THE BLUE SAGE. 



Salvia patens. 



HE light of other days is faded, 

 and the blue salvia is no longer 

 in high renown as a wonder 

 amongst bedding plants. It 

 has filled as many pages of 

 print as the crimson flax, but 

 now the horticultural writers 

 have nothing to say about it, 

 and appear, indeed, to have for- 

 gotten its gay existence. It 

 might have been famous to this 

 day if it could but have 

 stooped to conquer, but it was 

 always too tall for its place, 

 and carried its colours care- 

 lessly, as if seeking the bubble 

 reputation were a pastime for 

 such meaner ones as without 

 seeking would never outwin reputation at all. But we 

 must be wise about it, and endeavour to earn our wages. 



The blue salvia is a tall-growing, loosely -branched, un- 

 tidy plant that may be grown equally well in the green- 

 house or the stove. For summer bloom the greenhouse 

 suffices, and during the warmer portions of the summer 



