THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 
9 
natural size. The first is certainly one of the most 
beautiful of all the French Marigolds, its colours being 
rich and distinctly marked ; it is evidently a first-class 
plant for ribbon borders and beds, also (when cut for 
vases) most suitable for drawing-room decoration. 
“ Dwarf Pigmy” is a very dwarf and compact plant, and 
worthy of a place in every garden of “sweet-scented 
flowers,” for that it comes under the latter category we 
think there can be no doubt, the odour of the flowers, 
though peculiar, being most refreshing and delightful, 
especially after rain and our heavy morning dews. We 
regret that we have not room for a figure of the grand 
“ African Quilled Marigold,” certainly the largest and 
most perfect of all this interesting tribe. This plant, 
FRENCH MARIGOLDS “GOLD STRIPED 
pale mauve flowers. Very fine, too, is Messrs. Wheeler’s 
“ Double Indian Pink,” the seeds having been saved 
from a very choice strain ; the flowers comprise the 
richest colours in combination with the most delicate 
markings : this notable pink is a hardy perennial, but if 
the seeds are sown in the early spring the plants, we are 
assured, will flower the same year. No flowers are more 
useful for winter decoration than those of Helichrysum, 
of which Messrs. Wheeler sent us a number of mag- 
nificent varieties last summer ; these cut flowers have 
been in vases ever since that time (now more than six 
months), and they l’etain their pristine colours and 
original forms just as at the individual moment when 
they were first gathered. Ageratum “ Imperial Blue,” 
AND “ DWARF PIGMY.” 
from its being so beautifully cpiilled and so very double, 
is simply invaluable (after putting aside its usefulness in 
the garden) for cutting and show purposes. We now 
simply pass over the first-rate strains of Primulas, 
Auriculas, and Cinerarias, sent out by this firm, to refer 
at once to their varieties of German Stocks and Asters ; 
of these the best is “ East Lothian,” with its immense 
spikes of bloom of brilliant purple, scarlet, pure white, 
and dark crimson; and “Mauve Beauty,” a magnificent 
variety, origiually raised by our friend, Mr. Richard 
Dean, of Ealing, and figured by us (Plate 38) in our 
volume for 1872. It will be remembered that this plant 
has a true pyramidal habit, with dense masses of lustrous 
and the “ Double Portulaeca,” are now so well known in 
good gardens that it is unnecessary for us to say a word 
ia praise of their habit and dense masses of azure-blue 
and crimson flowers ; they are confessedly two of the 
most valuable flowers that can be planted in garden beds 
and about rockwork. Nothing can compare with the soft 
blue and fragrant flowers of the former, and the intense 
brilliancy of the double flowers of the latter. 
Like many other of our foremost plant and seed mer- 
chants, Messrs. Wheeler and Son evidently spare neither 
trouble nor pains to secure seeds, bulbs, and plants of the 
very finest varieties ; this is evidenced by the seeds, &c., 
enumerated in their “ Little Book” (or Catalogue of 
