OF ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 
217 
frame, made of slender strips of laths. Of course, the manner of training may vary according to taste; and the 
plant looks very well nailed against a wall or wooden paling: all that is necessary is to give it some support, as 
it not only never flowers well if it is suffered to lie on the ground, but the stems, which are very succulent, soon 
become rotten and decay. When well trained, and grown in a moist shady situation, the flowers will not only 
be large and beautiful, but will be produced in greater abundance and for a much longer period than is generally 
the case with the Californian annuals. 
3.—NEMOPHILA INSIGNIS, Doug. THE SHOWY NEMOPHILA. 
Engravings. —Bot. Reg. t. 1713 ; Bot. Mag, t. 3485; Swt. Brit. Specific Character.- —Petioles without appendages; corolla twice 
Flow. Gard. 2nd ser., t. 329; Bot. Gard. No. 635 ; Paxt. Mag. of as long as the calyx ; placentas 10 to 12-ovulate_(G. Don.) 
Bot. vol. iii. p. 151 ; and our Jig. 7, in-Plate 37. 
Description, &c.— It is not possible to imagine a more beautiful blue than is displayed in this lovely little 
flower. It is like the finest ultra-marine, softened in the centre into white ; and a bed of it has a most beautiful 
effect in a geometrical flower-garden, where the beds are designed each to present a rich mass of colour, and to 
be strongly contrasted with each other. In such a garden, where the scarlet is represented by the Verbena 
Melindres pegged down so as to cover the bed; the purple by the Petunia phcenicea; the white by Petunia 
nyctaginifolia ; and the yellow by Lasthenia glabrata or californica , the blue may be filled with equal effect by 
the Nemophila insignis ; and such a garden, well kept (like that at Dropmore), with a bright sun shining on it, 
will present a blaze of beauty almost too dazzling for the eye to rest on. In all gardens, however, this Nemophila 
is exceedingly valuable for the extraordinary beauty of its flowers; and, accordingly, it has become an almost 
universal favourite. It is a native of California, where it was found by Douglas in 1832. Common, however, 
as this plant now is, and easy as its culture appears, there are some difficulties in it which it is necessary to 
guard against. The name of the genus Nemophila , which,signifies literally a lover of the woods, seems to point 
out the kind of situation in which all the species should be placed ; but at the same time, it is found by experience, 
that in a very dark and shaded situation they will not long continue to thrive. The fact is, that the blossoms 
do not expand well unless they have plenty of light, though the roots of all the Nemophilas being very weak, 
and their stems just at the collar very slender, the plants are easily destroyed if these tender parts are ever suffered 
to become too dry. A few hours 1 bright sunshine on the collar of a plant of Nemophila insignis will he sufficient 
to kill it, however large and thriving it may he, as the roots will wither as soon as they become thoroughly dry, 
and there is not vigour enough in the collar to enable it to throw out fresh roots. Thus many persons who have 
grown the Nemophila insignis , have been surprised to find their plants die while yet full of buds, and before they 
have ripened a single seed ; and that this death has taken place suddenly, and without any apparent cause. 
Fresh seeds have been procured and sown, they have rapidly germinated, and, in a month or six weeks, have 
produced flowers, which have continued for a long time in beauty, and been followed by a succession of others, 
even to the middle of winter. The reason for this apparent contradiction exists in the greater power of the sun 
on the roots of the early flowering plants ; while those of the second sowing, not coming to perfection before 
autumn, were less likely to be injured by the drought and heat. Notwithstanding the necessity which thus 
evidently exists for keeping the roots of the Nemopliilas moist and in the shade, it must be observed, not only 
that the flowers require sun, but that too much moisture at the roots, without proper drainage, is apt to make 
the collar rot, in which case the plants damp off. The best way of guarding against both evils is to make 
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