FOURTH WEEK IN MAY 



every garden, for they will grow even in a city if given good 

 loam and a fairly dry situation. Clumps of pinks, raised 

 with care from the borders in autumn, can be induced to 

 bloom early by slight forcing ; they are, however, apt to 

 become infested with aphides if kept too warm, and this 

 must be avoided. 



Campanulas in variety should be largely grown, for their 

 soft blue tints are delightfully cool in summer. Platycodon 

 mariesi, the Chinese balloon flower, is one of the finest 

 of these ; the better-known C. persicasfolia is in white as 

 well as blue, and there are double-flowered varieties, which 

 are distinct and handsome. C. latifolia produces fine spikes 

 of white flowers in August, and C. pyramidalis, the chimney 

 bell-flower, reaches the height of 6 feet under good cultiva- 

 tion. The dwarf campanulas are very suitable for a rock- 

 border, C. isophylla and C. garganica doing well in a window, 

 where they produce long trails of their lovely blue or white 

 flowers. Not being quite hardy, these two varieties seldom 

 survive our winter in the open air. 



The tall, red-hot poker flowers, kniphofias (syn. tritoma), 

 or torch lilies, are very ornamental towards the autumn, 

 when their brilliant scarlet and gold spikes are conspicuous 

 even at a distance ; they group well in front of a mass of 

 pampas grass, throwing up spikes from 2 to 6 feet in height. 

 One of the tallest is K. aloides nobilis, which has been 

 grown in rich soil to the height of 9 feet ; K. Tucki is 

 nearly as fine, in deep salmon-red ; and K. aloides Saundersi 

 is a fine tall plant, with brilliant fire-coloured flowers. 

 More dwarf varieties are K. aloides grandiflora, about 4 feet 

 in height ; K. corallina, a flower in coral-red ; and K. 

 macowani, in deep apricot ; they all enjoy a deep rich soil, 

 and should be well mulched with manure in spring yearly, 

 when they will form fine clumps in the course of a few years, 

 even in a town garden. 



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