BEDDING PLANTS. 79 



mannia and also to the flower stems. They can be cut immediately 

 after opening and kept in excellent condition for several days. It 

 thrives well in sandy soil, and needs but little attention in the way of 

 watering after planting out. It sometimes stands the Winters in the 

 District of Columbia, but oftener it gets killed outright. 



ISOTOflA LONdlFLORA This plant is figured in Curtis' Botanical 

 Magazine under the name of Lobelia longiflora. It belongs to the order 

 Campanulacese. In Europe it is grown as a greenhouse subject. In 

 America it is one of our most showy white flowering biennials for the 

 open border. The plants before coming in bloom are anything but 

 attractive, as they closely resemble some of our common coarse-grow- 

 ing weeds. The flowers, on large plants, are anything but sparingly 

 produced; they are pure white, an inch or so across the petals. Sow 

 the seed in a cool greenhouse in the Autumn, or in a warm house early in 

 Spring. Each plant will ripen an immense quantity of seed. 



IRESINE (Achyranthes) As a bedding plant, treat much the same 

 as Coleus. They will stand a lower temperature. Cuttings put in dur- 

 ing September can be used as stock plants in the Spring. 



LANTANA Low-growing greenhouse shrubs with yellow, white, red 

 and purple flowers in small, close heads. They are perfectly at home in 

 the open border, growing most luxuriantly in heavy, well-manured soil. 

 The leaves and flowers have an undesirable odor, which is against their 

 ever becoming very popular. Take cuttings early, and from plants thus 

 raised they may be 'further propagated during February. A minimum 

 temperature of 50 degrees will suit all of the kinds. 



LOBELIA ERINUS A very popular bedding plant in Europe, but 

 short-lived here, owing principally to the high temperature during mid- 

 summer. A few old plants kept on a bench along with such things as 

 Heliotrope and Ageratum will give fine cuttings, which are rooted be- 

 ginning of March and transferred to a hotbed, to make growth. 



MESEMBRYANTHEflUM Ine pretty little variegated Ice plant, 

 known under the name of Mesembryanthemum cordifolium variegatum, 

 has a habit of damping off in the propagating bed when treated like the 

 majority of bedding plants. A way to circumvent this is to prepare 

 shallow boxes of sand ana leaf-soil. Give one good watering previous 

 to putting in the cutting. Let the boxes stand for a few hours, put in 

 the cuttings quite close together and stand them on a bench over the 

 heating pipes. Give no more water till rooted ; that is, if the soil does 

 not become too dry; in this case the cuttings should not be watered with 

 a sprinkler. This variety is one of the prettiest of dwarf bedding plants, 

 and should be more commonly grown. M.crystallinum,M. tricolor, with 

 pink and white flowers, and M. amrena, the latter an evergreen species, 

 are all used for outdoor planting. The annual kinds should be sown 

 indoors beginning of March. Cuttings of the perennial kinds should be 

 rooted in Autumn. 



MIGNONETTE, (Reseda) For pot culture sow beginning of Septem- 

 ber in 3-inch pots; leave three of the strongest seedlings in each pot, and 

 long before the plants are pot-bound shift into 5-inch pots. Keep in the 



