Flowers and Flower-Gardens eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 407 pages of information about Flowers and Flower-Gardens.

Flowers and Flower-Gardens eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 407 pages of information about Flowers and Flower-Gardens.

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THE ANNUAL BORDER PLANTS.

These are generally known to every one, and many of them are so common as hardly to need notice, a few of the most usual are however mentioned, rather to recal the scattered thoughts of the many, than as a list of annuals.

The MIGNIONETTE, Resoda odorata, is too great a favorite both on account of its fragrance and delicate flowers not to be well known, and by repeated sowings it may be made under care to give flowers throughout the year but it is advisable to renew the seed occasionally by fresh importations from Europe, the Cape, or Hobarton.

The PROLIFIC PINK, Dianthus prolifer Kurumful, is a pretty variety; that blossoms freely throughout the year, sowing to keep up succession, the shades and net work marks on them are much varied, and they make a very pretty group together.

The LUPINE, Lupinus, is a very handsome class of annuals, many of which grow well in India, all of them flowering in the cold season.

The Small blue Lupine, L. varius, was introduced from the Cape and is the only one noticed by Roxburgh.

The Rose, and great blue Lupine, L. pilosus and hirsutus, are both good sized handsome flowers.

The Egyptian, or African Lupins, L. thermis, Turmus, is the only one named in the native language, and has a white flower.

The Tree Lupine, L. arboreus, is a shrubby plant with a profusion of yellow flowers which has been successfully cultivated from Hobarton seed.

The CATCHFLY, Silene, the only one known here is the small red, S. rubella, having a very pretty pink flower appearing in the cold weather.

The LARKSPUR, Delphinum, has not yet received any native name, and deserves to be much more extensively cultivated, especially the Neapolitan and variegated sorts.  The common purple, D. Bhinensis, being the one usually met with; it should be sown in succession from September to December, but the rarer kinds must not be put in sooner than the middle of November, as these do not blossom well before February, March, or April.

The SWEET PEA, Lathyrus odoralus, is not usually cultivated with success, because it has been generally sown too late in the season, to give a sufficient advance to secure blossoming.  The seeds should be put in about the middle of the rains in pots and afterwards planted out when these cease, and carefully cultivated to obtain blossoms in February or March.

The ZINNIA, has only of late years been introduced, but by a mistake it has generally been sown too late in the year to produce good flowers, whereas if the seed is put into the ground about June, fine handsome flowers will be the result, in the cold weather.

The CENTAURY, Centaurea, is a very pretty class of annuals which grows, and blossoms freely in this country.

The Woolly Centaury, C. lanata, is mentioned by Roxburgh as indigenous to the country, but the flowers are very small, of a purple color, blossoming in December.

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Flowers and Flower-Gardens from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.