8 4 



Commercial Gardening 



has been trenched and cleaned, or they may be returned to the same soil 

 after these operations have been performed. For market purposes Phloxes 

 are chiefly valuable for cut flowers during the summer months, but the 

 rootstocks also sell in spring. There are numerous varieties, but none sell 

 so well as the pure-white varieties. Some of the best of these are: Ava- 

 lanche, Purity, Sylphide, La Neige. There are several other whites, having, 



however, a pink, rose, 

 or purple eye, and 

 others again flushed 

 with rose, lilac, mauve, 

 purple, &c. There are 

 also varieties with 

 almost uniform colours 

 of pink, rose, carmine, 

 salmon, and scarlet, 

 but market growers 

 confine themselves to 

 one or two they fancy 

 most. A good trade, 

 however, is done by 

 nurserymen in most 

 of the garden Phloxes, 

 the plants being usu- 

 ally sold in small pots 

 at prices that would 

 make the market 

 grower's eyes glisten. 

 Besides the garden 

 Phloxes of the decus- 

 sata and suffruticosa 

 sections a limited 

 trade is done in plants 

 for borders and rock 

 gardens, some of the 

 most popular kinds 

 being: amosna, 6-9 in., 



purple, pink, white; canadensis, bluish grey, white; divaricata, 1 ft., soft 

 blue, with a white variety; ovata, rose; procumbens, grey blue; reptans, 

 rose purple or violet: stellaria, white; subulata, pinkish purple, with 

 several varieties, including one called setacea., and another lilacina, mauve. 

 Phormium tenax (NEW ZEALAND FLAX). An ornamental plant 3-8 ft. 

 high, with broad sword-like leaves which in some varieties assume tints 

 of red and purple, while another is striped with creamy white and yellow. 

 It is hardy in the milder parts of the kingdom, and is used for subtropical 

 effects. A rich, loamy soil is best, and propagation is effected by division, 

 and also by seeds when obtainable. 



Fig. 236. Garden Phlox 



