4 
the selection from any nurseryman’s cata- 
logue will gratify the most exacting choice.. 
Then there are the Irises, Amaryllids, 
Ranunculi, Anemones, Snowflakes, Babi- 
anias, Ixias, Tritonias, Scillas, Agapan- 
thus, Alliums, Lachenalias, Moreas, Wat- 
sonias, Crinums, Tropeolums, Clivias, and 
a number of others. 2 
Herbaceous plants, such ay Pentstemons, 
Antirrhinums, Hollyhocks, « Gaillardias, 
Petunias, Fuchsias, Verbenas, and Cal- 
ceolarias, may be propagated from cuttings 
and offsets. 
Seeds may be sown of hardy annuals for 
early spring, such as French and. Shirley 
Poppies,. Lupins, Phlox, Lobelia, Nemo- 
phila, Stocks, Delphiniums, Minor Con- 
volvulus, Cornflowers, Coreopsis, Candy- 
tuft, and Dianthus. : 
This is the month for planning out new 
gardens and making alterations in old ones. 
Many cottagers are content te leave the old 
garden as it has been for years. That is 
a mistake. <A little alteration here and 
there, a new idea, a new permanent shrub, 
will put new life into the place. The gar- 
dener will be surprised at the effect of 
something new in the plans. It is like 
putting on a new suit of clothes: it gives 
a different feeling, and the new plants 
where there were none before make the 
place, perhaps, only a little different, yet 
pleasantly noticeable. Variety is ai great 
charm in gardening. Bud a new Rose 
out to an old Stock and interest is at once 
aroused in its development and ultimate 
blooming. Now is the time to do all 
these things. 
DESIRABLE GARDEN ANNUALS. 
By Roserr Camenon.  — 
“New York Florists Exehange.” 
The Flax family contains the North 
African red flax, Linum grandiflorum. This 
is a gcod annual when grown in masses, and 
its large red blossoms are very effective. 
Iu the Geranium family there are some 
very useful and important annuals. The 
well-known tropsvlum and balsam, which 
are indispensable, being here. Limnanthes 
Douglassii is a California dwarf plant, with 
yellowish flowers, and makes beautiful 
edgings in an open sunny position. : 
The most important genus among annuals 
that are grown for their flowers in the large 
pea family is Lathyrus odoratus, the sweet 
ea. ‘The attention given lately to this 
plant has resulted in a great advance in the 
size of the flower, and the addition of new 
shudes of color that were unknown a few 
_ years ago. They possess all the good quali- 
ties a flower needs for cutting purposes. 
They are graceful in form, have brilliant 
colors, slender stems and delicious perfume. 
‘Lathyrus tingitanus is a very ornamental 
annual, with large purplish-red flowers, and 
ought to be more common than it is now. 
The annual lupines are handsome and of 
various colors, and are easy to grow, doing 
well in any common garden soil. Some of 
the best kinds are luteus, superbus, 
pubescens, manus, mutabilis, and Oruck- 
shankii. ’ 
Last summer the sensitive plant was tried 
as a new bedding plant. It grew luxu- 
riantly and blossomed freely during the 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
summer, and proved very interesting to visi- 
tors, who liked to touch the sensitive leaves. 
Although the Rose family has. so many 
valuable trees, shrubs, and herbaceous 
plants, yet it has few annuals that are 
worthy of consideration here. 
The Stone Crop family has’ two sedums 
that are worth mentioning. Sedum Torreyi 
is & dwarf plant, with yellowish flowers; S. 
azureum is also of low growth and has blue 
flowers. Both of these plants are well 
adapted for dry places on light sandy soil 
The annual cupheas are worth growing 
for variety sake, and belong to the Loose 
Strife family. 
We have come now to the Evening Prim- 
rose family. The first. plants worthy of 
notice are the clarkias. These Californian 
plants are among the prettiest ot annuals, 
they are so robust, of easy culture, and 
flower for a long time. Clarkia elegans 
grows about two feet high, erect in habit, 
much branched, and bears: long, leafy: 
racemes of flowers varying from purple to 
pale red, or a salmon color. There are s»me 
good double-flowered varieties uf this plant. 
Clarkia pulchella is different from the other 
species in having .deeply cut petals. This 
plant varies in height from one to two feat, 
and the color of its flowers varies from deep 
purple to pure white. There are good 
double forms of this plant also. You will 
find in seed lists quite a number of. varie: 
ties; they are all worth growing, ‘as they 
are distinct from each other. A near rela- 
tive of the clarkias is Eucharidium concin- 
num. It attains a height of one foot and 
has rosy purple blossoms. HE. grandiflurum 
and K. Breweri are good plants. When 
they are grown in masses they are showy 
and are in blossom for a long time. 
The well-known godetias belong here and 
are among some of our showiest North 
American annuals. Godetia grandiflora and 
G. amoena are the two best species. ‘There 
are many beautiful varieties of these 
plants, which are very showy. 
The Gourd family is interest'ng on 
account of their curiously shaped and orna- 
mental fruits. They always attract atten- 
tion, and if trained to large, rough stakes, 
where their fruits can hang down and be 
seen to advantage, there are few plants that 
will attract more attention. 
Among the Fig Marigolds we ‘have two 
showy aunuals, Mesembryanthemum pome- 
ridianum and M. tricolor; they are well 
adapted for growing in dry, sunny epots. 
In the Parsley family, where we have 
quite a number of good perennials, | know 
only of one good annual in the family that 
is worth growing in the garden. Trachy- 
mene coerulea is the name of the plant. It 
grows about a foot high, and has showy, 
blue flowers, which are produced in good- 
sized umbels at the end of the stems. Al- 
though a good annual it is seldom seen 
outside of botanic gardens. It is a native 
ot West Australia, 
The next family of importance is the 
Teasel family; here we have the well- 
known Scabiosa atropurpurea. Its flowers 
are of various colors, and are very useful for 
cutting. There are several other species 
that are worth growing, such as 8. macran- 
tha, prolifera, Sibthorpiana, tenuis, and 
vestina. 
The Composite family is the most exten- 
April 1, 1904 
sive order of flowering plants, and here we 
will find a large number of useful and showy 
plants from different parts of the world. 
But time will not admit of taking them all 
up, so we must deal with the most showy 
ones. Baeria corysostema and B. coronaria 
are dwarf Californian plants, with numerous 
small yellow flowers.. Barkhausia rubra 
and its white variety has flowers of good 
size, and are good for cutting-. This 
plant ought to be more grown; the white 
form would be good for florists’ use. The 
Swan River daisy, Brachycome iberidifolia, 
is a compact, dwarf Australian plant. It 
grows about a foot high, and has small 
cineraria-like flowers, which are produced 
in loose, terminal clusters, and are of 
various shades of blue and purple; one 
form has white flowers. 
The calendulas are natives of the south of 
Kurope, and are so useful and well known 
that we could hardly do without them now. 
Centaurea Americana is one of our very 
best native annuals belonging to this family, 
‘but is very seldom seen in gardens, It 
“grows from two to four feet high and has. 
large, handsome, pale lilac flowers. four 
inches in diameter. Centaurea cyanus and 
all its. forms are desirable. Centauridum 
Drummondii, from Texas, has good-sized 
flowers of a clear yellow color; it grows 
about three feet in height ‘The annual 
chrysanthemums, carinata from North 
Africa and coronaria from Soutbern Europe, 
‘with all their varieties, deserve to’ be grown 
extensively, as they are so useful as border 
or bedding plants, and are excelient foi 
cutting. ‘The best of the coreupsis are 
Drummondii, tinctoria and its varieties, 
cardiminifolia and cvronata. The well- 
known Mexican Cosmos bipinnatus is one of 
our best late autumn annuals. Emilia 
sagittata is a pretty dwarf plant, with small 
yellow flowers, from the East Indies. 
Among annual sunflowers, Helianthus 
cucumeriofolius is the best; its flowers are 
produced very plentifully and are useful for 
cutting. ‘The Australian everlastiags, heli- 
chrysums, are proamental in the garden and 
are prized when cut and dried for winter 
decorations. Other useful and decorative 
annuals in this family are Lasthenia, gla- 
brata, Layia elegans, Lepachya columnarisg 
podolepsis, acuminata, and gracilis, Kho- 
danthe Mangiesii, Sanvitalia procumbens, 
French and African marigolds, zinnias, 
gaillardias, and China asters. 
In the Lobelia family the beautiful dwarf 
Lobelia erinus, from the Cape of Good 
Hope, with its azure blue flowers, is always 
pleasing when in blossom and well adapted 
for edges for beds. Downingia pulchella, 
from California, belongs to this family, and 
is a dwarf plant with pretty small blue 
flowers. : 
The Campanula family has two good 
annuals, Campanula Loreyi and C. macros~ 
tyla, Venus’ looking-glass. Specularia also 
balongs here. 
Leaving a number of families, the next 
important one we come to is the Phlox 
family. Phlox Drummondii deserves to 
head the list, as it is so beautiful and its 
colors ere so varied and brilliant. The 
collomias’ and gilla are dwarf, showy 
annuals that are well adapted for growing 
7D masees. 
