NECTARINES. 



328 



NEPENTHES. 



readers. Many are well known as climbers 

 that will quickly cover any fence or trellis, 

 and exhibit flowers of every colour, from 

 the palest straw colour through orange and 

 red to the deepest velvety brown. The 

 dwarf improved varieties of nasturtium are 

 amongst the most useful of garden flowers 



1MVAKK NASTUKTIUM "TOM THUMB " VARIETY. 



for bedding, massing, or ribboning, and may 

 be said to take rank with the geranium, 

 verbena, and calceolaria ; their close, com- 

 pact growth, rich-coloured flowers, and the 

 freedom with which they bloom, all com- 

 bining to place them among first-class bed- 

 ding plants. The scarlet, yellow, and 

 spotted Tom Thumb are distinguished 

 favourites, as are also many others, whose 

 names will be found in the price lists of the 

 seedsmen. The seeds when green are often 

 used in pickling, affording an agreeable 

 pungent addition to the contents of the 

 pickle-jar. Some, too, use them as a 

 substitute for capers. 



Nectarines. 



Nectarines should be pruned in Feb- 

 ruary, grafted in March. Protect from 

 frost, and syringe with weak tobacco 

 water if green fly appears. Stop leading 

 shoots in May, and thin thickly-set fruit 

 as soon as stoned. The following are 

 excellent varieties of this delicious fruit :-*-. 



Nemo'phila (nut. onl. Hydrophylla'- 

 cese). 



This is perhaps the most charming and 

 i generally useful genus of dwarf-growing 

 j hardy annuals. All the varieties have a 

 neat, compact, and uniform habit of growth, 

 with shades and colours the most strikingly 

 beautiful, so that ribboned, sown in circles, 

 or arranged in any style which the fancy 

 may suggest, the effect is pleasing and very 

 striking. Nemophila insignis, sky blue with 

 white eye, N. inaculala^ with white flowers 

 blotched with purple at the apex of the 

 petal, and N. phacelioides, also blue with a 

 white eye, are very distinct varieties ; the 

 last-named is a beautiful hardy perennial, 

 and the second is more robust in growth, 

 and has larger flowers than the other 

 varieties. There are many varieties of the 

 first. They all grow well from cuttings 

 and seeds. 



Nepen'thes (not. ord. Nepentha'ceae). 



The curious plants of this class are well 

 known under the general name of Pitcher 



CLIMBING NASTUKTIUM. 



Plants. Many very choice and beautiful 

 varieties have been introduced of late years. 

 The following are some of the most choice : 



