PLANTS FOR EDGINGS 253 



from the best kinds will produce some inferior plants, so it 

 is well to plant three or four together. When they show 

 their color, all but the best one may be removed or cut off. 

 A, tricolor is the well-known "Joseph's Coat." The leaves are 

 red, yellow and green. Height, 3 feet. A. caudatus grows 

 to a similar height, is of drooping habit and has fine red 

 foliage. A. salicifolius is of drooping habit, and from its 

 graceful appearance has received the name of the "Fountain 

 Plant." It attains a height of 4 feet. 



ARALIA, Hh. P. A. Sieboldii, or Fatsia Japonica as it is some- 

 times called, and the variety variegata, have large palm-like, 

 leaves and a rather tropical appearance. Height 3 feet. Sow 

 in February, in shallow trays and light soil, in a temperature 

 of 65. Continue the temperature. When two or three leaves 

 have formed, transplant into other trays 1 inch apart. Sprinkle 

 them with a fine rose or spray; and do not allow them to 

 suffer for water. Later, transfer them to small pots and 

 repot them as they grow. Plant out in beds after the weather 

 has become warm and settled. 



CANNAS, T. P. These are well known and are among the most 

 ornamental and important plants used in decorative garden- 

 ing. They make fine herbaceous hedges, groups, masses, 

 and when desirable good center plants for beds. They grow 

 from 3 to 10 feet or more high. Formerly they were valued 

 chiefly for their magnificent foliage, but since the intro- 

 duction, in 1884, of the Crozy Dwarf French type with their 

 splendid flowers, cannas are grown as much for their flowers 

 as for their foliage effects. The flowers of these new kinds 

 are as large as those of gladioli, and are of various shades 

 of yellow and red, with banded and spotted forms. These 

 grow about 3 feet high. The older forms are taller. In both 

 sections there are green-leaved and dark coppery-red-leaved 

 varieties. It requires two years to raise strong plants of 

 the canna from seed. The seeds are bullet-like and hard. 

 File a small notch through the coat of each seed avoiding 

 the round germinating point. Sow in light, sandy soil where 

 the earth may be kept at 70 till after germination. After 

 the plants have got well up, transplant them to about 

 3 or 4 inches apart, or place in pots three inches 

 wide, in good rich soil. They may now be kept at 60, 



