DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF THE BEST KINDS 241 



to bloom in February. Its dwarf and compact habit 

 as well as free-flowering qualities render it especially 

 valuable. The flowers are large, deep sky-blue in colour, 

 and in shady, moist corners are produced in abundance 

 for a long period. Seed is freely produced, and self-sown 

 seedlings come up in plenty round old plants. Seeds 

 sown in summer, and the seedlings pricked out in some 

 shady moist spot, yield good flowering plants for the 

 following spring. Of the biennial M. sylvatica, which 

 grows wild in England, there are numerous varieties, 

 elegant and compact, with flowers of various shades of 

 blue and white. Seeds of nearly all the Myosotis should be 

 sown as fresh as possible, then they germinate freely, 

 They may be either sown in a shady border or in pots 

 in a cold frame. 



Oenothera (Evening Primrose). Most people know 

 the common Evening Primrose, Oenothera biennis (natural 

 order Onagrarieae), which is so often met with on waste 

 ground in this country. It is a plant of somewhat coarse 

 habit, only fit for the wild garden, but there are several 

 other species in this beautiful family which are of low- 

 growing and compact habit and have very large flowers. 

 These are nearly all natives of North America, and include 

 some beautiful annuals which have bright yellow and 

 white flowers, and which seed freely. They all grow well 

 in a sunny position if planted in light, rich, well- drained 

 soil. Below are a few of those of dwarf habit suitable 

 for the rock garden. Oe. caespitosa, known also as 

 Oe. eximia and Oe. marginata, is not more than twelve 



