Gardening for Amateurs 



119 



gloxinioides is noteworthy in having a very 

 large flower at the top of the spike. Many 

 people regard the beautiful giant primrose 

 or buff-coloured Foxglove as the most 

 valuable variety of recent years. It is 

 certainly a handsome flower, and comes 

 quite true from seed. Foxgloves grow from 

 3 to 6 feet in height, sometimes even more, 

 and flower throughout the summer. There 

 are two other Foxgloves with yellowish 

 flowers, D. ferruginea and 

 D. lutea. 



E r y s i m u m (Fairy 

 Wallflower). These are 

 Wallflower - like plants 

 flowering in spring and 

 early summer. Sow the 

 seeds on a border outside 

 during July or August. 

 The plants grow 1 to 

 1$ feet high. They are 

 valuable for spring bed- 

 ding to associate with 

 Polyanthus, Wallflowers, 

 etc. Erysimum arkansa- 

 luiin nanum, with showy 

 yellow flowers ; Golden 

 Gem, with rich golden 

 yellow flowers; and 

 Orange Gem or perof- 

 skianum, rich orange, 

 are the best. The plants 

 thrive in ordinary garden 

 soil. 



Gilia coronopifolia. 

 A half-hardy biennial ; 

 sow the seeds in a frame 

 during July or August. 

 This is a very striking 

 plant, with tall un- 

 l> ranched stems 3 to 4 

 feet high, clothed with 

 Larkspur-like foliage, 

 above which rise the 

 long spikes of reddish - 

 scarlet flowers. Occa- 

 sionally a plant with 

 pale yellow blooms is 

 seen. It flowers in 

 Bummer. 



Lunaria bicnnis 

 (Honesty). Many gar- 

 den lovers are familiar 



with this old-fashioned plant, with lilac-purple 

 flowers in early summer, followed later by the 

 silvery seed-pods which are so useful to dry 

 for winter decoration. The Honesty thrives 

 in most soils and situations, being perhaps 

 most at home in the shrubbery border, wild 

 garden, and among hardy ferns. The plants 

 grow about 2 feet high. In addition to the 

 ordinary purple variety there is one with 

 white and another with deep purple flowers. 

 When once established 

 gAMA' in a garden self-sown 

 seedlings are usually 

 plentiful. 



Matthiola incana 

 (Brompton and East 

 Lothian Stock). The 

 old-fashioned Brompton 

 and East Lothian Stocks 

 have long been the joy 

 and pride of old gar- 

 deners. In amateurs' 

 gardens the Ten - Week 

 Stocks (described in the 

 chapter on Annual 

 Flowers) have rapidly 

 gained, in favour during 

 recent years, presumably 

 because they flower in a 

 much shorter time from 

 seeds. There is, however, 

 something stately and 

 choice about the Bromp- 

 ton varieties which is 

 not so apparent in the 

 others. Sow the seeds 

 of the Bromptons in a 

 cold frame or on a shel- 

 tered border out of doors 

 during July or August. 

 The plants grow from 11 

 to 2 feet high, and flower 

 from May to July ; the 

 colours are white, pink, 

 purple, and crimson. The 

 I -t Lothian Stocks grow 

 from \'2 to 15 inches 

 high, and bloom during 

 May and June, the colours 

 Ix-ing scarlet, purple, 

 mauve, pink, and white. 



Mullein (Verbascum olympicum), . M a t t I, i o 1 a tristis, or 



striking biennial. Hr>|><-ri-< tiiMH. is (lie 



