108 The Flower Garden [Chapter 



if protected with a little rough litter and hilled to 

 shed water. 



There are several that may be treated as hardy 

 annuals, and various tender perennials that must 

 be kept in the house or greenhouse during winter. 

 Among the first are Africanus, a large cream- 

 coloured, brown-eyed variety; it is low-growing and 

 effective in front of the tall, crimson-eyed sort, 

 which with age attains a height of six or more 

 feet. 



Giant Yellow is a beautiful canary yellow with 

 crimson throat, hardy as far north as St. Louis, 

 but safer in the cellar above that latitude, and Coc- 

 cinea, a tender perennial of a brilliant crimson. If 

 started early all will give flowers the first season from 

 seed, which may be sown in hotbeds or flats in Feb- 

 ruary or March in drills one-fourth inch deep. They 

 germinate in from five to seven days. Plant out in 

 good garden soil at corn-planting time, setting the 

 hardy varieties where they are to remain, as they do 

 not bear transplanting well when they have attained 

 any considerable size. Cultivate during the hot 

 weather or mulch. A two-quart tin can, with holes 

 on one side near the bottom, may be sunk in the 

 ground and filled with water. This with the mulch 

 will keep the earth cool and moist during the hottest 

 weather. The plant is an herbaceous perennial, dying 

 down to the ground in winter and coming up from 

 the roots the following spring rather late in May. 



