3/ S ' 
Plate 
LOBELIA, PROGRESS. 
Amongst the flowers which used in bygone times, before the 
bedding-out system drove everything else out of the field, and 
banished to our kitchen gardens or expelled altogether many 
of our favourite flowers, the old scarlet Lobelia cardinalis , in the 
latter part of the summer and the early part of autumn, used 
to be much valued for its decorative character, and it was often 
a matter of surprise, that while many much less showy flowers 
had been submitted to the skill of the hybridizer, the Lobelia 
had been left unnoticed. This can no longer be said to be the 
case, many very handsome varieties having been of late years 
raised, one of which we now figure from the collection of 
Mr. William Bull, of the King’s Road, Chelsea. 
The ease with which these plants are cultivated is one great 
recommendation; they require none of that excessive care 
which the florist is obliged to bestow on his favourites, and 
are quite independent of the cold wintry weather, from which 
all the denizens of the parterre must be carefully guarded. 
They flourish in any good garden soil, and indeed, the only 
care they require is that of preventing them from becoming 
too large and taking up too much room; where room can be 
obtained, it will be surely worth while to reinstate some of 
these old favourites in public favour, especially when so much 
variety of colour is now being obtained. 
W e had an opportunity, during the past summer, of inspec¬ 
ting Mr. Bull’s fine collection ; unfortunately they were in pots, 
and so could not be seen in the perfection that they would 
have been, if planted out. Besides the variety now figured, 
