HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS 



preferably when growth starts in spring. They thrive best in 

 light, well-drained, loamy soil. They do not like stiff, cold, 

 undrained land. The flower gardener who has very heavy land 

 should endeavour to dig a few spadefuls of decayed turf into the 

 place where he intends to plant the Phloxes. 



The annual Phloxes, varieties of Drummondii, are easily raised 

 from seeds sown in an unheated frame early in April, or in 

 the open ground at the end of that month. In either case the 

 seeds should be sown thinly, and any thick patches of plants 

 thinned. When put out they should be planted about a foot 

 apart, and dusted with dry lime in order to baffle slugs, which 

 are very fond of them. Many people credit these beautiful annuals 

 with the responsibility for the decline of the Verbena. The flowers 

 are supposed to resemble each other, and such superiority as there 

 is between them to belong to the Phlox. There is certainly some 

 sort of resemblance between Verbenas and Phloxes. Both have 

 small, round flowers, with, in the case of most varieties, a clearly 

 defined eye ; but there is really no good reason for instituting a 

 direct comparison between the two plants, and setting them in 

 opposition to each other. The Verbena has not declined as a 

 flower garden plant to any great extent, but only as a florist's 

 flower under pot cultivation. Both it and the annual Phlox 

 should be grown, and both are best raised from seed. 



Seedsmen offer several strains of annual Phlox, but the grandi- 

 flora (large-flowered) is the best. It can be had in assortments 

 of six or more separate colours, or in mixture. There is a strain 

 about six inches shorter than the grandiflora called nana com- 

 pacta. In this also we get a nice variety of colours, but the 

 flowers are smaller. 



Named varieties of annual Phlox are not offered, but there 

 are plenty of the perennials. These might be divided into two 

 separate sections, the first of which flowers in early summer, and 

 the second in late summer and early autumn. They have originated 



