320 beeck's new book of flowers. 



with white flowers ; plant the middle of May, and if the 

 scarlet and white varieties are mixed, the effect when in 

 flower will be very pleasing. 



PHLOX. 



[From a Greek word signifying^arne. The plant so named by the ancients is 

 supposed to have been a Lychnis.'^ 



" Your voiceless lips, O flowers, are living preachers,— 

 Each cup a pulpit, and each leaf a book, 

 Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers, 

 From lowliest nook ! " 



The genus is North American only, and is one of the 

 handsomest in cultivation. It comprises most elegant bor- 

 der-flowers, valuable for blooming from the first of May 

 to November, with an endless variety of colors. What 

 adds much to their value, is, that they are perfectly hardy, 

 requiring little or no protection in the winter, and are easy 

 to propagate. The only fault they have is tliat of spread- 

 ing too rapidly. The genus gives us both annual and per- 

 ennial sj^ecies; the perennials are vernal, early summer 

 and autumnal bloominc:. 



Phlox SUbulata.— Moss Pink. — This is found from New 

 York, to Michigan, southward. A British collector ex- 

 claimed on seeing a patch of this species in one of the pine 

 barrens of New Jersey, "the beauty of that alone is 

 worth coming to America to see, it is so splendid." Most 

 of the species delight in a rich sandy loam. When the 

 plants become large, they ought to be divided and planted 

 in fresh ground. There are varieties of P. suhxtlata with 

 pink, purple, white, and rosy-eyed flowers. The plant is 

 very dwarf, and has a solid mass of mossy, bristly, ever- 

 green foliage, sending up innumerable bunches of its del- 

 icate flowers, completely covering the whole. P. nivalis^ 

 is a beautiful variety of this, formerly in my collection, but 



