OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS. 201 



subject, sweet, fresh, and waving with the breeze; its scent is 

 spicy, in the way of cinnamon. The whole genus enjoys loam, but 

 these strong-growing hybrids have a mass of long hungry roots, 

 and, as already hinted, if they are well fed with manure they pay 

 back with interest. 



As cut bloom, if taken in entire panicles, they are bouquets in 

 themselves. All are effective, and many of the more delicate 

 colours are exquisite, vieing with the much more cared-for 

 bouvardias and tender primulas. 



To grow these flowers well there is nothing special about 

 their management, but a method of treatment may be men- 

 tioned which, from the improved form it imparts to the speci- 

 mens, as well as the more prolonged period in which extra-sized 

 blooms are produced, is well worthy of being adopted. When 

 the stems are 12in. or 15in. grown, nip off the tops of all 

 the outer ones, they will soon break into two or four shoots. 

 These will not only serve to "feather" down the otherwise 

 " leggy " specimens and render them more symmetrical, but they 

 will produce a second crop of flowers, and, at the same time, allow 

 the first to develope more strongly. "When the taller stems have 

 done flowering, or become shabby, the tops may be cut back to 

 the height of the under part of the then-formed buds of the 

 early pinched shoots, and the extra light will soon cause them to 

 flower; they should then be tied to the old stems left in the 

 middle ; this will quite transform the specimen, not only making 

 it more neat and dwarf, but otherwise benefiting it the old worn 

 stems will have gone, and a new set of beaming flowers will 

 reward the operator. The tops pinched out in the early part 

 of the season make the best possible plants for the following 

 season's bloom. They root like willows in a shady place in sandy 

 loam, and are ready for planting in the open by midsummer, so 

 that they have ample time to become strong before winter. 

 Another way to propagate these useful flower roots is to divide 

 strong clumps in the autumn after they have ceased to bloom. 



The very earliest kinds (some three or four) begin to flower 

 early in August, and by the middle of the month many are in 

 bloom ; the late-flowering (decussata) section is a month later ; all, 

 however, are continued bloomers. 



Phlox Frondosa. 



FRONDED P.; Nat. Ord. POLEMONIACEJS. 



A HARDY creeper ; one of the dwarf section, having half -woody, 

 wiry stems. For this and many other species of the Creeping 

 Phlox we are indebted to North America. Of late years 

 these beautiful flowers have received much attention, not only 

 from the trade, but also from amateurs, some of whom have 

 taken much pains in crossing the species by hybridising, notably 



