BEDDING PLANTS. 87 



PLUMBAGO CAPENSIS is usually treated as a greenhouse plant. It 

 blooms after midsummer on the current year's growth. Our warm 

 Summers are very favorable to its growth out-of-doors, and it certainly 

 ought to be largely grown for this purpose, as there is no other plant 

 which can supply the color (light blue) so abundantly. Plants from 

 Fall struck cuttings will be large enough by planting out time to fill 4- 

 inch pots, and they ought to be planted out from this size for early 

 blooming, as younger plants are too apt to make growth instead of 

 flower. The best flowering plants are those which have been wintered 

 over in a dormant state, the larger the better; by midsummer they are 

 a solid mass of bloom. There is a white flowered form which goes well 

 w r ith the blue one, but this should not be confounded with P. zeylanica 

 a worthless species. 



RICINUS (Castor Bean) This grows, according to variety, from 5 to 

 15 feet in height. R. zanzibarensis, a green-leaved form, continues 

 growing all Summer and does not even ripen its seeds in this locality. 

 R. Gibsoni has blood-red foliage. The seeds should "be sown beginning 

 of April in small pots, as they form a large mass of roots quickly after 

 germinating. 



SALVIA SPLENDENS, the scarlet Sage, is the most used of this exten- 

 sive genus for bedding purposes. Young plants are raised early in 

 Spring from cuttings taken from lifted and headed back plants. S. 

 marmorata, S. Wm. Bedman, S. alba and S. Mrs. Stevens are all well- 

 known kinds. 



SANCHEZIA NOBILIS puts on a very rampant growth when placed 

 out-of-doors in rich soil. Although a bed of Cannas may look best by 

 themselves, a border is often wanted of some other plant; this species 

 will answer well for such a purpose. Good-sized cuttings root very 

 freely. They may be wintered in 3-inch pots in a moderately warm 

 house. 



SANTOLINA INCANA Although a perfectly hardy, dwarf shrub, it is 

 frequently used for Summer effects in carpet bedding. It can be rooted 

 any time before frost, in boxes of sand kept in a cool, close frame, or 

 from old plants wintered in a frame. Cuttings may be secured in Spring. 



SWAINSONA Not only is this plant useful for Winter blooming, but 

 early struck cuttings grown in well-drained soil will flower well in Sum- 

 mer. Old cut back plants which have flowered during the previous 

 Winter will also supply an abundance of bloom when planted out. 



STROBILANTHES DYERIANUS This species, especially in a young 

 state, has foliage suggestive of some of the highly -colored Bertolonias. 

 Its treatment should be similar to that given the Coleue, so far as 

 wintering and propagating are concerned. When planted out in the full 

 sun, the leaves are apt to have a washed-out appearance, especially on 

 old plants. A situation having partial shade is best. 



TAQETES Some of the Mexican species are useful for late blooming. 

 In the open border they are among the last plants in flower. The im- 



