August 2, 1909 
STURT'S PEA. 
outside petals, and the centre of deep 
yellow tube petals; Ostrich Plume, Mal- . 
maison Rose, bears immense double 
‘flowers, 4 in. across, beautifully curled 
-and twisted—color, white with pale 
lilac; Betteridge’s Quilled, a very 
attractive quilled variety, specially suited. 
‘for bouquets; grows about 2 feet high, is 
much branched, and flowers freely ; Giant 
Comet, this class forms regular pyramids, 
profusely covered with large flowers, very 
‘full and double. resembling the large-- 
flowered Japanese Chrysanthemums in: 
“their twisted and curled petals; Dwarf 
Beuquet (Boltze’s), of close compact 
habit, good for bedding, and attains a 
cheight of only 8 inches; is a profuse 
bloomer, very fine; Dwarf Chrysunthe- 
mum Flowered, a beautiful sort, very 
free flowering, each plant producing 12. 
to 20 flat-petalled flowers, about three 
inches. across; very useful for edgings, © 
‘beds, and “borders; grows about a fout 
high; Hercules,, pure | white, is a novelty 
-of imposing ‘aspect. The plants throw 
‘up a very strong stem about 18 inches: 
high, which begins to branch four inches 
:from the ground, and bears at its summit 
-the central flower; on the side shoots 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
appear 4 to 6 blooms on long 
stalks of the purest white, with 
of 6 to 7 inches; Truffaut’s Pmony- 
flowered Perfection (Improved), a 
splendid inctirved variety, with 
flat petals, fine for exhibition ; the 
plant is of pyramidal habit, 13 to 
large double flower very closely 
resembles a pure 
flowered Japanese Chrysanthe- 
mum, with its long,‘ flat relaxed 
petals—each petal is ribbed, giving 
the flower a peculiarly elegant 
appearance ; the color is of a pure 
glossy white; Victoria, a magnifi- 
cent recurved variety, said to be 
the finest of all Asters; its fine 
large blossoms are perfectly double 
and beautifully imbricated: they 
are splendid for exhibition. In 
‘all cases were the color of a 
variety is not stated the flowers 
are of various colors. 
— Clianthus (Sturt’s Pea), — 
The Desert Pea.may justly be reckoned 
amongst the most beatiful of our native 
flowers. It is a native of the driest 
portions of South and. West Australia. 
The flowers are brilliant crimson, about 
three inches long, and in the centre thare 
isa large clear black marking. It is a 
trailing biennial plant, a.little difficult to 
raise; but it richly repays. all trouble 
spent on its cultivation. The most 
suitable soil for the Clianthus is a sandy - 
one, but it will also thrive and bloom -on 
ordinary good loam. The best time. to. 
sow the seed is iu September or October, 
aad care must be taken to select a sunny 
situation. The Desert Pea is known as 
Clianthus Danpierii (Parrot’s Beak). 
Puniceus, the Glory Pea, is a very hand 
some perennial shrub, resembling the 
above, but more erect of habit. It bears 
a crimson flower, a 
eeeet ace Sweet, William.— |. 
This is one of the biennials which 
should not be-sown later than November, 
in order that the plants. may become 
atroug. for _tansplanting with the first 
antum a rains, though the, seeds may be. 
sown where tha plants;.are to remain,, 
very long petals, with a ‘diameter 
2 feet high; White Plume, the 
white large- — 
It 
are : —Barbaratus, 
which produces large trusses of splendid 
colors ;, Hunt’s Perfection, auricula-eyed, 
produces immense “heads of the richest 
and most beautiful colored flowers ; 
Mammoth Sweet William, Holborn 
Glory, unapproached.for show, exhibi- 
The chief varieties 
tion, or stage purposes—many of the 
individual florets more than covering a 
penny piece; Harlequin Sweet William 
is a very large flowered, single variety 
‘dwarf, the flowers being 
shades. 
of various 
— Sunflower (Helianthus), — 
The Helianthus)(from Helios. the sun, 
and anthos, a flower) is an old-time 
favorite in every garden. The single and 
and double varieties are equally popular, 
The giants and the, dwarfs have each 
their fitting places, _ The dwarf variety 
(called the miniature) is most suitable 
for general work in planting a flower 
garden,.and they will, show a brightness 
in the garden, when most other flowers 
have succumbed to the heat of summer. 
The small-flowered _varieties—Stella 
(illustrated above) and Cucumerifolius— 
are most decorative and useful for cutting 
It is one of the best. yellow summer 
annuals, Seed should be sown in the 
spring and summer. In addition to the 
well-known varieties, local seedsmen are 
now supplying a so- -called Red Sunflower. 
The plants reach a height of 5 feet, while 
the. light purple flowers. attain a diameter 
of 8 inches. lowers ‘are produced con- 
tinually during the summer. 
