24 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS, 
not be planted in the borders until they have flowered and 
proved to be worth keeping. 
The pretty Phlox Drummondi is so surprisingly beauti- 
ful that we cannot but regret it is seldom seen in English 
gardens. It is the more valuable now that the distinctive 
colours are easily secured by sowing well-saved seeds, so 
that as a bedding-plant it is not only one of the loveliest, 
but certainly one of the cheapest. If the seed is sown at 
any time between the middle of March and the middle of 
April, and started ina gentle heat, the usual nursing of a 
half-hardy annual will suffice to ensure strong plants to 
put out at the end of May, and this being accomplished, 
there is nothing more to be done, for the showers and 
sunshine will do the rest. In burning summers (of 
which, unfortunately, we have but few) this lovely plant 
holds its own as well as any border plant in cultivation. 
When verbenas and caleeolarias have been roasted too 
brown, and even scarlet geraniums are beginning to ery 
for something to drink, Drummond’s phlox appears to be 
unconcerned, and goes on blooming as if the hot weather 
had been ordered for it. 
