LOBELIA, Nat. Ord. Lobeliacece. 



Lobelias are a class of plants of great beauty and remarkably useful to the gardener, being 

 adapted to a great variety of ornamental purposes. Some of the Lobelias are strong, hardy 

 perennials, like our Cardinal Flower. The annual varieties are 

 mostly of a trailing habit, bearing immense 

 numbers of small flowers, and are particularly 

 adapted to baskets, vases, etc., where drooping 

 plants look so graceful ; they are also freely used 

 as edgings for beds of ornamental- leaved and 

 other bedding plants. A few varieties form 

 compact, almo^: globular, little plants, and one of these we have shown in the engraving. This 

 style is superb for edgings of beds, pots, and like purposes, which the habit will suggest to the 

 thoughtful florist. 



LUPINUS, (Lupine,) Nat. Ord. Leguminoste. 



The Lupins are a well-known genus of very conspicuous plants, and there are very few peo- 

 ple that are not acquainted with some of the varieties. We have cultivated the Lupin for a 

 couple of scores of years, have seen it in the best gar- 

 dens of Europe , and yet we never realized its wealth of 

 beauty until we met it in its California home. Here we 

 saw the little, dwarf Lupin, scarcely six inches in height 

 with its pretty, miniature flowers, and the mammoth 

 plant full six feet, with flowering stems stretching 

 themselves out like giant arms. Here we saw the white, 

 the yellow, the blue, the variegated, Lupins of every 

 hue. We returned with greater love than ever for this old-fashioned flower. All the Lupins are 

 hardy, and seed can be sown in the open ground. The Lupin has a tap root and does not 

 transplant well. 



LYCHNIS, Nat. Ord. Caryophyllacea:. 



The Lychnis family are mostly perennials, but flower the first season under good treatment, 

 and endure the winter unusually well. Some, like L. Chalcedonica, are old friends, but of late 



years florists have greatly improved this flower, and 



the better varieties now give flowers as large 



as Japan Pinks, and of a 



great variety of colors, such 



as rose, red, 



and white. 



To obtain 



good flowers 



the first sum- 

 mer, seeds should be started under glass and transplanted 

 as early as the weather will permit. The taller varieties 

 are excellent for planting among shrubbery. A piece of 

 shrubbery looks quite sombre a great part of the season, 

 and the sooner we learn to light up our shrubberies with tall, bright flowers, the better. The 

 engraving on the right shows one of the improved, large varieties, Haageana ; at the left, Chal- 

 cedonica, both less than half natural size. 



