MY FLORAL TREASURES. 221 



ers since those days. Where the old time garden could only boast of a 

 bed of pinks, a few rose bushes and a row of bachelor buttons, we now 

 see a large variety of annuals brightening the yard of the poor man's 

 cottage as well as the rich man's lawn. While nearly every family 

 cultivates flowers of some description, many do not attempt to raise 

 annuals, thinking they require more time in their cultivation than they 

 have to spare. It is not necessary to have a large piece of land laid 

 out in fanciful designs, requiring the skill of a professional gardener 

 to take care of it to raise annuals. A piece of land a few yards square 

 will be all one person will care to tend — especially if that person be a 

 woman, with the cares of the average housewife — not but what I 

 would like more, for I am particularly greedy in this respect but 

 experience has taught me a few varieties well cared for gives better sat- 

 isfaction, than a larger list would if neglected. 



As my acquaintance with the flora family is more particularly con- 

 fined to the common varieties, I shall only speak of these. Our 

 annuals the past season consisted of the following, viz: phlox, ver- 

 bena, mignonette, petunia, pansy, sweet alyssum, candytuft and asters. 

 The spring was quite backward and I could not transplant the seed- 

 lings until after the first week in June, but as it was quite warm then, 

 they soon commenced to bloom and I think we never had finer 

 annuals, especially our bed of phlox drummondi, which was a blaze 

 of brightness for weeks- — flowers large, bright, and of twenty differ- 

 ent shades of color. 



Verbenas we had of every color, from pure white, through all the 

 shades of pink, crimson, and scarlet, to a deep purple, almost black. 

 My mignonette, " New Golden Queen," was a marvel for the size and 

 fragrance of its blossoms. Petunias did finely, and were constantly 

 in bloom from early June until frost killed them. These bloom best 

 if the soil is not very rich, as a rich compost induces leaf growth at 

 the expense of flowers. My pansies, I regret to say, were a failure, 

 owing to the dry weather, and too sunny a situation. Shall try a 

 more shady location next season, and I trust with better results. 



White flowers are my favorites, therefore my candytuft and sweet 

 alyssum amply repaid me for the little care they required, the latter 

 being one solid mass of white bloom for months. One needs so many 

 white flowers to use in the arrangement of bouquet vases, and baskets 

 in the house, that it is quite impossible to get an over supply. 



