POPULAR GARDEN PLANTS. 



487 



border, or in the flower-garden to form a centre 

 do large beds, or mingled with some other suit- 

 able plant. 



Cuttings formed of barren shoots will strike 

 at almost any time of the year, the best time 

 being August or September; the softer the wood, 

 the more readily do the cuttings root. Leafy 

 shoots 4 inches long should be taken, cut just 

 below a joint, and inserted in light sandy soil, 

 well drained, and in pots or pans in a cold frame. 

 Or they can be put in a warm border and 

 covered with a hand-glass, shading them from 

 the sun. Plants that have remained out all 

 the summer will often live through the winter 

 in the open border^ especially if some ashes 

 are placed about the roots by way of affording 

 protection in severe weather. 



Seeds saved from a good strain generally 

 yield a large percentage of equally good 

 varieties. They should be sown in shallow 

 boxes of good light soil in February or March 

 in a gentle bottom -heat, where they soon 

 germinate. When the seedlings are large 

 enough to handle, they should be pricked off 

 into other boxes and kept in heat for a time, 

 hardening them off before planting them in 

 prepared beds in May or June. Plant them 

 about a foot apart each way in good soil, and 

 in dry weather occasional watering at the roots 

 will keep them growing. If extra strong plants 

 are required by May, seed should be sown in 

 August, and the plants grown in a frame 

 through the winter. 



Select Named Varieties. 



Adonis. White, suffused with lilac. 



Alfred Richet. Bright-vermilion, white throat. 



Archibald Colquhoun. Crimson and white, veined purple. 



Argou. Bluish -purple, white throat. 



Berlioz. Violet-purple, white throat. 



Bridesmaid. Large, pure-white. 



Charles Street. Pale -lilac, veined crimson. 



Compacta. Scarlet, purple, and white. 



Conspicua. Violet-purple and white. 



David Wood. White shaded purple. 



Eclipse. Purplish -crimson, blotched chocolate. 



Floribunda. Blood-red, white throat. 



George Ulrich. Scarlet, white throat. 



Henry Lister. Rosy-purple and white, marked crimson. 



Jean Mace. Scarlet, white throat. 



Le Niagara. Creamy-white. 



Mont Blanc. Pure -white. 



Mrs. Bosanquet. Purplish-crimson. 



Serenade. White shaded lilac. 



Surcouf. Carmine-lake, with chocolate markings. 



Tissandier. Rosy-carmine and white, spotted crimson. 



Victor Hugo. Dark-lilac, white throat, spotted purple. 



William Fowler. Rosy-lilac, white throat. 



William Lumley. Bright-red, pencilled chocolate. 



W. M. Baillie. Bright-scarlet, white throat. 



Phlox (fig. 595). — The popular perennial 

 border Phloxes are said to be the outcome of 

 a cross between P. panicutata (decussata) and P. 

 maculata, the former with tall, erect unbranched 

 stems, ovate -lanceolate leaves, and large ter- 

 minal panicles of lilac, purple, or white flowers; 



Fig. 595.— Phlox. 



the latter with shorter stems, spotted with 

 purple, the panicle of flowers narrower, the 

 flowers fragrant, purple or white. Their progeny 

 are popularly known as forms of P. decussata. 

 Many named sorts have been raised, chiefly 

 by M. Lemoine, Mr. Kelway, and Mr. John 

 Forbes, and new ones are added annually. 

 They vary in height from 1 foot to 3 or 4 

 feet, and there is considerable range of varia- 

 tion in the colours of the flowers, and also in 

 the shape of the leaves. 



Although these plants are not particular as 

 to soil, they pay for good cultivation. They 

 are too often left to struggle for existence with 

 coarse herbaceous plants and shrubs, and even 

 then they make a good display from July until 

 the frost stops them. But to have them in 

 perfection they should be grown in beds by 

 themselves, a few large beds in a sunny position 



