450 



Gardening for Amateurs 



Photo: Button & Sons. 



Double Sen* 



plants. The flowers are double, the tall 

 varieties being very useful for cutting. There 

 are numerous colours sold in mixture, and 

 several, including white, crimson, purple, and 

 rose, are sold separately. Sow the seeds 

 under glass early in April, or outside towards 

 the end of the month. 



Silene (Gatchfly). The Silenes are very 

 hardy annuals, and thrive in most soils and 

 situations ; self-sown seedlings come up 

 freely in the borders when the surface is not 

 frequently disturbed. The dwarf sorts are 

 commonly grown as edgings to beds and 

 .borders. S. pendula has rose-coloured 

 blossoms and is 9 inches to 1 foot high ; there 

 are dwarf rose and dwarf white varieties of 

 this which are much used for edgings, being 



Photo : Sutton & Sons. 



Legion of Honour Marigold (Tagetes). 



only 4 inches high and compact in growth. 

 The most popular for borders is Lobel's Catch- 

 fly (S. Armeria), an old-fashioned showy 

 annual growing 1 foot to 18 inches high, 

 with rich rose-coloured flowers, which are 

 prized for cutting. Sow the seeds outside 

 toAvards the end of March where the plants 

 are to grow. 



Specularia speculum (Venus' Looking- 

 glass). This is a showy and early -flowering 

 hardy annual, about 9 inches high. It 

 belongs to the Bell-flower (Campanula) 

 family, and there are dark-blue and white 

 sorts. Sow the seeds during March or April 

 on a rather -moist border in sunny or in 

 partially shaded positions. 



Statice (Sea Lavender). The Statice 

 are doubly valuable, for not only do the 

 flowers last in good condition for a long 

 time on the plants, but as " Everlasting 

 Flowers " they are much prized for winter 

 decoration. An enormous trade is done 

 in autumn and winter with the dried flowers 

 of the annual Sea Lavenders by florists and 

 the street flower-sellers. The seeds may be 

 sown under glass during March, or on a sunny 

 border outside in April ; a sandy soil is 

 preferable. Grow the plants in small beds 

 and groups in the borders, while if quantities 

 of cut flowers are desired plant a patch in 

 the reserve border. S. sinuata is the popular 

 mauve-blue sort, and grows 15 inches high. 

 There are white (alba), pink (rosea), and 

 chamois (Chamois Queen) varieties, seed 

 being sold separately or in mixture. An- 

 other popular sort is the yellow-flowered 

 Bonduelli. The most showy of all is S. 

 Suworowi, which has delightful feathery 

 spikes of rose-coloured flowers ; this takes 

 longer than the other annual Sea Lavenders 

 to reach the flowering stage, and seeds should 

 be sown in a heated greenhouse during 

 February or March. 



Stock. The many beautiful Stocks now 

 generally grown have been obtained from 

 Mathiola annua and M. incana, two South 

 European kinds. The rich and pleasing 

 colours and the delightful fragrance of the 

 flowers render them indispensable. The 

 garden Stocks are divided into several 

 sections ; the most important are the Ten- 

 Week, the Intermediate (which includes the 

 Emperor and East Lothian), the Brompton, 



