1880 . ] 
SUBURBAN GARDENING. 
135 
dure the winter, early and late spring sowings 
may be made with every prospect of success ; 
and if the aid of preparatory pot-culture were 
here and there called in, the result might as 
surely be counted on as in the case of ordinary 
bedding subjects. 
The extent of the available materials is very 
much beyond what we shall have space to refer 
to. To commence with the dwarf-growing, 
mass-flowering sorts—some of which may be 
sown in autumn in the reserve garden, slightly 
protected if the winter is severe, and brought 
into their flowering position with the first open 
weather of the early months of the year— 
there are the pink Silene pendula, and the rosy 
Saponaria calabrica; the azure Nemopliila 
insignis, and many other sorts which present 
pretty variations in colour; the purplish 
Collinsia grandiflora, the paler-hued 0. bicolor, 
and the blue and white 0. verna, the last 
needing to bo sown as soon as the seed ripens 
to ensure its germination ; the brilliant crimson 
Linum grandiflorum, and the scarcely less 
brilliant Viscaria cardinalis ; the simple but 
charming many-hued Virginian Stock; the 
taller lavender and rosy-tinted Leptosiphons, 
androsaceus and densiflorus, and the dwarfer, 
exquisite, deep rose and golden-orange L. roseus 
and aureus. There is, besides these, the Tagetes 
signata pumila, which when true is dense- 
growing, and lifts its golden-yellow blossoms 
just clear of its elegant foliage in long suc¬ 
cession ; there is the lovely Phlox Drum- 
mondii, of which the tints are numerous and 
extremely varied, and of which the self crimson 
variety is one of the richest-coloured flowers of 
the summer garden; there is the elegant dwarf 
blue and white Lupinus nanus, and other hand¬ 
some kinds of taller growth ; and there is the 
ever fresh and refreshing Mignonette, a welcome 
guest in every flower border, even though it 
may sometimes prove a little encroaching,' 
There are others of somewhat taller stature, 
which equally deserve a place in the garden of 
choice flowers, and which are for the most part 
equally amenable to treatment which will 
ensure a good succession of blossoms through 
a prolonged season. Delphinium Consolida is 
one of these, being of branching habit, with 
flowers of a brilliant blue, and of various other 
colours; also the double-flowered forms of 
D. Ajacis, with their hyacinth-like spikes 
also of various hues, which are both distinct and 
effective. Centaurea Cyanus, the Blue Corn- 
bottle, is another most exquisite flower for the 
border, and also for cutting. Malope grandi¬ 
flora, with its large, crimson, malvaceous 
flowers, is very telling. Several of the Lupines, 
e.g. Lupinus Hartwegii and Cruikshanksii, are 
bright floriferous plants of very free growth, 
and from their branching habit, they continue 
for a considerable period in bloom. Some of the 
Godetias are good effective annuals, especially 
G. Whitneyi, with its rose-crimson spotted 
flowers ; and a selection from it called Lady 
Albemarle, with flowers of a glowing magenta- 
crimson. The new form of Calendula offici¬ 
nalis, called Meteor, is a pretty thing, the 
flowers being nicely striped; and a good strain 
of the old double deep-orange form of the 
same plant is very showy. The specie^ of 
Calliopsis, of which it is, perhaps, not possible 
to count on more than one crop annually, are, 
nevertheless, very telling indeed, especially 
some of the finer forms of C. bicolor (Coreopsis 
tinctoria), and the large-flowered but dwarfer 
species, C. Drummondii and C. coronata. 
In the half-hardy group, there are of Asters 
and Stocks alone an almost endless series, of 
which the choicer imported seeds may generally 
be depended on to produce something good. 
Some, as Balsams, Globe Amaranthus, and 
Coxcombs, and such things as Schizanthus and 
Salpiglossis, make admirable pot-plants. Be¬ 
yond the above, there are all those peren¬ 
nials, which may be treated and flowered as 
annuals by the aid of a little judiciously 
applied heat in spring, amongst which we may 
instance Antirrhinums, Petunias, Mimuluses, 
Verbenas, and the Dianthuses of the Iiedde- 
wigii and laciniatus types, the latter producing 
flowers which are simply gorgeous in their 
colouring, and which should never be omitted, 
as they require very little help in spring to be 
in full bloom in good time during the summer 
months. 
Such of the foregoing as may be selected 
for the earliest spring-flowering should be sown 
at once.—T. Moore. 
SUBURBAN GARDENING. 
EPTEMBEB will bring in its rewards, the 
August month having been full of benefi¬ 
cence for the gardener, for a most welcome 
spell of dry weather happened just when it 
was much needed, and when, moreover, we were 
all beginning to fear a repetition of the wet 
summer of 1879. 
Kitchen Garden .—The Potato crop is one 
that is causing much anxiety to the gardener. 
The dry weather has helped to assuage his 
fears, and he is enabled to get up his crops of 
the early sorts in good condition. It is satis- 
factor}’' to know that in many cases, notwith¬ 
standing the prevalence of the disease, the 
early Potatos are generally satisfactory both in 
crop and quality, and the dry weather has 
materially checked the spread of the disease. 
We think it is a mistake to lift main-crop 
Potatos , before they are fully ripe ; and tliero 
is the danger that many tubers will become 
diseased after the crop is lifted. Late Potatos, 
such as Magnum Bonum and Champion , have 
made a great growth, but up to the time of writ- 
