876 ZINNIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN, 



ZYGADEXUS. 



to lose something of that fresh free 

 growth which should be maintained until 

 they come into flower. If the tissues 

 once harden so much as to bring the young 

 plants to a standstill, there will be little 

 chance of rapid progress when they are 

 set out in the open ground. Indeed, it is 

 not advisable to plant them out much 

 before the second week in June, as 

 they are very sensitive to atmospheric 

 changes, and are completely ruined by 

 a few degrees of frost. Plant them in 

 well-stirred, fairly-enriched soil and in 

 full exposure, for they love to bask in the 

 sun's fiercest rays, and demand merely 

 a surface-covering, to protect the roots, 

 and a constant supply of moisture. In a 

 bed by themselves, they would be greatly 

 improved if the soil were thrown out, and 

 a good depth of fermenting manure were 

 well trodden in, and the soil replaced. 

 Both the single and double Zinnias are 

 fine garden plants, and display a diversity 

 and brilliancy of colour equalled by few 

 plants. The double forms have of late 

 been most in request, although both the 

 double and single varieties have been 

 greatly improved. There is one good 

 characteristic about double Zinnias they 

 are not all so rank and unwieldy as the 

 single types, dwarfing having gone hand-in- 

 hand with multiplying petals in the flowers. 



Selection has also done something to 

 induce a better habit ; and it will be ob- 

 served that particular types of flower often 

 improve in habit and bloom at the same 

 time. Some of the single Zinnias are very 

 beautiful, for instance, the yellow, carmine, 

 rosy-purple, scarlet, crimson, and orange 

 kinds. Z. elegans is the species from 

 which the numerous varieties mentioned 

 in catalogues have been derived. Z. 

 Darwini is a beautiful hybrid with very 

 double flowers of various colours. Z. 

 Haageana, known also as Z. mexicana, has 

 a very neat habit, and rich orange-yellow 

 blossoms ; it also occurs with double 

 flowers. 



ZYGADENUS. Plants of the Lily 

 family, of no great ornamental value, for 

 their flowers are all greenish-yellow, but 

 their distinct growth makes them worth 

 cultivating in a botanical or a full col- 

 lection. They are slender bulbous 

 plants, with narrow grassy leaves, and tall 

 branching flower-stems, I to 4 ft. high. Z. 

 Fremonti (also known as Z. glaberrimus, 

 Z. chloranthus, and Z. Douglasi) is the 

 largest flowered species. The other kinds 

 are Z. Nuttalli and Z. paniculatus. Zygadeni 

 thrive best in a moist peaty border in a 

 shady position protected from cold winds. 

 California. 



