GROUPS OF GARDEN FLOWERS 19 



five on which all the flowers were edged. The best of these were marked 

 and the seed saved, and so for several years, the flowers all the while 

 getting a larger infusion of white to tone down the red until they arrived 

 at quite pale pink, and one plant absolutely pure white. I then set 

 myself to change the black central portions of the flowers from black to 

 yellow or white, and having at last fixed a strain with petals varying in 

 colour from the brightest scarlet to pure white, with all shades of pink 

 between and all varieties of flakes and edged flowers also, but all having 

 yellow or white stamens, anthers, and pollen, and a white base. . . . 

 My ideal is to get a yellow P. Rhoeas, and I have already obtained 

 many distinct shades of salmon. The Shirley Poppies have thus been 

 obtained simply by selection and elimination. By ' selection ' I mean 

 the saving seed only from selected flowers, and by ' elimination ' the 

 instant and total eradication of any plant that bears inferior flowers. 

 . . . Let it be noticed that the Shirley Poppies (i) are single ; (2) always 

 have a white base, with (3) yellow or white stamens, anthers, or pollen ; (4) 

 never have the smallest particle of black about them. Double poppies 

 and poppies with black centres may be greatly admired, but they are not 

 Shirley Poppies." It is rather interesting to reflect that the gardens of 

 the whole world rich man's and poor man's alike are to-day furnished 

 with Poppies which are the direct descendants of one single capsule of 

 seed raised in the garden of Shirley Vicarage so lately as August 1880. 

 Poppy seed should be sown in the autumn or in the spring, sowing very 

 thinly because the seed is small, and thinning out the seedlings to fully 

 six inches apart. Fine flowers in abundance and over a long season can 

 never be expected unless the seed is sown thinly, the seedlings well 

 thinned out, and the dying flowers picked off to prevent seed forming 

 and weakening the plant." 



Poppy Anemones. This is a beautiful group of Windflowers or 

 Anemones (A. coronaria), and such races as that known as St. Brigid 

 comprise flowers of wonderful colouring white, purple, rose, violet, and 

 many other shades, laid upon broad, robust segments. There are single 

 and double forms. The seed should be sown about April or in June. 

 When this is saved, not purchased, separate it well before sowing by 

 mixing it with an equal quantity of silver sand. The seed-bed should be 

 made of a fairly porous soil, and placed in quite an open spot. Make 

 the surface quite firm and level, and well moisten the ground, if dry, 

 before sowing. Sprinkle the seed with fine soil, make the surface 

 smooth, and shade with evergreen shoots until the seedlings appear, 

 when no further shading will be needful. Keep the bed moderately 

 moist until growth is finished. Poppy Anemones may also be planted in 

 autumn. The June sown seed will give plants for flowering in the 

 following spring. Whilst writing of this Anemone mention must also 

 be made of the brilliant crimson A. fulgens (Scarlet Windflower), and 

 the variety grxca is even brighter than the type. 



Primroses and Polyanthuses. The Primrose in its many forms 

 is a flower for all gardens. All the varieties are derived from the wild 

 Primula vulgaris of grassy banks and copse. Raising seedlings is a very 

 interesting pastime, and the seed germinates readily when sown in May 



