33O GARDEN FLOWERS. 



grow freely in any moderately good soil, the best being a 

 light loam with a third of rotted dung. The greenhouse 

 kinds do well planted out in May, and potted again in 

 September, and are better propagated annually by cut- 

 tings in July or August. The herbaceous sorts, or half- 

 shrubby hardy perennials, do very well in the ordinary soil 

 of the garden,. and multiply by parting the roots, or by strik- 

 ing the young shoots. The raising from seed is very sim- 

 ple. The seed has to be sown in March, in wide-mouthed 

 pots ; the seedlings pricked out early, a few in a pot, to grow 

 into strength, and planted out in May if they are hardy or 

 half-hardy, or potted if they are tender. Even the tender 

 ones may be planted out, so that they are potted early in 

 September, and put into frames or greenhouses, or any other 

 contrivance, to prevent the frost from injuring them. The 

 stove varieties are not worth notice, and the others may all 

 safely be treated like Geraniums, Verbenas, and other plants 

 for bedding out. S. patens -is a fleshy rooted plant, requir- 

 ing to be kept dry in winter like a Dahlia root. 



S. azurea (azure) ; hardy perennial ; 5 feet ; flowers blue, in 

 August; North America; 1806. S. chamcedryoides (german- 

 der-leaved) ; half-hardy shrub ; 18 inches ; flowers blue, in 

 June; Mexico; 1795. S. confertiflora (crowded) ; stove shrub; 

 5 feet; flowers orange-red, in September; Brazil; 1838. S. 

 fulgens (brilliant) ; greenhouse shrub ; 5 feet ; flowers scarlet, 

 in July ; Mexico ; 1829. S. gesneriflora (gesneria-flowered) ; 

 stove shrub ; 3 feet ; flowers scarlet, in winter ; 1*836. S. ghiti- 

 nosa (glutinous) ; hardy perennial ; 3 feet ; flowers yellow, in 

 June; Germany; 1769. S. Grahamii (Graham's); half-hardy 

 shrub; 4 feet; flowers purple or rose, in July ; Mexico; 1829. 

 S. Mans (gaping) ; hardy perennial ; 3 feet ; flowers blue and 

 white, in June ; Cashmere ; 1839. S. Horminum (Clary) ; har- 

 dy annual ; 18 inches ; flowers purple, in June ; south of Eu- 

 rope ; 1596. One variety is red-topped, another purple-topped. 



