On the Cultivation of Annuals. 133 



ed to be kept in pots, be turned out into the flower border. Tlie 

 shoots may either be allowed to trail on the ground, or trained np 

 to a trellis or stake. The latter method we prefer, as we think 

 the flowers show to much better advantage, and are not liable to be 

 soiled. When they are not trained up, the heavy rains dash the 

 soil over their delicate white flowers, and destroy their beauty. The 

 plants will flower until killed by frost. If one or two are preserved 

 in pots, they will bloom well in the parlor or green-house until mid- 

 winter, and if protected till spring, will resume their growth, and 

 continue to display their flowers all summer. 



There are now three varieties. Petunia nyctaginiflora, phoenicea 

 and Willmoreana. The phoenicea is very beautiful, being of a deep 

 rich purple. Botanists have been divided as to the proper genus to 

 which it belongs, and the following names have been given to it by 

 Dr. Hooker and others : — Salpi^iossis integrifolia. Petunia violacea, 

 and Nierembergia phoenicea. Mr. David Don has, however, satis- 

 fied botanists, that it belongs to the genus Petunia, and it is now 

 known under the specific name phoenicea. 



Canna indica (Indian shot). The plants of this showy genus 

 are principally natives of the tropics. The indica and lutea are, 

 however, easily cultivated in our gardens. We had them in full 

 bloom last season, during the months of August and September. 

 The seeds were sown in pots in the hot-bed, and the young plants 

 removed singly into small pots in rich soil, and placed in the hot- 

 bed until June. They were then turned out into the ground, where 

 they flowered finely — throwing up their scarlet and yellow spikes of 

 flowers, to the length of fifteen or twenty inches. 



Mesembnjanthemum cordifoUum (Ice plant). The seeds of this 

 singular plant should be planted in pots in light sandy soil, and the 

 pots placed in a hot-bed. When the young seedlings are sufficiently 

 large, they should be potted into snjall pots, in the same kind of soil 

 in which the seeds were sown. As soon as the roots fill the pots, 

 they should be removed to a larger size. This should be performed 

 as often as required. The plants look much better in pots than in 

 the flower border ; and although we have grown them both ways, 

 we prefer the former. They are highly ornamental, and contrast 

 very prettily with other annuals. 



Ipomoea quamocJit (Cypress vine). This exquisitely beautiful an- 

 nual climber we consider as one of the most ornamental plants, which 

 decorate the flower garden. Its elegant crimson, star-shaped flowers, 

 intermingled with its fine, delicate, and deep green foliage, presents 

 a mass of beauty not to be found in any other plant among the whole 

 list of climbers. There is a white variety much valued, and which 

 is not so common as the scarlet. We have cultivated both varieties, 

 and growing and twining together, they have a fine eflcct ; but we 

 prefer, when planted singly, the crimson, to the white. The seeds 

 are rather difficult of vegetation, and often fail, from want of prepa- 



