POPULAR HERBACEOUS PLANTS 169 



moisture are kept right the plants can be grandly grown under trees, 

 which do not branch too near the ground, or on the east and north 

 sides of buildings, fences, etc. Plate 11 gives a view of a tall phoenix 

 palm taken in December. This tree holds its umbrella-like top over 

 a circular bed of cinerarias of mixed colors which attracts the atten- 

 tion of all passers. In December the new self-sown seedlings are 

 coming on well and there is a scattering bloom on a few old plants 

 which does not deeply impress the camera. But from February until 

 June the bed will be gorgeous, and then there will be poorer bloom 

 until the old tops are cleared away in September. Soon after, new 

 growth will appear from the old roots and seedlings will spring up 

 freely as above described. The cineraria surely does like to be a 

 Californian. 



Clarkia. Clarkia is a Pacific Coast flower which seems almost to 

 be better known at a distance, where it has been encouraged into 

 variations, than at home, although it is popular in California espe- 

 cially in the southern part of the state. Its culture is very simple 

 and its bloom fine. It should be sown here in the autumn or at 

 intervals during the rainy season, instead of being held for spring 

 planting as at the East. Clarkias grow and bloom well in moist 

 soil, bearing flowers showy of peculiar form, freely and continually 

 produced. 



Columbine. Columbines are available in various heights and sev- 

 eral colors. They are easily grown if given partial shade and in good 

 situations have long life. Eastern and northern openings give them 

 superior summer activity and appearance, although in the coast 

 region they are very interesting and satisfactory in various exposures, 

 if not too far neglected. 



Cosmos. Cosmos is one of our grandest summer and autumn 

 flowers the frost-free period being long enough to enable it to 

 grow almost to the stature and form of a tree if given plenty of 

 moisture during the dry season. It is, however, a plant which must 

 be counted tender against frost, and is therefore grown from seed 

 sown under cover and transplanted. The improvement of Cosmos 

 is in part to be credited to California and it is interesting to read 

 what the late Mrs. Theodosia B. Shepherd of Ventura wrote some 

 years ago about the plant with which she worked very successfully: 



"To be thoroughly appreciated, cosmos should be grown in large 

 quantities, in masses, in groups, in lines, as single specimens, in 

 order that it may be seen in all its phases. A single specimen plant 

 often covers a space of 10 or 12 feet in diameter, and is adorned with 

 blossoms from the ground up. 



"If planted about the first of May, the plant grows very tall, and 

 the stems frequently measure an inch and a quarter in diameter, the 



