GLOXINIA HYBRID A ERECT A. 



65 



habit, they make either a splendid back- 

 gfround or centre plants as the case may re- 

 quire. The merits of this variety of the 

 rudbeckias is too well known to need any 

 further comment from me. A plant of 

 Phalaris A. var. (ribbon grass) looks very 

 pretty in a mixed border and is useful for cut- 



ting. 



Annuals often prove disappointing- 



as the young seedlings are perhaps either 

 burnt up by the sun if not watered carefully, 

 or if over-watered they suffer from damping- 

 ofF. One of the easiest, and perhaps one as 

 pretty as any of the many fine annuals under 

 cultivation is the well-known but little seen 

 larkspur (Delphinium). Its erect spikes of 

 flowers so freely produced in almost all 

 shades and colors can be found on the plants 

 from early summer until winter frosts, and 

 its habit of self-sowing and producing self- 

 sown plants the following season, makes 

 this a very desirable annual for the mixed- 

 border. A packet of mixed colors of Sem- 

 ple's branching aster will give the best 

 results — for the least possible labor be- 

 stowed — amongst the aster family. 



A packet each of zinnia, marigold, candy- 

 tuft, phlox drummondii, sweet alyssum, 

 scabiosa, salpiglossis, balsam, mignonette 



(machet), antirrhinum, cosmos, ten week 

 stock, centaurea imperialis (corn flower), 

 sweet peas, and a few castor oil beans 

 (ricinus), and nasturtium seeds will make a 

 large enough collection of annuals for a 

 good-sized border or bed. If there is one 

 other flower that ought really to be added 

 to this list and that does not belong to the 

 perennial, biennial or annual classes of 

 plants, it is the gladiolius. There is no 

 summer-flowering bulb or plant that will 

 give more satisfaction for the expense and 

 care bestowed on them than will a few glad- 

 iolus bulbs. So many new and beautiful 

 hybrid varieties of these can now be ob- 

 tained, that no flower garden should be 

 without a few of their gorgeous spikes of 

 flowers from July until October. If the list 

 of annuals give i above is too large, the 

 candytuft, alyssum, balsam and phlox could 

 be struck out. 



I will endeavor to give a few hints in the 

 March issue of journal on the soil, prepara- 

 tion of border, etc., necessary for the suc- 

 cessful culture of perennial and annual 

 flowering plants. 



W. Hunt. 



Hamilton. 



GLOXINIA HYBRIDA ERECTA. 



'HE Gloxinia belongs to a genus of 

 Gesnorworts, distinguished by its 

 corolla approaching to bell-shaped, 

 with the border oblique, the upper lip short- 

 est and two-lobed, the lower three-lobed 

 with the middle lobe largest ; and also by 

 the summit of the style being rounded and 

 hollowed. The name was given in honor of 

 Gloxin, a botanical author of the seventeenth 

 century. 



They are natives of tropical America, 

 and have opposite stalked leaves of rather 

 thick texture, and auxiliary flowers, usually 

 single or a few together, large, the old style 



nodding, and of various colors, sometimes 

 variegated with spots. 



They are among the greatest orna- 

 ments of our greenhouses, the richly colored 

 leaves, and their ample graceful, and deli- 

 cately-tinted flowers, have gained for them 

 a prominent place among introduced plants. 

 They are fit companions for the beautiful 

 Cyclamen, and should be placed side by side 

 in window gardening. 



Here, as in many other instances, the 

 process of hybridising has been resorted to 

 with the best results, the older kinds with 

 drooping flowers, have oi late given place 



