VARIETY IN ANNUAL FLOWERS 39 



nual stocks with their handsome leaves of gray; of that fine 

 perennial Eeuchera, with its dark rounded i\'y-like leaves that 

 hug the ground so closely, and from which rise in June such 

 fascinating coral-colored flowers. 



In a border of annuals, arranged by no less a personage in the 

 world of gardening than Miss Jekyll herself, there are groupings 

 which we should do well to bring into our own gardens. For 

 example, near the edge of the border are Eschscholtzia with sweet 

 alyssum before it, and lemon-colored African marigold back 

 (the tall variety) ; Nigella behind the Eschscholtzia, the blue corn- 

 flower back of that — and do you know Dreer's Double? It is 

 worth knowing. Mignonette rises behind blue lobelia in the 

 border; dwarf French marigold has Calendula before it; dwarf 

 Ageratum and that other old garden annual so little known here, 

 CoUinsia bicolor, give blue and lilac tones at the quieter end of 

 low-growing things. Back of all these are pink snapdragons, a 

 group of bluish Scabiosa, Godetia Double Rose, more tall mari- 

 golds (always in the paler colors), white annual asters, and that 

 lovely annual rose-pink Lavatera trimestris, with hollyhocks in 

 white and pink to raise the line of heights in the background. 

 Behind the blue cornflowers. Miss Jekyll has some of the tall 

 primrose-colored sunflowers, those small sunflowers whose plants 

 are not more than three feet high and whose flowers are very 

 fine in form and color. Lupines and one or two other subjects 

 have their place in this border too, but as these are not annuals, 

 they hardly belong to this discussion. 



There is nothing better with which to cover bulbs than such 

 annual flowers as these. Their roots are not very deep or de- 

 manding. If seed is sown as early as possible, the foliage of 

 annuals will soon blot out with fresh green the brown and drying 

 leaves of tulips and of daffodils. Verbenas are capital plants for 

 this: one of my special favorites in annual flowers is Verbena 



