VARIETIES FROM SEED. 87 



flowering plant, presenting a great diversity of coloring, 

 is easily raised from seed in the hot-bed. The Antirrhin- 

 ums may be planted out in this latitude in May, and 

 flower from middle of June throughout the summer. 



Cob*ea Scandens. A climbing plant, which will attain, 

 from seed, a growth of twenty or thirty feet in one 

 season. The flowers are bell-shaped ; purple ; 3 inches in 

 length by T^-inch in breadth. The seeds are thin and 

 flat, and should be placed on edge when sown. 



Colons, This famous ornamental-leaved plant is easily 

 raised from seed, and breaks into endless varieties. It is 

 exceedingly tender, however, and had better not be sown 

 before May, nor planted out before June. 



Zonal Geraniums are, perhaps, the most valuable of all 

 plants for summer-blooming in our climate. They are 

 easily raised from seed, and will well reward the amateur 

 by the endless variety produced. A few years ago the 

 only colors of these were scarlet and pink. Now we 

 have them of every shade, from white to crimson, with 

 endless tints of scarlet and rose. The Zonal Geraniums 

 may be lifted and potted in the fall, and if well pruned in 

 when lifted will bloom finely in winter. 



Lantana is another plant easily raised from seed; the 

 flower resembles somewhat the Verbena, but has, besides 

 many of the colors found in the Verbena, orange and 

 yellow, which are not found' in that flower. 



Lobelias, Dwarf plants, well suited for hanging- 

 baskets, or for ribbon-lining. The flowers range from 

 white to blue. The blue of the Lobelia is often of the 

 richest azure, unsurpassed by that of any other plant. 



Pansy, or Heart's-ease. The usual mode with the flor- 

 ists is to sow the seeds of Pansy in the fall, so that the 

 plants may be large enough to be in bloom when he sells 

 in May. In this condition it will flower, perhaps only to 

 the middle of June, for by thus being prematurely forced 



