256 FLOWER GARDEN. 



flora ; Dahlias of many sorts ; Astelbe rivularis ; Phlox elegans ; Campa. 

 nula lactiflora ; Gladiolus Gandavensis ; Achillea Ptarmica, fl. plen ; Aster 

 diffusus, floribundus, foliosus, paniculatus, and spectabilis ; Chelone obliqua ; 

 Coreopsis verticillata ; Eupatorium purpureum ; Helianthus giganteus and 

 macrophyllus ; Liatris, scariosa, spicata, macrostachya, and pyenostachya ; 

 Serratula coronata and centauroides. 



It is with regret that we thus confine ourselves to a dry list of border 

 flowers ; but to classify and characterize them with anything like jus- 

 tice would require many pages. Within the last few years great acces- 

 sions of desirable plants have been made to our stores. The Lupines and 

 Pentstemons from Columbia Kiver, the Verbenas and Calceolarias from 

 South America, and the Potentillas and Geraniums from Nepal, have in a 

 great measure changed the face of our flower gardens. While our riches 

 have multiplied, the difficulty as well as the necessity, of making a selection 

 has also increased. 



Most herbaceous perennial plants are propagated by parting the roots, or 

 by cuttings ; but some more conveniently by the sowing of seed. 



Biennial Plants. — Plants whose existence is limited to two years, in the 

 latter of which they flower and then decay, are called biennials. Many of 

 them possess considerable beauty ; and by their easy propagation, and rapid 

 growth, they afford a ready means of decorating borders. The following 

 may be considered most worthy of notice : Agrostemma coronaria ; Antir- 

 rhinum majus ; Hedysarum coronarium ; Lunaria biennis ; Campanula 

 media ; Oenothera sinuata, biennis ; Verbascum formosum, Althaea grandi- 

 flora, Scabiosa atro-purpurea, Mathiola simplicicaulis, Digitalis purpurea, 

 var. monstrosa or campanulata, Erysimum Perowfskianum. Oenothera 

 Drummondii ; Iberis Tenoriana ; Althaea grandiflora ; Linaria tristis ; Ma- 

 thiola incana ; Cheiranthus fruiticulosus, with double flowers ; Lunaria 

 biennis, or moonwort, the large silvery silicles of which are more ornamental 

 than its flowers ; Frasera carolinensis ; Ammobium alatum • Anchusa 

 italica ; Erytholasna conspicua ; French Honeysuckle. When a very de- 

 sirable variety of any plant is procured, such as the striped Antirrhinum 

 magus, or double varieties of Wall-flower, Sweet William, or Mule Pinks, 

 attention should be paid to the striking or cuttings during the summer, as 

 the only sure means of continuance. 



Biennials are sown in beds in the end of spring, and are generally trans- 

 planted in the course of the autumn into the places where they are intended 

 to stand, that they may be confirmed before winter, and shoot up readily 

 into flower in the following summer. \ 



Annual Plants. — Many of the annual species, though of fugitive duration, 

 are possessed of much beauty of hue and elegance of form. They are fur- 



