The Garden Magazine, February, 1921 
307 
brought into bloom for 
Christmas or Easter, but 
should be especially popu- 
lar as an out-door bedding 
plant, where flowers of 
flaming hues with good 
green foliage by way of 
contrast are desired. 
There have been fewer 
improvements in Delphin- 
iums during recent years 
than garden lovers might 
wish, but some of the new 
seedlings, particularly 
Totty’s special hybrids, 
are exceedingly valuable, 
and well worth getting ac- 
quainted with. Then there 
is Delphinium ajacis Blue 
Gem, which as tested out 
last season proved an ex- 
cellent dwarf plant. Seeds 
sown the middle of March 
produced flowers during 
July and August, and in 
September fresh growths 
were sent up which 
bloomed in October. 
A good plant for a back- 
yard garden which receives 
only a minimum amount 
of attention is a giant Mal- 
low, Hibiscus Manihot, 
which grows ten feet high 
and bears light yellow flow- 
ers seven or eight inches 
across during September 
and October. One very im- 
portant fact to remember 
in connection with this 
flower is that seeds must 
be sown in February, six 
months being required to 
produce blooming plants. 
Another very delightful new flower, although entirely different 
in many ways from the one just mentioned, is a Candytuft 
known as Improved White Spiral. As grown in the Missouri 
Botanical Test Garden it proved very attractive, with dense 
spikes of pure white blossoms. This can be recommended highly 
for bedding, except for the fact that its season ends before the 
beginning of September. This is another plant which must be 
started indoors, the middle of March being the right time to 
sow the seeds. 
T HIS season has yielded a fine crop of novelties among the 
Sweet-peas, several of them being as striking in name as in 
appearance. Among the most promising are Glitters, Flamingo, 
and Femon Beauty. For a blazing color it would be difficult to 
surpass the first, at least among the orange-colored Sweet-peas. 
It lives up to its name, not only glittering but fairly scintilating, 
with a fire-like sheen radiating over the flowers. It is especially 
recommended for evening decoration, its color under artificial 
light being startlingly lovely. Flamingo is noteworthy for its 
size; its color is light orange suffused with salmon. The novelty 
of Femon Beauty lies in its soft primrose body color with wings 
of amber tint. A few other interesting Sweet-pea novelties 
include Myrtle, which starts out with flowers of creamy yellow, 
but undergoes a curious transformation so that eventually the 
blooms carry a bright band of violet; Lady Fair, one of the hand- 
somest pale pink Sweet-peas yet put out; and Scarlet Globe 
which remains true to its color even after being cut. 
O F LATE years the 
hybridizers have 
been giving particular at- 
tention to Zinnias. One 
of the most unique is a 
conical-shaped Zinnia put 
out last year, but which as 
yet has been grown in only 
a few gardens. When given 
rich soil and the right con- 
ditions it is an unusual 
flower. A new Cactus- 
flowered Zinnia introduced 
this season is distinct in 
form from all other kinds, 
the petals being so curled 
that they are almost tubu- 
lar, thus suggesting the 
name. Altogether it looks 
very much like a fine- 
petaled Cactus Dahlia, and 
the colors range through 
shades of yellow, orange, 
pink, and crimson. 
The new double Picotee 
Zinnias form an interest- 
ing novelty, with immense 
and very double blossoms 
appearing in all the usual 
shades, but having the 
lower end of each petal 
tipped with maroon, pink, 
and other markings. 
For several years hy- 
bridizers have been work- 
ing hard in this country 
and England to get as 
good a “ blue ” Petunia as 
one which came originally 
from Germany. Several of 
them seem to have suc- 
ceeded simultaneously, for 
a number of excellent 
violet-blue or blue-purple 
Petunias are on the market this year, including Violet Queen, 
Purple Queen, and Burbank’s Blue Petunia. Some of the most 
remarkable new Petunias have come from California, where 
a great amount of work is being given to their development. 
No article like this is complete without mention of the Blue 
Lace Flower, even though it has been out for a year or two. 
Except for its color it closely resembles the beautiful Queen 
Anne’s Lace of the fields and meadows, but is coming into high 
favor because of its value as a cut flower. It lasts from ten days 
to two weeks in water, and the flowering season is a long one. 
One point must be remembered, though, if you would avoid 
disappointment. The seed is slow to germinate, and often rots 
if the ground is too wet. You will be wise to start the seeds of 
this Australian annual (Trachymene caerulea) in a flat indoors 
or at least in a cold frame. 
The original Chinese Wool Flower has ceased to be a novelty, 
but now comes in three new colors, pink, yellow, and scarlet, 
which will attract renewed attention to this excellent bedding 
annual. 
T HE list might be continued to embrace the new Sunflowers, 
including Prolific White; likewise many new Asters, Snap- 
dragons, Dahlias, and Gladiolus, but the cream of the novelties 
has been selected, I think, in the paragraphs already written, 
and enough has been said to prove my point, that the lover of 
new things in the garden will be able this year to satisfy his de- 
sire in that direction to his heart’s content. 
LEMON BEAUTY SWEET-PEA 
A new claimant for notice in the yellow shades, this 
also is enriched by tints of amber in the wings 
