THE GARDEN WEEK BY WEEK 



May is essential if particular varieties are to be kept true. 



10-31 But mixed strains can be raised from seed in winter, 

 like Snapdragons, and flowered the same year. A bed 

 of Pentstemons with a broad band of dwarf Asters is 

 delightful in late summer and early autumn. Petunias 

 are old favourites, and reference has already been made 

 to raising them from seed in late winter or spring. 

 Pyrethrum Aureum, the Golden Feather, used to be 

 grown very extensively in the days when carpet-bedding 

 enjoyed favour, but one does not see much of it now. 

 Its yellow leaves need regular cropping with finger and 

 thumb to keep it dwarf. The Salpiglossis is one of the 

 most beautiful of half-hardy annuals. Raised from seed 

 in winter or spring, like Asters and Stocks, it produces 

 tall, loose, arching spikes, studded with brilliant urns. 

 It is charming when lightly mixed in beds of Asters. 

 The Ten-week Stocks make charming and fragrant beds, 

 but are perhaps more largely used for forming broad 

 bands to beds or borders. Tagates Signata Pumila, or 

 the variety Golden Ring, may be pressed into service as 

 a plant for margins. The growth is dense, and the small 

 yellow flowers are produced in great abundance. If 

 raised from seed with Asters and Stocks, it will flower 

 all the summer. Verbenas make delightful beds, and, 

 as we have seen, seedling plants raised in winter flower 

 profusely the same summer. If the plants tend to 

 become straggly, the shoots may be pegged down. Ver- 

 benas thrive in most soils. Their revival has brought 

 several beautiful named varieties into being, among 

 which Miss Ellen Willmott (pink) and Warley Scarlet 

 are two of the best. These have large flowers of most 

 brilliant colour, and are grand bedding plants. One 

 occasionally sees the Lemon-scented Verbena (Aloysia, 

 or Lippia, Citriodora) used as a bedding plant. It is 

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