Gardening for Amateurs 



389 



by division of the clumps during this period, 

 or by sowing seeds on a border outside from 

 April to June. I. ensifolia grows 1 feet 

 high, bearing a profusion of yellow flowers 

 during July and August ; I. glandulosa, 

 2 feet high, has large golden-yellow flowers, 

 valuable for cutting, June to August ; this 

 is the best of all the Inulas, and one of the 

 finest hardy perennials, the blooms are 

 4 to 5 inches across. I. 

 grandiflora, 2 feet high, 

 has large orange-yellow 

 flowers, July to August ; 

 I. Helenium, 6 to 7 feet 

 high, bears large heads of 

 yellow flowers in July ; 

 I. Oculus-Christi, 2 feet 

 high, bears very large 

 golden -yellow fl o w e r s, 

 July to September ; I. 

 royleana, 2 feet, has 

 beautiful golden - yellow 

 flowers, July to Sep- 

 tember. 



Lathyrus (Everlast- 

 ing Pea). The Peren- 

 nial or Everlasting Peas 

 are not so familiar as 

 Sweet Peas ; they are, 

 however, very showy 

 plants, and delightful for 

 clothing fences, screens, 

 and arbours, and for 

 training over sticks in 

 the borders. Give them 

 a loamy soil, deeply 

 cultivated and heavily 

 manured. An increased 

 stock is obtained by 

 division of the roots in 

 spring, and by seeds 

 sown in pots in a cold 

 frame from April to June, or during the 

 same period on a border outside. The 

 most popular sort is L. latifolius, with 

 rose-coloured blooms ; the plants grow 

 6 to 8 feet high, and flower from July 

 to September. There are several good 

 varieties : White Pearl is very free-flowering, 

 alba is the white Everlasting Pea of the 

 old-fashioned garden, and Pink Beauty 

 (delicatus) is a dainty blush-pink sort. All 

 these varieties are of great value for cutting. 



L. grandiflorus has crimson flowers opening 

 during June and July, height 6 feet ; L. 

 rotundifolius is an early-flowering perennial 

 Pea with cherry-carmine flowers opening 

 during May and June. 



Linum (Perennial Flax). The Flaxes 

 are valuable for the front of rather dry, sunny 

 borders, and thrive in ordinary garden soil 

 which is well drained. Propagation is readily 



A charming blue Flax (Linum perenne). 



effected by seeds sown on a border outside 

 between April and June, and by division of 

 the roots in autumn or spring. Croups of six 

 to a dozen plants are very effective in the 

 mixed border. The best kind for gem -ral 

 cultivation is L. perenne ; its slender, grace- 

 ful growths, about \\ feet high, are covered 

 during June and July \\itli dainty pale 

 blue flowers. There are white and rose- 

 coloured varieties of this sort. The yellow 

 Flax L. flavum is delightful in summer 



