58 SUMMER AND AUTUMN FLOWERS [CH. 



been much improved of late by careful selection. The 

 self-coloured dwarf double crimson is beautiful ; it is a 

 vigorous grower, and forms a strong tuft. Seed sown in 

 April and planted out in Autumn will make a perfect bed 

 the following summer. 



Delphinium (Larkspur) includes a great many species 

 ranging in shade from white to nearly crimson, from 

 lavender to dark blue. Perennial Larkspurs are hardy, 

 and will grow in any soil. They should be divided and 

 replanted every three or four years in spring-time. They 

 will bloom for months in succession if the spikes are cut 

 away immediately after flowering. From really good 

 seed a great variety of beautiful sorts may be obtained. 

 Nudicaule^ orange-scarlet, is best treated as a biennial. 

 It will produce its brilliant flowers the second year after 

 sowing. Some of the annuals Rocket and Hyacinth 

 flowered should be sown in September, and again in 

 March, in the place where they are to bloom. 



Dielytra spectabilis (Bleeding Heart), now more 

 properly called Dicentra, belongs to the Fumitory order ; 

 a very elegant plant easily grown in good soil. It bears 

 pseony-like leaves and drooping spikes of heart-shaped 

 pink flowers in May. 



Digitalis (Foxglove) is a grand border flower, with 

 great variety of colour. Some of the large blooms are 

 marked and coloured like a gloxinia, and most fitly one 

 of the best sorts is r\a.mtdgloxinioides. 



