76 MY GARDEN 



which I take as a sign that the misunderstanding be- 

 tween this lovely Flax and me is a thing of the past. 



In the cold frame we have some thriving seedlings of 

 the Alpine Flax (Linum alpinum) , but cannot yet speak 

 authoritatively of it, save that it comes easily from seed. 



Another blue-flowered plant, but one much stouter 

 and more prosaic than the winsome Flax, is Centaurea 

 montana, perennial relative and rather heavy prototype 

 of the pretty annual Corn Flower, or Blue-bottle. It is 

 a good plant of medium height, sturdy of growth, with 

 nice gray foliage and a long period of bloom if not al- 

 lowed to seed. Yearly division keeps the plants com- 

 pact and it does well in any sunny situation. C. 

 ruthenica and macrocephala are yellow-flowered Cen- 

 taureas, growing about four feet high and blooming in 

 mid-summer. They are rather coarse in growth, but 

 are worth having. The former is the better. 



Incomplete indeed would be the spring without the 

 Columbines, and so we have a great many within our 

 garden enclosure, of all colours and kinds, with short or 

 long spurs, with enchanting white petticoats, and with 

 none. I like best the long spurred, single sorts in clear, 

 opaque colours sky-blue, purple, pure white or yellow. 

 Aquilegia chrysantha, a fine, long-spurred yellow sort, 

 blooms later than the others and continues through the 

 greater part of the summer. A. coerulea, the Rocky 

 Mountain Columbine, is an exquisite variety, with sky- 

 blue and white flowers. It has a lovely white form 



