26 ANNUAL FLOWER SEED. 



Some species of Dwarf Annuals, such as Sweet Alyssum, 

 Candytuft, Clarkia Pulchella, Mignonette, Pimpernell, and 

 such others as grow not over a foot in height, may be culti- 

 vated in small beds, either separate or two or three kinds 

 mixed together. Clarkia Pulchella suits very well with 

 Mignonette, as it will thrive in moderately poor soil, which is 

 the best adapted for that plant when fragrance is an object.* 



The best way to manage the mixed species, is to level a 

 narrow border of rather poor soil, and sow it all over with 

 Mignonette, then with Clarkia Pulchella ; when the plants 

 are up, both kinds should be thinned out equally, so as to 

 leave the plants from one to two inches apart all over the 

 bed ; these, when they come into blossom, will form a rich 

 mass, and have a very pretty effect, the bushiness of the 

 Mignonette hiding the naked stalks of the Clarkia. The 

 White Alyssum and Purple Candytuft form a pleasing con- 

 trast when mixed in equal proportions, and also the Dwarf 

 Gilia and Blue Pimpernell. 



The new species of Dwarf Annual Phlox, (Phlox Drum- 

 mondii,) is described in a London Magazine as a splendid 

 sight when cultivated in a bed. " Every flower, though of 

 the deepest carmine, has its petals of a pale blush colour on 

 the under side, and every petal, though of the palest junk, 

 has a dark carmine spot at its base. Thus the variety of 

 colours displayed in a bed of these flowers, almost exceeds 

 description ; and when they are seen under a bright sun, and 

 agitated by a gentle breeze, the effect is extraordinarily 

 brilliant." 



When seed are intended to be sown in patches, which is 

 often done for want of an unoccupied border, the best way 



* The reason that some Mignonette has scarcely any scent is, because 

 the soil in which it is cultivated is too rich ; and this leads me to remark 

 farther, that what some call Tree Mignonette, and admire on account of its 

 fragrance, is not a distinct variety, but the ordinary kind, cultivated as a 

 perennial plant. It may be propagated by cuttings, and trained so as to 

 form a tree ; which being transplanted into poor ground, will yield more 

 fragrance than when grown as an annual in a rich compost. 



