plants 

 thrive best in a rich sandy soil. The 

 seeds may be sown in the spring after 

 the weather has become settled, or if 

 it be desired to have flowers all sum- 

 mer, then sow in pots or small boxes 

 in the house or cold-frame, and trans- 

 plant when danger of frost is passed. 

 We say sow the seed in pots or small 

 boxes because then the ball of earth can 

 be taken out without breaking ; for the 

 salpiglossis does not transplant readily, 

 and it is important that the roots 

 should be disturbed as little as possible. 



The Drummond Phlox is the rival of 

 the verbena for constant display and 

 splendid color ; in most gardens it will 



prove even more satisfactory. There 

 is every shade of color, ranging from 

 pure white to darkest crimson. The 

 seed may be sown late in the fall, just 

 before the ground freezes, or early in 

 spring as soon as it can be worked. The 

 plants will begin to flower early in 

 June, and continue to grow and flower 

 during the summer and autumn. They 

 will thrive in any rich friable soil, in 

 the open sunshine rather than in the 

 shade. Very beautiful efiects can W 

 produced by planting diflferent colors in 

 bi-oad ribbons, such as scarlet, white 

 and rose. The contrast is very pleas- 

 ing and will well repay the trouble.. A 

 paper of mixed colors of the very best 

 varieties, procured from one of the most 

 eminent growers in Prussia, will be 

 mailed with the papers of Pansy, and 

 Aster seed to those subscribers who- 

 choose the flower seeds. 



The foregoing are a few out of many 

 beautiful annuals that will not fail t^> 

 please every true lover of flowers. It 

 is the aim and purpose of the maga- 

 zine to disseminate a taste for flowers> 

 by teaching how they may be grown,, 

 and pointing out those varieties that 

 can be successfully cultivated with no 

 other skill than that born of a deter- 

 mination to succeed. The late James. 

 Vick said that the cultivation of flow- 

 ers is one of the few pleasures that im- 

 proves alike the mind and the heart 

 and makes the lover of these beautiful 

 creations of infinite love wi.s('r and 

 purer and nobler. Another has saidi 

 that what is in our garden is typical of 

 what is in us ; if we have tjiste, refine* 

 ment, a love for the beautiful ami good;. 



