TENDER FLOWERS. 63^ 



latter purpose the comparatively new and dwarf Schiza7ifhus 

 JVisetonensis is the best. By sowing seed late in July nice flowering 

 plants can be had in six-inch pots for Christmas. Later sowings 

 will give a succession until outdoor sown ones come in season. The 

 flowers last a week in water and make beautiful table centerpieces. 

 Some of the taller growing sorts, such as pinnatits roseus, grandi- 

 florus ociilatus, and retusus alba make grand pot plants for spring 

 blooming; but being tall growing they require persistent pinching. 

 They should be staked out like chrysanthemums and flowered in 

 ten-inch pots. 



A beautiful piazza group for late spring can be made with Lil- 

 ium candidum rising from a bed of Schizanthus grandiflorus ociila- 

 tus, with an edging of Calceolaria Golden Gem. 



Salpiglossis is a beautiful annual. It does best raised under 

 glass and planted out in the same way as asters; seed sown outdoors 

 does not give as good returns. 



Amongst poppies none is more beautiful than the Shirley. Of 

 double sorts the Bride, INIikado, and Danebrog are good. These 

 plants, if used for mass effect in the flower garden, must be followed 

 by some other annual as they leave big gaps after flowering. The 

 Yellow Tulip or ^Mexican poppy (Hunnemannia fumarice folia) 

 lasts splendidly in water, keeping three to five days. It has yellow 

 Eschscholzia like flowers and silvery foliage. 



The annual larkspurs are worthy of more extended cultivation 

 whether for massing or cutting, and the rosy-scarlet variety is espec- 

 ially beautiful, as are also one or two chrysanthemums, notably 

 tricolor Burridgeanum and its varieties. Leptospie maritima with 

 large, yellow, sweet-scented flowers carried on long stems makes 

 a useful border plant and is excellent for pot culture, blooming 

 freely in February and March. 



Xo annuals give more satisfactory results as bedding plants than 

 verbenas; planted in beds or masses along the borders they bloom 

 from June to October without a break. Separate shades are per- 

 haps preferable but mixed colors look A^ery well. Phlox Drum- 

 mondii carries larger and showier flowers than verbenas but is not 

 so persistent a bloomer; it is, however, a beautiful annual and the 

 scarlet shades are especially rich and brilliant. 



The petunia is one of the most easily grown and showy annuals 



