96 SATURDAY IN MY GARDEN 



care in the selection of varieties for cultivation. The kind which 

 most often finds a place in the gardens of amateurs is tropseolum 

 majus, but there is another variety, tropaeolum lobbianum, 

 which has smaller and more delicate foliage and which yields a 

 greater wealth of bloom. The seed of T. lobbianum costs slightly 

 more than that of T. majus, but since a better general effect is 

 produced the additional expenditure is well repaid. The tro- 

 pseolums may be obtained in separate colours. For example, the 

 variety of T. lobbianum known as Fire King bears immense 

 quantities of deep scarlet flowers on stems that grow to a height 

 of twelve feet or more during the season. Then there are cardinalis 

 (scarlet), fulgens (dark foliage and scarlet flowers), Golden Queen 

 (yellow), and Princess Victoria Louise (creamy white blotched 

 with orange scarlet). Tropseolums will thrive in almost any 

 garden soil, but they will grow more luxuriantly and produce a 

 finer display of bloom if the ground has been deeply dug and well 

 manured a month or two before the seed is sown. They may be 

 used with splendid effect in the decoration of walls, fences and 

 trellis-work. At the outset of their growth, however, they require 

 to be supported by strands of string, or wire netting, and they 

 need a little training to keep them within bounds. Similar treat- 

 ment should be accorded to the canary creeper, whose pale yellow 

 flowers and delicate light green foliage may be used with charming 

 effect for covering a low hedge or a wattled fence. 



The sweet pea, the most popular garden annual of the moment, 

 should, strictly speaking, be classified as a climbing plant ; but 

 its position is one of such great importance that it deserves to be 

 discussed at length in a separate chapter. 



Another great and delightful family of climbing annuals is that 

 known as ipomaeas or convolvuli. The members of this family 

 are nearly all half hardy, and the seed should therefore not be sown 

 out of doors until towards the end of spring. The variety most 

 frequent y seen in small gardens is ipomaea purpurea, more 

 familiar, perhaps, as convolvuus major. The flowers vary in 

 colour, ranging through many delicate shades of white, pink and 

 rose into deep blues and violets. It should be supplied with 



