126 BRECK’S NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 
abundantly repay all the labor that may be bestowed up- 
on it. 
T have succeeded very well, in its cultivation, by keep- 
ing the roots out of ground until March, and then plant- 
ing them ina bed prepared in the fall, that had been 
kept covered till the time of planting. The roots of the 
Anemones are solid, flattened masses, like those of ginger, 
and are multiplied by dividing them. | 
More than one hundred and fifty choice varieties are 
enumerated in some of the Dutch catalogues of the 
present day, classed as follows:—red, or blood color; 
rosy and white, flamed with purple; sky blue; purple or 
ash color; rosy, with green, and white, and agate. 
.A fine double Anemone should stand upon a strong, 
elastic and erect stem, not less than nine inches high. 
‘he blossom or corolla, should be at least two and a half. 
inches in diameter. The outer petals, or guard leaves, 
should be substantial, well rounded, at first horizontally 
~xtended, and then turning a little upwards, so as to form 
a broad, shallow cup, the interior part of which should 
contain a great number of long, small petals, imbricating 
each other, and rather reverting from the centre of the 
blossom. There are a great number of small stamens in- 
termixed with these petals, but they are short, and not 
easily discernable. The color should be clear and distinct 
when diversified in the same flower, or brilliant and strik- 
ing if it consists only of one color, as blue, crimson, or 
scarlet, etc., in which case the bottom of the broad ex- 
terior petals is generaly white; but the beauty and con- 
trast are greatly increased when both the exterior and in- 
terior petals are regularly marked with alternate blue and 
white, or pink and white stripes, etc., which in the broad 
petals should not extend quite to the margin. 
Propagation.—By dividing the roots for the fine sorts, 
and by seed for new varieties. 
