350 ANNUALS. 



injury throngli the ■winter, and the plants appear in it on the 



return of hot weather. 



The Eocket Larkspur. — ^There are two varieties, the tall 

 and the dwarf. The dwarf-growing variety, known hy seedsmen 

 as Delpliinium Ajacis Hyacinthiflorum, produces the most showy 

 flowers and most compact spikes. The flowers are of various 

 shades of hlue, pink, and white, and all these colors most 

 strangely blended. 



The seed should be sown in good friable soil in the fall, just 

 before winter, where the plants are to remain. If they come up 

 too thick they may be thinned out to about six inches apart. If 

 the seed be not sown in the fall, it should be put in as early in 

 the spring as possible, and sown where the plants are to remain. 

 "We have never succeeded in producing as fine a bloom when the 

 plants were transplanted. If it must be done, they should be 

 pricked out when quite smaU. A fine bed of these is a most 

 beautifiJ sight, rivalling a bed of Hyacinths in everything except 

 fragrance. 



There is a new, dwarf, branching Larkspur, styled the 

 Candelabra-flowered. It is very favorably noticed in the Horti- 

 cultural magazines, but we have not yet flowered it. 



The Scabious or Mourning Bride, — This probably received 

 its name from the very dark color of some of the flowers, just 

 relieved by a lacing of white. The seed may be sown in the open 

 border very early in spring. The plants wiU do well in any 

 good garden soil. The Double Dwarf is the most desirable 

 variety. The flowers are of many colors, produced in great pro- 

 fusion, and continuing until after severe frosts. 



The Salpiglossis. — This beautiful plant seems to bo but 

 little known, so seldom is it seen in our flower gardens. Yet 

 those who have once had a bed well filled with its rich and 

 varied colors, will not willingly be without it afterward. The 

 flowers are of the richest velvet-like texture, beautifully pencilled, 

 and of scarlet, blue, purple, and yellow shades. The plants 

 thrive best in a sandy loam. The seed may be sown in the open 



