PLANTS WORTH GROWING 
175 
florists of the old school, maintains its prominent 
position among the subjects that may be classified 
as exhibition flowers, the named varieties being 
symmetrical in form and rich and pure in colour. 
To those who wish to form a collection of some 
subject that may be made a speciality, the Florist's 
Pentstemon makes a strong appeal. A good Pent- 
stemon must have large bell-shaped blossoms with 
a wide, evenly rimmed, flattened margin. The 
outer colour must be rich and solid, and a perfectly 
clean-cut, u n- 
broken band of 
the same colour 
should encircle 
the wide-open 
mouth. The 
throat may be 
either plain, in 
which case it 
should be clean 
white, or pencilled, that is lined or veined with 
colour streaks running down the tube over a white 
ground. The bells must be evenly built up on a tall 
erect spike, the length and strength of which will 
depend upon the care and skill of the cultivator. 
To propagate named varieties, select in September 
strong young axillary shoots that break away after 
removal of flower stems. Take off with a ' heel ' 
or cut square at a stout joint, remove a couple of 
pairs of leaves, and insert in sandy leaf-soil round the 
Outline of the Trumpet Mouth of a 
Florist's Pentstemon. 
Left hand flower, plain throated; right 
hand, pencilled. 
