HAEDY AND HALF-HARDY ANNUALS. 



393 



on a rich border they grow freely, and are often very 

 fioriferous during summer. /. Bona- N ox, the Good -Night 

 flower, may also be grown against a sunny warm wall ; 

 its large white blossoms open at night. /. versicolor 

 {Mina lobata) is an attractive and free-flowering half- 

 hardy annual, most useful for covering a warm wall 

 during summer. The plants should be raised under glass, 

 hardened off and planted out at the end of May. 



Jacob/EA elegans. — See under Senecio. 



Kaulfussia amelloides, a native of South Africa, is 

 an ornamental hardy Daisy-like annual, blue-flowered 

 with a yellow disc. There are garden varieties of it 

 with white, rose, yellow, carmine, &c, flowers. The seeds 

 may be sown out-of-doors in ordinary soil about the 

 middle of April ; or on a hot-bed earlier in the year and 

 transplanted. 



Lathyrus odoratus (fig. 493). — The Sweat Pea is a 

 most popular hardy annual. It is said to have been in- 

 troduced from Sicily in 1700, but it is within the last 



t < _ 







Fig. 493. — Lathyrus odoratus. 



forty years that improved varieties have been raised. 

 About twenty years ago, Mr. Henry Eckford commenced 

 to breed them, and he obtained seedlings of new colours 

 and improvements in size and substance of flowers. New 

 varieties have also been raised in the United States, and 

 now the number of forms is very large. For cut-flower 

 purposes the Sweet Pea has scarcely a rival. A dwarf 

 type known as The Cupid originated in the United States 

 a few years ago, and varieties of it appear annually. 



The Sweet Pea may be grown in any garden soil, but 

 a deep and rather heavy loam gives the best results. 

 The soil should be deeply dug and manured in the 

 autumn. Early sowing is important. If the seeds are 

 sown in drills they should be prepared as for ordinary 

 garden Peas, scattering them thinly and evenly, and 



covering them with two inches of soil. As the plants 

 grow, the soil should be drawn about the stems. If 

 the seeds are sown in pots, six seeds in each pot will be 

 sufficient. They can then be planted out to form a bush 

 with the aid of pea-sticks in well- manured soil. Soaking 

 the seeds for a few hours in water before sowing hastens 

 germination.. Those varieties with lighter-coloured seeds, 

 such as Blanche Burpee and Emily Henderson, both 

 white -flowered, and Mrs. Eckford and Primrose, prim- 

 rose-coloured, are more liable to rot in the soil than the 

 black or dark-brown seeds. It is not advisable to grow 

 Sweat Peas on the same ground two years in succession. 

 Other annual forms of Lathyrus deserving a place in the 

 garden are Lord Anson's Pea, a form of L. sativus, having 

 a lovely shade of blue, but which soon fades undei sun- 

 shine ; and L. tingitanus, the Tangier Pea, which bears 

 large crimson and maroon flowers. 



Lavatera trimestris is a common but beautiful and 

 showy hardy Mallow-like annual, cf tall growth, and 

 producing large and striking rose-coloured flowers. There 

 is a white variety of it. Seeds germinate freely when 

 sown in the open ground, but the soil should be rich and 

 holding. 



Layia (Oxyura) chrysanthemoides {elegans), a North 

 American species with yellow composite flowers and a 

 pure-white variety of it, are useful dwarf annuals, about 

 a foot in height, flowering freely, and remaining for some 

 weeks in bloom. 



Leptosiphon is represented by a group of dwarf- 

 growing annuals, raised by the intercrossing of two or 

 three species. They are very compact in habit, and 

 extremely free, but they do not last a great time in 

 blossom. On warm and sunny spots and in a light rich 

 soil they are showy and useful as edgings to plants of 

 taller growth. L. 7-oseus is particularly attractive. 



Leptosyne calliopsidea (maritima). — A perennial 

 formerly included in Coreopsis; grows to a height of 1^ 

 foot, and produces large lemon -yellow Marguerite - like 

 flowers, on long stalks. The true L. maritima is less 

 than a foot high, and has smaller flowers. It is also 

 useful as an annual. L. Stillmani is not unlike the last- 

 named, but it flowers earlier, usually within a few weeks 

 from the time of sowing. They all prefer a light soil in 

 a sunny position, and should be raised from seeds grown 

 in a little warmth in February, planting out in May. 



Limnanthes Douglasii, from California, of dwarf and 

 rather spreading growth, forms dense tufts of yellow and 

 white blossoms in early spring. Years ago this plant 

 was grown from seeds sown in late summer, and played 

 an important part in spring gardening, being hardy, and 

 coming into bloom with the Daisy and Wallflower. 

 Bee-keepers should grow it about the hives. 



Linaria comprises a large number of species mainly 

 from the Northern hemisphere. The hardy annuals are 

 the Portuguese L. bipartita, L. maroccana from Morocco, 

 and several others which have been intercrossed, and 

 from them have sprung various forms bearing parti- 

 coloured, yellow, orange, crimson, and black blossoms. 

 Being dwarf and free, they soon form a brilliant floral 

 picture in the garden. 



LiNUM includes a few annuals, the North African 

 L. grandijlorum (fig. 494), and its variety rubrum, being 

 by far the best. The latter is known as the Scarlet Flax. 

 It prefers light soil and full sunshine, growing to a height 

 of 18 inches. L. luteum or co}'ymbosum is another annual 

 of continental origin. 



Loasa lateritia (L. aiu'antiaca), though a half-hardy 

 perennial, is so much employed as an annual that 



