House and Garden 
Don’t mix colors. Choose the one you want and 
then use it in masses. If used in a bed, with other 
pinks and reds, be careful of clashing colors. The 
colors of many of the phlox are pugnacious, and 
fight with their companions. Remember that there 
are whites among them that may be used as peace¬ 
makers. 
If you can’t give them proper attention as to a 
moist situation, plenty of water, etc., in which case 
they are apt to lose their lower foliage, plant in front 
of them any lower growing, earlier blooming plant 
that retains good foliage late in the fall. Ins gram- 
inea, which blooms in May, is good for this purpose. 
It has dark green, narrow grass-like foliage, and 
is dense in growth. 
Reset your plants every other year, renewing the 
soil or at least add more manure to it, if grown again 
Some Old and 
By W. C 
T he Australian znnuA^Hehchrysiim hracteatiim, 
has been in cultivation since i/QQ and is one 
of the best of the group of everlastings, not 
only as a dried flower, but for its good qualities in 
garden decorations. As it is a constant blossomer 
when of fair size, the seeds should he sown early. 
If sown in the greenhouse about the middle of 
February, and the plants carried on under heat, har¬ 
dened off', and planted out when all danger of frost 
is past, it will commence to bloom in June and con¬ 
tinue, interruptedly, until frost, reaching a height of 
over three feet in good soil. 
The range of color is extensive, including a fine 
silvery-white, rose, red and yellow, with intermediate 
shades. In open, sunny positions in the shrubbery, or 
perennial beds, it is eff ective, producing a coloring not 
inclined to fight with its neighbors. It is easily raised 
from seed, but the chief point is to start it early. 
Flowers intended for dried bouquets should be 
gathered when half opened, and hung head down- 
w^ards in a cool shed. There are several varieties of 
this species to be found in the catalogues, including 
H. monstrosum. 
There is a new annual from South Africa, new 
in this country, although known since 1871, called 
D lascea Barberce, bearing continuously small 
chamois-rose-colored flowers. The name diascea is 
from in reference to its pretty flowers, and a 
Mrs. Barber was honored when its specific name was 
concocted. Being half hardy its seeds should he 
sown in the hotbed in March or April and planted 
out in June. It grows about a foot high, retaining 
good foliage all summer, blooming freely until frost. 
in the same position. I consider early spring the 
best time to replant in this climate. Some pre¬ 
fer early fall. To increase your stock, take up 
and divide the roots, or early in the fall take off 
cuttings from the young growth and root them in 
sand in the greenhouse. Keep them growing in 
the cooler part of the house and they will bloom well 
the following summer. 
Cuttings may also be made from the new growth 
in the spring. For wfinter protection cover with 
manure or straw. 
Young, self-sown seedlings will come up in the 
group. Remove them to some unoccupied part of 
your grounds. You are apt to get some good colors 
among them. Pull up the poorly colored ones, as 
you may w'ant to use some elsewhere next year and 
would have forgotten which were the poor ones. 
New Annuals 
. EGAN 
It is one of the class that cleans itself of faded flowers. 
There is another “warm country” annual whose 
habit in many respects resembles the above and is 
well worth growing, hut as the color of its flowers—a 
bright scarlet—does not harmonize with the diascea, 
they should not he planted near each other. This is 
the Alonsoa Warscewiczii, brought from Chili in 1858, 
and presumed to be a variety of A. incisifolia, a 
species much longer in cultivation. 
This also is a constant bloomer, and neat in appear¬ 
ance. It does not open many flowers at a time, be¬ 
longing more to the delicate, than showy order, but 
its foliage is so bright and clean and its flowers so 
cheerful and w'elcome, when many things are ragged 
and cut down by the early frosts, that it readily makes 
friends with flower-lovers. It equals the Heuchera 
sanguinea for giving a dash of color to a bouquet of 
the Gypsophtla pamculata. 
There is a new sunflower on the market that will 
please all those who admire the single forms of this 
extensive family. It is a hybrid perennial and stood 
the winter of 1903-4 in Adrian, Michigan, where its 
originators, Messrs. Nathan Smith & Sons, reside. 
They have given it the name ol Hehanthus sparsifolia. 
The flowers are borne on very long, wiry stems, 
almost devoid of foliage, making them admirable 
subjects for cut-flower decorations. They are splen¬ 
did keepers when cut. As near as I can remember 
its single flowers are a little over three inches in 
diameter, and a deep, rich yellow in color. It seems 
to possess a rugged constitution, and a plant that 
will be permanent and increase. It w^as very much 
admired on my grounds last summer. 
