1 86 MY GARDEN 



occurs, and I much admire its rich blended shades 

 of blue and purple. There is a hybrid between this 

 and a scarlet lobelia which reached me from some- 

 where. The colour is a blend of blue and red, yet 

 agreeable; the shape is that of L. fulgens. Lobelia 

 tenuior does well with me in the summer, but this 

 delicate and dainty white-eyed beauty should have 

 a snug spot for her display. Bigelovia graveolens 

 resembles aster linosyris, but is not so handsome ; 

 and next to him come two of the polemonium 

 family : Richardsonii and that very beautiful and 

 precious gem, confertum, var. mellitum. This new 

 and rare thing is worthy of great admiration, and 

 soon no September garden will be called really com- 

 plete without it. It was a glad day when the Rocky 

 Mountains yielded this treasure. A picture will better 

 bring it to you than can I, but note that the blossom 

 is pure white. 1 Many of the clan are good, but none 

 that I have met with so fair as this. P. Richardsonii, 

 by the way, is a synonym of P. humile ; yet it is by 

 no means a dwarf plant. Perhaps, however, a nur- 

 seryman sent me the wrong one. Too often have 

 such accidents overtaken us all. My plant is pale 

 blue with golden anthers, and stands near two feet 

 high. Homogyne alpina next catches my eye a 

 little, modest soul, easily mistaken for some intru- 

 sive coltsfoot until seen in flower. It is one with 

 petasites alpina, but has no special charm except 



1 Coulter's manual of Rocky Mountain botany describes coralla 

 as pale blue, or sometimes white, and tells us that P. confertum 

 mellitum grows with the type in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. 



