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PRACTICAL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS lobelia 



conspicuous among the foliage. The 

 whole plant is scarcely an inch high. 



Culture dc. as above. Besides its 

 value as a rockery or border plant, this 

 species may also be grown in hanging 

 pots or baskets from which the stems 

 hang down gracefully. 



P. repens. — A pretty little plant, native 

 of the Falkland Islands, with somewhat 

 wavy or crenulate kidney-shaped leaves. 

 The flowers are about the same size as 

 those of P. angulata, and appear at the 

 same period, but the white ground colour 

 is tinted with violet or faint purple. 



Culture dc. as above. 



LOBELIA. — This genus contains 

 about 200 species of annual or perennial 

 herbs or bushes, rarely shrubs, with 

 alternate leaves. Flowers solitary or 

 racemose. Calyx tube more or less 

 hemispherical, or obovoid with a 5 -parted 

 limb. Corolla irregular slit down the 

 upper side, lobes nearly equal and united, 

 or often more or less distinctly two- 

 lipped. Stamens usually free from the 

 corolla tube. Anthers imited, all or only 

 two of them bearded. Ovajry inferior or 

 half superior, 2-ceUed. 



Culture and Propagation. — Judici- 

 ously used, LobeUas may be regarded as 

 among some of the most ornamental 

 plants in the flower garden. The dwarf 

 forms are excellent for edgings and 

 borders, and the taller forms are valuable 

 for growing in bold masses in beds by 

 themselves either on grass or near the 

 margins of lakes, streams &c. Most 

 kinds ripen seeds freely, and by sowing 

 these in autmim or spring a very large 

 number of plants can be obtained. The 

 plants may also be increased by division 

 in spring, and also by means of cuttings in 

 a warm greenhouse or hotbed. 



L. cardinalis {Ca/rcUnal Flower). — A 

 brilliant United States perennial 1-3 ft. 

 high, with oblong lance-shaped denti- 

 culate leaves. Flowers in July and 

 August, scarlet, in terminal one-sided 

 leafy racemes. 



Culture and Propagation. — This 

 species makes a fine show if planted in 

 masses. It loves moist or swampy and 

 partially shaded places, and is not hardy 

 in many places, although it will stand a 

 few degrees of frost as far as the midland 

 counties. During severe winters the 

 roots may be protected with leaves or 

 litter, or the crowns may be lifted and 



stored like Dahlia roots in a dry airy 

 place free from frost. 



Seeds may be sown in cold frames in 

 spring, or in hotbeds, and the seedlings 

 pricked off into small pots and planted 

 out in May. The crowns of the old 

 plants may also be carefully divided in 

 spring — not in autumn — and at the same 

 time cuttings of the roots may be made 

 and struck in gentle heat. 



L. Erinus. — A charming and weU- 

 known South African species 3-6 in. 

 high. Lower leaves obovate toothed, 

 upper narrow lance-shaped. Flowers 

 blue with a white or yellowish throat ; 

 the 2 upper petals narrow erect, the 3 

 lower large and broad. 



There are many more or less distinct 

 varieties of this species, the best known 

 being: compacta, with white and blue 

 forms, among the latter being Crystal 

 Palace ; speciosa with Emperor WilUam, 

 and Blue King ; pumila, very dwarf, with 

 grancLiflora, magnifiea, azwrea, and 

 Mrs. Murphy, pure white, paxtoniana, 

 ramosoides, striata multiflora, gracilis 

 (white and blue). There is also a double- 

 flowered variety, and a mauve one, and 

 attempts have often been made to 

 produce a yellow variety, but not with 

 much success so far. 



Lobelia Erinus and its many forms 

 are chiefly valuable for edgings to borders 

 and beds. On patches of sloping ground 

 they make a beautiful blue carpet when 

 planted closely together, the effect in the 

 distance being very fine. 



Culture and Propagation. — The 

 plants are not hardy enough to stand the 

 winter unprotected, but they are easily 

 raised from seeds sown in late autumn 

 or early spring, and also from cuttings. 

 The seeds are minute dust-like, and 

 require to be sown with great care, as 

 thinly as possible, and without any 

 covering or only the slightest sprinkling 

 of fine soil. Seedlings raised in the 

 autumn may be put into small pots or 

 shallow boxes and kept near the glass 

 during winter. The tops may be used as 

 cuttings, and will strike in moist heat in 

 early spring. The old plants in autumn 

 may be potted up, and when estabUshed 

 will produce quantities of cuttings to 

 make sturdy spring plants, and stock 

 produced either from seeds or cuttings in 

 autumn are far better and earlier than 

 those produced in spring. 



