348 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



as bedding plants in England, but Irish gardeners employ them 

 most effectively. In the moist, mild climate of many parts of the 

 Emerald Isle they do splendidly in the open air, and make glorious 

 breaks of colour. Patens, with its flowers of brilliant blue, is 

 particularly fine as a bedding plant. There is a white variety of 

 it. The well-known scarlet Salvia, splendens, is almost exclusively 

 used as a winter bloomer under glass. If grown out of doors, 

 Salvia patens should have a deep, friable, moist soil. 



