GYPSOPHILA 47 



treated as a Half-hardy Annual in all but favoured places. 

 It grows about i^ foot to 2 feet high, and in late Summer 

 and Autumn it keeps up a good supply of golden-yellow, 

 dark-centred flowers that are first rate for cutting. For the 

 border, too, the plant is an effective one, and should be made 

 a note of by all who wish to have their gardens as bright 

 as possible in Autumn. A few years ago I saw this Annual 

 grown in some quantity in a garden near Bristol, where it 

 proved a very valuable subject. 



GYPSOPHILA 



" Chalk Plant " or " Gypsy Flower '^ 



The popular Gypsy Flower so largely used by the florists 

 in floral designs is the perennial Gypsophila panicidata 

 i^Caryophyllacecz), but the hardy annual species, G. elegans, is 

 equally as popular and extensively grown for the great flower 

 markets. For this latter purpose it is sown somewhat thickly 

 in drills, two or three sowings being made in the Spring and 

 one in the Autumn. This method allows of easy bunching. 

 In the garden some amount of thinning is advisable, and a 

 few twiggy sticks from an old birch broom should be placed 

 among the plants to support their slender growth against 

 wind and rain. 



G. elegans is about i\ foot high, and its pinkish variety, 

 G. e. rosea, is of similar stature, while a grandiflora strain, 

 also known as White Pearl, is of about the same height, but 

 has larger flowers, and is the better plant if effectiveness in 

 the border is the first consideration. G. muralis grows 6 

 inches high, and has pink flowers ; it is a suitable plant for 

 the Rock garden, but is not of high merit, I have never seen 

 G. elegans prove to be a perennial, though it is described as a 

 perennial in several well-known gardening dictionaries. 



