398 



THE GAKDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



should be sown in a little heat. The dwarf varieties are 

 better suited for small gardens. 



Salvia. — A large genus, which includes a few good 

 annuals, viz. S. carduacea, lavender-blue, and S. prunel- 



loides, also blue, but they are rarely seen in gardens. 

 A variety named Blut Beard is a form of the last-named. 



SaNVITALIA procumbcns is a useful dwarf Mexican 

 annual, bearing small Sunflower -like blossoms, yellow, 

 with a dark disc. A double form of it flowers freely 

 until late in the autumn, and is an excellent edging plant. 



SAPONARIA (Soapwort) is represented by one animal 

 species, S. calabrica, and several varieties, all of which 

 can be grown in the open air. It is of compact growth, 

 about a tout high, and the small rose-red, pink-like blos- 

 soms are freely produced. The seeds should be sown in 

 the open ground in March. 



Sc \uiosA. — The popular annuals, or, as grown by some, 

 biennials, of tins genus are varieties of S. Cttropurpurea, 

 a native of Southern Europe. They vary in height from 

 H to 3 feet, and also in the size, colour, and fulness of 

 their flowers. If the seeds are sown in boxes under glass 

 in March, the plants will be ready to put out in May. 

 In warm situations they may be sown in the open ground. 

 They also do well when treated as biennials, sowing the 

 seeds in April and treating the plants to flower in the 

 following year. Some prefer to sow the seeds in pans or 

 boxes in August, and grow on the plants in cold frames 

 to flower in a cold house in early spring. They are most 

 useful, easily-grown plants. 



Sohizanthus. — The Butterfly- or Fringe-Flowers are 

 vai'ieties of S. pinnatus and £. retusus (fig. 503). They 

 are grown to flower in spring and early summer by sowing 

 the seeds thinly in large pots in August and September 

 and growing on the plants all the winter in a frame or 



greenhouse. Thus treated they form large bushes, a yard 

 high, covered with elegant, many-coloured flowers, and 

 are excellent for the conservatory. If to be grown outside, 

 the plants should be raised under glass and planted in the 

 open in May. 



Schizopetalon. — This genus includes a pretty white 

 annual of medium growth, the flowers of which are 

 pleasantly fragrant in the evening. It is usual to raise 

 the seeds in pots in a compost made up of loam, peat, and 

 sand, planting the seedlings out in the border in May. 



Senecio elegans. — The Purple Jacobsea is a useful 

 free -flowering, hardy S. African annual, growing in the 

 form of compact bushes 1| foot high. It is much employed 

 for bedding purposes in summer. There are several varie- 

 ties, with flowers varying from crimson to purple, white, 

 rose, &c. There is a dwarf strain, nana, and there are 

 forms with double flowers. Seeds may be sown in a 

 moderate heat, and grown on into size, hardening the 

 plants in a cold frame preparatory to planting out in a 

 sandy soil. The blossoms are produced from July to 

 October. 



Silene (Catch-fly). — There are two useful annual species 

 of Silene, viz. £. Armeria, a loose erect grower 18 inches 

 high, with numerous bright-rose flowers ; S. pcndula, and 

 its variety, compacta, both glaucous-green dense plants 

 18 inches high, with crowded heads of carmine flowers both 



Fig. 503.— Schizanthus retusus. 



single and double, very free - flowering, and particularly 

 serviceable in early spring. Seeds can be sown in the 

 open ground in March and April for summer blooming, 

 and in August for a spring display. 



