44 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



ESCHSCHOLZIA 



" Califoniian Poppy " 



Most of us have tripped sometime or other over the 

 spelling of Eschscholzia, but the mistake has served to keep 

 the plant in mind. The garden forms of E. californica {Papa- 

 veracece) have the most brilliant orange-coloured flowers the 

 mind can picture, and in full sunshine abed of Eschscholzias 

 is a ravishing sight indeed. The plants grow about i 

 foot high and are perfectly hardy. It is an excellent plan 

 to make a sowing in the Autumn and thin the seedlings to 

 9 inches apart, and then the plants will come into bloom 

 early the following Summer. In addition to large and bright 

 flowers the Eschscholzias have finely divided and very 

 elegant foliage. 



E. californica and its varieties have produced some 

 beautiful shades of colour in garden varieties. A few of 

 the best are Alba, creamy-white ; Diana, primrose and rose; 

 Golden West, yellow, with orange blotch ; Frilled Pink, 

 pink ; Orange Queen, orange and yellow ; Mandarin, 

 orange-scarlet and gold, a grand variety ; Mikado, orange- 

 crimson ; Rose Cardinal, deep rose ; and Ruby King, 

 deep ruby-red. E. californica itself has yellow, orange- 

 centred flowers. 



While Autumn sowing is desirable whenever it can be 

 managed, Eschscholzias can be sown successfully in the 

 open in March or April, to flower the same year ; but a warm 

 sunny position should always be selected, as only in the sun- 

 shine do they do themselves full justice. 



It may be added that the genus is often listed as Esch- 

 schol/zia, but there is no authority for the addition of the 

 letter " t " in the title. 



