CHAPTER LI 



AFTER THOUGHTS 



The Helianthus multifloms. This is a new plant, 

 comparatively, and one that I am quite delighted with. 

 It is a variety of Sunflower, but a much finer one than 

 anything of the kind we have had heretofore. It sends 

 up several stalks from thick, half-tuberous roots, and in 

 August and September these are well laden with flowers 

 of a very rich golden yellow. These flowers are about 

 as large over as the top of a teacup, and are quite 

 double. They light up the garden wonderfully, and on 

 this account, more than that of their individual beauty, 

 I consider them very useful. There is no color so effect- 

 ive as yellow in bringing out and toning up the beauty 

 of other colors. It puts life into them. One plant of 

 this Helianthus will make a good sized garden gay, 

 which without it would seem filled with a monotony 

 of dull colors. It seems concentrated sunshine. It is 

 very effective for the decoration of rooms in autumn, 

 especially when used with vines of the Virginia Creeper 

 after that plant has begun to take on its crimson and 

 maroon colors. It appears to be quite hardy and to 

 stand our winters well at the North. However, should 

 it in any locality be found tender, the roots can be 

 taken up and stored in the cellar. 



Hyacinthus candicans (Galtonia candicans). This 

 plant, popularly known as Summer Hyacinth, is a 

 member of the Lily family. It blooms in August. It 

 grows to a hight of three or four feet, and bears a 

 large number of beautiful, drooping, bell-shaped white 

 flowers. If several bulbs are planted in the center of a 



