PERENNIALS AND BIENNIALS 



see all this for yourself. In the mean time these 

 sketches, drawn from nature, will help you to un- 

 derstand it all. I have not planted any of these 

 seeds for some years ; the plants themselves do it 

 all. Digitalis does not seem to care what sort of 

 a soil or situation it gets, growing in sunshine or 

 shadow, and has spread even to the neighboring 

 woods. The seeds lodge in the crevices of the 

 rocky steps where no soil at all was intended to 

 be, but there they grow, and thrive, and bloom, 

 even starting up in the gravel walks like very 

 weeds. In color it ranges from pure white to a 

 deep red or purple, with variations of cream and 

 rose, marked with blotches of purple or maroon. 

 The seed may be planted in the spring on the sur- 

 face, and the earth firmed down about them. They 

 are easily transplanted in the spring and require 

 little if any attention. The great stems of parti- 

 colored blossoms make handsome decorations for 

 the hall-way. Digitalis is found in different species 

 in northern Africa, southern Europe, western Asia, 

 and one species, at least, in Siberia. It blooms 

 on the island from the i st of July to the 20th of 

 August, and is at its best about the last week of 

 July. I have seen, however, a belated individual 

 or two in full bloom the last of September. 



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