344 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



from the hardness of the seed, which ought to be soaked in very hot 

 water for half-an-hour before sowing, or germination may be very 

 slow. The pots should be stood on a hot-bed or in a propagator. 

 If the seeds are sown at midwinter, and the plants are potted 

 and repotted as required, they will make good stuff by autumn, 

 but they may not be ready for bedding the first year. They may 

 be kept in pots for conservatory or greenhouse decoration a 

 purpose which they will serve admirably. 



It is hardly necessary to go to the expense of named varieties 

 for beds, but here are the names of half-a-dozen good Gladiolus- 

 flowered varieties : 



Ami J. Chretien. Chestnut. 



Aurore. Red. 



Comte de Bouchaud. Yellow, red spots. 



Konigin Charlotte. Crimson, yellow 

 edge. 



Kaiser Wilhelm II. Scarlet. 



Mdne'lik. Crimson. 



A, old plant ; B, offset which must be 

 removed for propagating purposes 

 at the dark curved line. 



ECHEVEUIAS (COTYLEDONS) 



ECHEVERIAS 



In the old carpet bedding days Eche- 

 verias (now called Cotyledons by botanists) 

 were more important plants than they are now. They are very 

 succulent, growing in the form of rosettes of thick, fleshy leaves, 

 from which spring the long, slender flower-stems. The carpet 

 bedders did not grow Echeverias for the flowers, but for the 

 foliage. They used the plants in cones, shields, circles, and 

 diamonds. A small mound would be raised, studded all over with 

 Echeverias planted closely together, and surmounted by a graceful 

 foliage plant, such as a Dracaena. The varieties metallica and 

 secunda glauca were the most popular. The former is perhaps the 

 best of all. It is a variety of Gibbiflora itself well worthy of 



