122 FA.VILlA/t OAIiBSX FLOWERS. 



tliey Kay of an actor who succeeds i)ert'cctly that he has 

 " created '' the part, s(j we may say that the Ledding 

 system cre;ited the ayeratum. Sweet's hgure represents 

 a hjny-legyed weedy herl.i, with small indecisive heads of 

 tlowers of a pjale blue colour. It was raised from seeds 

 obtained from Mexico by ]Mr, Bullock^ and was lirst grown 

 by IMr, Tate, nurseryman of Sloane Street, more than half 

 a century ago. Now we have varieties of several shades 

 cif colour — some of a line light azure blue, others silverv- 

 gre}', lavender-gre}', and white, the plants also varying in 

 height, some of them lieing so dwarf as to form moss-like 

 tufts upon the ground. A collection of the best would 

 comprise the Quern, silver-grej^ ; Hwaidei) Blue, light clear 

 blue; L'l'p'nl, very dwarfed, the tlowers blue ; and Malceni 

 Beitiilif, the most dwarfed of all, the heads of the tlowers 

 large, and of a beautiful blue colour. The last-named is 

 dwarf enough for carpet bedding, and is associated with the 

 most dwarfed of the blue lobelias. The demand, during a 

 quarter of a century or more, for material adaj)ted for 

 bedding, has proved of such "creative" power that a very 

 consideraljle proportion of our ornamental garden plants 

 have been remodelled, aiid we may even say beautitied 

 by tile hybridist for the purjjose. 



As is usual in sutdi cases, several species have beell em- 

 plo}'ed. Amongst the garden varieties ma}' be noted more 

 or less of the feattli'es of Aijernlum cteriilcuiii, which has 

 sky-bltie flowers; J. coiiij-.vhhii, which has gi'eyish-blue 

 flowers; .-/. J/c.c/tv;///;///, lavender ; -mxA A. driatinn. With 

 the exception of the IMexiean plant, which is tender, all 

 of them arc hardy annuals, and yet it is customarv to treat 

 tliem as tender perennials, and they answer \'ery' well to 

 buch treatment. However^ as in most seed catalogues two 



