34 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



purple, the white, the striped, and the double flowering. 

 This hath oblong, rough, hairy leaves, which are serrated 

 on their edges ; from the centre of these a stiff, hairy, 

 furrowed stalk arises, about two feet long, sending out 

 several lateral branches, which are garnished with long, 

 narrow, hairy leaves, sawed on their edges ; from the 

 setting on of these leaves come out the footstalks of the 

 flowers, those which are on the lower part of the stalk 

 and the branches being four or five inches long, diminish- 

 ing gradually in their length upward, and thereby form 

 a sort of pyramid." 



New forms and colours have been added to the 

 Canterbury Bells since Miller's day. We have rose and 

 mauve as well as blue and white, and we have the cup- 

 and-saucer Canterbury Bell (Campanula medium caly- 

 canthema] in various colours. The calyx of this is 

 coloured like the corolla. Many people prefer it to the 

 plain type, but the latter is quite good enough for the 

 majority of flower-gardeners when it is well grown. 



All the Canterbury Bells belong to the class known 

 as hardy biennials, which are sown in late spring in 

 the open ground, flower the following year, then seed 

 and die. They often come up year after year in the 

 same place, but it is not a case of fresh growths from 

 the same rootstock ; the new plants are self-sown 

 seedlings. 



Having grown Canterbury Bells on heavy soil and 

 on light, I have to confess a preference for the former. 

 Given strong, moist ground, they branch freely. On 

 thin, dry ground they make very little lateral growth. 

 Plants with strong side shoots are much more hand- 

 some than those with only one stem. Those who want 

 to get the best out of these fine old flowers (and their 

 best is really well worth having) should enrich the soil, 



