SHORT NOTES ON FLOWERS. 
I. Persica, I. alata, I. Caticasica, and I. reticulata , require an 
addition of sand and peat earth. 
The /. Susiana , a native of Greece, is one of the oddest coloured 
flowers in nature ; it can only be compared to the lurid markings 
on the belly of a toad, or back of a viper, and is withal one of the 
largest petalled of the tribe. A collection of Irises is always an 
interesting feature in a flower garden, as there is constantly one 
or other of them in blossom throughout the season. 
The Iris belongs to the third class ( Triandria) and first order 
(Monogynia) of the sexual system of botany, and to the natural 
order Iridaceae. 
Corn Flag (Gladiolus) is a beautiful genus of ornamental 
plants, belonging to the third class and first order of Linnaean 
botany, and to the natural order Iridacece. They are tuberous- 
rooted, and their spikes of flowers are very beautiful. By far the 
greater, number of the species, of which there are thirty-seven in 
all, are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, and are usually kept 
in pots and in frames. The European species are quite hardy, 
and do well in our flower borders ; but where collections are kept, 
if not in frames, the bulbs or tubers are planted in beds of light 
sandy soil, on a south border, early in spring, and are taken up in 
the autumn, and kept dry, like other bulbs, during winter. It is 
said that if the tubers are planted deep, say six or eight inches, 
they will, with a very slight covering in hard frosts, survive the 
winter, and flower well in the summer. 
Lobelia is an extensive family of flowering plants, some of 
which enrich our flower borders in the summer months. Among 
them some are shrubby, some are annuals ; but most of them are 
herbaceous perennials, and natives of every quarter of the world. 
The L. cardinalis, L. siphilitica, are well known border flowers, 
and there are several others equally interesting. They are pro¬ 
pagated by seed and suckers, which should be taken off in the 
autumn, and planted in rich light soil. Some of them require the 
shelter of a frame in winter ; and others, which are rather tender, 
receive greenhouse treatment. 
Bell Flower (Campanula). —This very conspicuous genus 
has long attracted the notice of florists, some of the species having 
been introduced into our gardens as far back as 1506. Can¬ 
terbury bells are mentioned in every old book on gardening ; 
and this species, and also many others, are still valued as highly 
VOL. i. no. u. f 
