70 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 
the plant will, if properly managed, flower freely in th 
open air. If winter fowers are required, the plant mus 
be in the stove, where, if fairly dealt with, it will rise to : 
height of ten or twelve feet, and make a very delightfu 
display of its intensely blue flowers, in which the blue o: 
the delphinium—the rarest colour in nature, save in thi 
vast firmament above 
is developed in power and purity. 
Salvia patens may be raised from seed with ease ar 
certainty. If it is sown in sandy soil in shallow pans anc 
boxes early in February, and placed in the stove or on ; 
common hotbed, the plants may be grown to a sufficien 
size to make a good display in the flower garden the sam: 
season. It will be necessary to pot them into small pots 
and keep them in a warm pit or greenhouse until th: 
middle of May, when they should be transferred to a col 
frame, and have more and more air by degrees, but witl 
very great care in the first instance, the object of thi 
treatment being to render them hardy enough to bear ful 
exposure before they are finally planted out The be 
should be in a sunny situation, well drained, and the so! 
somewhat sandy. To plant them out before the first wee 
of June would be unwise, but as soon after that tim 
as possible they should be consigned to their bloomin; 
quarters, and should be at a distance apart of not les 
than nine to twelve inches. 
The plants can be kept from year to year by liftin, 
the roots after the tops have been cut down by frost, an 
storing them in sand during the winter. Early in tb 
spring these roots should be planted in boxes or pans fille 
with light soil, and be placed in a moderate heat to star 
them into growth. They will soon produce voung shoot: 
which, when two or three inches in length, may be take 
