150 
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
purple, quite hardy. P. glaber, 1 foot, deep blue. P. procerus. 
a trailing species with blue flowers, makes a fine tuft on a 
sunny ledge of a rockery. P . speciosus , 3 feet, flowers bright 
blue, hardy and handsome. 
BEST THIRTY PENTSTEMONS. 
Agnes Laing, Pons. Villageois, Arthur Hardy, George 
Avner, Arthur Sterry, Azure a elegans, Baroness Sempill, Can¬ 
didate, Colin Bell, Harry King, James Forrest, James Boths- 
child , Grandis , John Pow , Lady Boswell, Magenta, Miss Car¬ 
negie, Miss Hay, Mrs. M. Binning, Miss Baillie, Mrs. A. Sterry, 
Novelty, Painted Lady, Purple Perfection, Purple King, Queen 
Victoria, Pev. C. P. Peach, Posy Gem, Shirley Hibberd , Stan- 
ctead Pival , Sunrise , TV. K. Gambleton. 
Phlox. —The immense number of varieties of phloxes in 
cultivation is evidence enough of the esteem in which they 
are held. They make sumptuous beds for autumnal display, 
and are unequalled for highly-dressed borders, and about the 
best of all known herbaceous plants to mix with roses, as 
they come into bloom as the roses give up for the season, and 
take our attention away from the jaded aspect of the queen 
of flowers. The garden phloxes, which have descended from 
P. sujfruticosa and P. pyramidalis, are the phloxes par excellence. 
They are a most accommodating group of plants, for they 
will make a grand bloom on a poor soil, and last for years, 
becoming in time huge bushes that make a wonderful show 
in the late summer and autumn months. The w T ay to grow 
them to perfection, however, is to renew the stock annually 
or biennially by means of cuttings, planting the newly-rooted 
pieces, in April, in rich deep loam well prepared for their 
reception some time previously, and giving water copiously, 
to promote vigorous growth until the plants come into flower. 
The stems are, of course, carefully staked as they rise, and 
the trusses are thinned to promote the production of large 
flowers. As to hardiness, the phloxes stand well on our 
heavy, moist land, where severe winters kill tritomas, holly¬ 
hocks, and pentstemons wholesale, therefore we may describe 
them as thoroughly hardy. 
Amongst the more specific forms of phloxes, apart from 
the named varieties, the following deserve especial notice 
as first-rate hardy border plants:—P. canadensis , grows 9 
