The discovery that it is easy to flower the popular St. Brigid and similar Anemones from seed in about seven months from the date of sowing has given a great impetus to the culture of this plant, especially as it possesses a high value for decorating vases, in addition to its usefulness in beds and borders.  From seed sown in February or March the plants should begin to bloom in September or October of the same year, and continue to flower until the following June, when it is unprofitable to retain them longer.  No coddling of any kind is necessary.  Dig a trench in a sheltered, sunny spot, and fill it with rich soil freely mingled with decayed cow-manure.  If the land happens to be somewhat tenacious, Anemones will take kindly to it, but it should be well worked, and it may be needful to add a little fine sandy compost at the top as a preparation for the seed.  The woolly seed should be rubbed with sand, and the two may be sown together thinly in lines.  As a finish the ground should be lightly beaten with the back of a spade.  Germination is decidedly slow, so that until the seedlings appear the removal of weeds requires care.  The plants should be thinned until they stand six inches apart.  Seed may also be sown in June or July for plants to flower in the following year, and the results will probably be even more satisfactory than from the spring sowing.

==Antirrhinum==

==Snapdragon.  Hardy perennial==

In bygone years Antirrhinums were seldom seen beyond the limits of old-fashioned cottage gardens.  But even then the Snapdragon was a popular flower, and it was generally perpetuated by subdivision of the plants.  Now, in common with a large number of perennials and biennials, the Antirrhinum is almost exclusively grown from seed.  This altered method of culture has resulted in a marked advance in the size and colour of the spikes of bloom, and has also increased the vigour and floriferous character of the plants.  In the process of raising, selecting and re-selecting the stocks, experts have found it possible to develop three distinct classes—­Tall, Intermediate, and Dwarf—­so that the value of the plant as an ornament in the garden has been advanced beyond the dreams of a former generation of gardeners.  The Tall varieties attain a height of about three feet; the Intermediates generally range between twelve and eighteen inches, and the Dwarf or Tom Thumb section seldom exceeds six inches.  All three classes have a distinct value for different positions in the garden.

Antirrhinums are not fastidious as to soil and may be relied on to give satisfaction in almost any spot chosen for them.  Still, it must be admitted that they are conspicuously successful on dry soils and in sunny positions.  This will account for the surprising displays occasionally seen on old walls and in large wild rockeries, where they are perfectly at home, apparently indifferent to the starving conditions in which their lot is cast.