All this beauteous family group demands but the 

 simple^ culture, ju^ good, rich well drained soil, 

 abundant sunshine, a feeding of lime and bone- 

 meal twice during the Summer after the faded 

 flower ^alks have been cut down to a couple of 

 inches off the ground, and a shovel full of coal 

 ashes heaped up over the clumps in Winter. I 

 know you appreciate the greatness of their giving, 

 and realize the fact that nothing in all the flower 

 world is so easily grown and so simply cared for. 

 ^ It is a good plan to know all the different va- 

 rieties, so that you may grow in greater abundance 

 those you admire the mo^, by allowing only a few 

 of the very finest flower-sprays to go to seed. 

 Mark them with a bit of wool or you won't remem- 

 ber which were to be allowed to mature. You will 

 have enough seed for a hundred plants at lea^ 

 from ju^ one spray. Do not cut it from the stalk 

 until the seed heps are a light brown and you can 

 hear the seed rattle when shaken. Then shake 

 them out on a box-lid and keep them dry for a 

 week. They may then be sown at once and will 

 germinate in an astonishingly short time. 

 ^ Another splendid family of hardy perennials 

 are the aconitums (Monkshood) . They are hand- 

 some from tip to base, both foliage and flowers. 

 Napellus white and Napellus bicolor (blue and 

 white) bloom during July and August and grow to 

 nearly three feet. So does plain napellus with its 

 dark velvety blue bloom. Spark's is a great noble 

 plant, five feet high with deep blue flowers at their 

 best in August, while Fischeri, the dwarf of the 



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