1878.] TRANSACTIONS. 27 



after day for weeks, and it is well worth cultivation. Cerulea is quite 

 similar, except the flowers are smaller, light blue, and the foliage a deep 

 green. There is a variegated variety (Marginata) with mauve colored 

 blossoms. All are perfectly hardy, and do not require the slightest pro- 

 protection. Candidum blooming in June, Longiflorum in July and the 

 Japanese in August, are the most common with us ; these are all hardy, 

 with the exception of Auratum and Longiflorum, which should have a 

 dressing of leaves or coarse manure. There is an almost endless variety 

 of hardy lilies, which will thrive in the same soil with precisely the same 

 treatment. I wish some one in this vicinity could produce the wonderful 

 bloom of the Auratum lily, which was brought from somewhere on Cape 

 Cod, and exhibited in Boston, at Horticultural Hall, in 1876. It stood 

 higher than any man in the hall, and had, I can't remember just how 

 many blossoms, but I think more than one hundred and twenty buds and 

 blossoms. 1 asked the man who exhibited it how long a time he had 

 grown it, and he said that was the third time it had blossomed. 



The Pink stands high in my estimation. The hardy pinks (those that 

 we call the old fashioned pinks) we all know are easily grown. The Di- 

 anthus is one of our most valuable annuals. The old Chinese have 

 been carefully hybridized with Heddewegiiand other fine varieties, there- 

 by producing many new and splendid varieties. Seeds planted in the 

 spring, in good soil, produce plants which bloom during the summer and 

 autumn even after hard frosts, and if care is taken to give a slight pro- 

 tection, they make strong plants for the next year, and, indeed, for a 

 number of years. Dianthus Baibatus (Sweet William) is growing in 

 favor, and as it is perfectly hardy, blooms freely and in exceedingly 

 rich and beautiful colors, give it a little space and you will not be sorry. 

 Carnation pinks "arc almost hardy and need only a few leaves thrown 

 over them to insure a profuse and beautiful bloom in summer. 



The Petunia is almost invaluable in the garden. Blooming when quite 

 small, and continuing to bloom late iu the autumn, it is no wonder it is a 

 general favorite. I am speaking more especially of the single varieties, 

 striped, blotched, mottled, fringed, small and large, light and dark ; often 

 coming up year after year and bloom"ng profusely in the blazing sun. 

 One paper of seeds will produce hundreds of plants. The double varieties 

 come more properly under the head of bedding plants, and are not alto- 

 gether a success grown as annuals. 



The Aquilegia is in high favor at the present time, and one reason is, 

 it has, in a measure, been allowed to die out, but it has been found that 

 no flower can take its place, and I find that this is a growing feeling 

 among the people ; old plants have been thrown away to make way for 

 new ones, and finding them almost worthless they go back to the old tried 

 friends of their early days. I say no flower can take its place, for this 

 reason : all of the Aquilegias, as far as I know, are natives of cold cli- 



