86 THE GARDEN, YOU, AND I 



decorative screen to the bulbs beneath, sucking the fierc- 

 est sun rays before they penetrate. 



Chief among the low-growing worthies comes the ver- 

 bena, good for bedding, good for cutting, and in some 

 of the mammoth varieties subtly fragrant. Verbenas 

 may be raised to advantage in a hotbed, but if the seed be 

 soaked overnight in warm water, it will germinate freely 

 out of doors in May and be a mass of bloom from July 

 until late October. For beds grouped around a sun- 

 dial or any other garden centre, the verbena has no peer ; 

 its trailing habit gives it grace, the flowers are borne 

 erect, yet it requires no staking and it is easily controlled 

 by pinching or pinning to the soil with stout hair- 

 pins. 



One little fragrant flower, fraught with meaning and 

 remembrance, belongs to the annuals, though its family 

 is much better known among the half-hardy perennials 

 that require winter protection here. This is the 

 gold and brown annual wall- flower, slender sister of 

 die gelbe violet, and having that same* subtle violet 

 odour in perfect degree. It cannot be called a decora- 

 tive plant, but it should have plenty of room given it in 

 the bed of sweet odours and be used as a border on the 

 sunny side of wall or fence, where, protected from the 

 wind and absorbing every ray of autumn sunlight, it 



