CENTAUREA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



CENTAUR1DIUM. 



beautiful native annual of easy culture, 

 often sowing itself. The young plants 

 stand our hardest winters, and flower 

 better grown thus than if sown in spring. 

 It is best sown in September, either where 

 it is to flower, or in beds to be trans- 

 planted. Self-sown plants too may be 

 transplanted, or allowed to remain where 

 they come up, as they are often the finest j 

 plants. The many garden varieties range i 

 through white, rose, sky-blue, striped, to 

 dark purple, the delicate tints of which are 

 most attractive. They are favourites in 

 the flower market, but by far the most 

 beautiful is the true wild kind. There 

 are also a number of double kinds. 



C. dealbata. A hardy perennial, with 

 graceful and somewhat silvery leaves, 15 

 to 1 8 in. high, flowering in summer ; rose- 

 coloured. Borders. Division. Caucasus. 

 C. gymnocarpa. A half-shrubby plant 

 from the south of Europe, nearly 2 

 ft. high, with hard, branching, bushy 

 stems, and elegantly cut leaves, covered 

 with short whitish-satiny down. Useful 

 as it is for edging or bedding, it is 

 when grown in fine single specimens 

 that its beauty is most seen. 



C. macrocephala (Great Golden Knap- 

 weed}. A strong plant from 4 to 5 ft. 

 high, with a great golden head of bloom. 

 In the back part of a herbaceous border, 

 or where herbaceous plants must com- 

 pete with the roots of trees and shrubs, this 

 robust plant deserves a place. Armenia. 

 C. montana (Mountain Knapweed}. 

 A handsome border plant, i to 7.\ ft. 

 high, with slightly cottony leaves, and 

 flowers resembling those of the Corn- 

 flower. There is a white and a red 

 variety, all thriving in borders, margins of 

 shrubberies, or the wild garden in any 

 soil. This kind is somewhat coarse in 

 borders, and scarcely worth a place there- 

 in, but when cut, its flowers are pretty, 

 and larger than those of the Blue Corn- 

 flower. Division. 



C. moschata (Sweet Sultan). A fra- 

 grant annual, of which there are two 

 shades delicate purple and creamy 

 white, the first giving the finest flowers ; 

 but both are valuable. Aphides are 

 very partial to the young seedlings, 

 and unless the pests are quickly 

 cleared off the plants soon dwindle 

 away. The first essential is a cal- 

 careous soil, and any soil deficient 

 in lime should have lime rubble worked 

 into it. The best time to sow is about 

 the middle of April, in an open and sunny 

 place, sowing the seed where the plants 

 are to remain, as they do not move 

 well. Syn., Amberboa moschata. J. R. 



C. ragusina. A showy silvery-leaved 

 plant, tender, but of rapid growth out- 

 of-doors in summer, and valued for the 

 summer-garden. When taking cuttings, 

 they should not be cut away, but pulled 

 off with a "heel" so as to have a 

 firm base ; small firm shoots should 

 be preferred ; in taking them the knife 

 should be used very little, and each cut- 

 ting put singly into a small 2^-in. pot 

 filled with a mixture of loam and leaf- 

 mould. A cold frame from which frost 

 can be excluded is their best winter quar- 

 ters ; the leaves should be kept dry, 

 as they are rather liable to damp during 

 the short days. They also winter well 

 in an airy vinery or greenhouse. Old 

 plants are sometimes lifted and kept 

 over the winter ; where very large plants 

 are required this is a sure means of 



Mountain Knapweed. 



obtaining them ; but lor ordinary use 

 autumn-struck cuttings are the best. J. M. 



C. SUaveolens ( Yellow Sweet Sultan]. 

 A pretty citron-yellow hardy annual 

 and favourite border flower, thriving 

 best in light dry soil. Sow in beds in 

 April, raising one batch in frames, and 

 sowing another in the open air in light 

 rich earth where it is to remain. Syn., 

 Amberboa odorata. 



CENTAURIDIUM. A showy half- 

 hardy annual from Texas, C. Drummondi 

 being from 2^ to 3 ft. high, and flowering 

 from July to September. It should be sown 

 in a frame on slight heat in April, and 

 planted out in May. It has large citron- 



