OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS. 197 



large, having well defined dark spots, about the size of a penny 

 piece. The leaves are a foot or more in length, stiff but bend- 

 ing; they are thickly furnished with short hairs, pinnate and 

 serrated. 



This large poppy can be grown to an enormous size, and other- 

 wise vastly improved by generous treatment ; in a newly trenched 

 and well manured plot a specimen has grown 3ft. high, and pro- 

 duced flowers 9in. across, the colour being fine ; it will, however, 

 do well in less favoured quarters in fact, it may be used to fill 

 up any odd vacancies in the shrubbery or borders. It is readily 

 increased by division of the roots, and this may be done any time 

 from autumn to February ; it also ripens seed freely. 



Flowering period, May to June. 



Pentstemons. 

 Nat. Ord. SCROPHULARIACE^:. 



THE hybrids, which constitute the numerous and beautiful class 

 commonly grown as " florists' flowers," are the kinds now under 

 notice. The plant, when a year old, has a half-shrubby appear- 

 ance, and if I said that it was but half hardy I should probably 

 be nearer the mark than if I pronounced it quite hardy, It may, 

 therefore, appear odd that I should class it with hardy peren- 

 nials; there are, however, good reasons for doing so, and as 

 these extra fine border plants are great favourites and deserve 

 all the care that flowers can be worth, I will indicate my mode 

 of growing them ; but first I will state why the hybrid Pentste- 

 mons are here classed as hardy. One reason is that some 

 varieties really are so, but most are not, and more especially 

 has that proved to be the case during recent severe winters 

 the old plants, which I never trouble to take in, are mostly 

 killed. Another reason why I do not object to their being 

 classed as hardy is that cuttings or shoots from the roots 

 appear to winter outside, if taken in the summer or autumn 

 and dibbled into sand or a raised bed (so that it be somewhat 

 drier than beds of the ordinary level), where they will readily 

 root. Such a bed of cuttings I have found to keep green all 

 the winter, without any protection other than a little dry 

 bracken. My plants are so propagated and wintered. 



The Pentstemon has of late years been much improved by 

 hybridising, so that now the flowers, which resemble foxgloves, 

 are not only larger than those of the typical forms, but also 

 brighter, and few subjects in our gardens can vie with them 

 for effectiveness; moreover, they are produced for several months 

 together on the same plants, and always have a remarkably fresh 

 appearance. 



The corolla, which can be well seen both inside and out, has 

 the pleasing feature of clearly pronounced colour on the outside, 



