plants annually from good strains of seed.  If sown in gentle heat early in the year—­February is the usual month—­many of the varieties flower the same season.  When they are well started, plenty of light and air must be admitted.  Unless intended for potting they should be planted out in good soil where they will require no more care than is bestowed on the borders generally.  Seed can also be sown in the open ground from May to July; transplant in autumn for flowering in the following season.  During hot weather, particularly on light soil, the plants need to be well watered, but in retentive ground thorough drainage must be insured.  Should signs of debility appear, transplant to rich soil, where they will soon regain vigour.

A popular half-hardy Campanula is =C. fragilis=, of trailing habit.  The starry pale blue flowers are seen to most advantage in hanging-baskets.  The charm of these flowers is wholly lost if they are placed on a stage in the greenhouse; and they are not entirely satisfactory in a window where the light is transmitted through the petals, as this robs them of colour and substance.  But hanging in a conservatory with plenty of air and space their slender drooping stems are very graceful, and the light reflected from the flowers does full justice to their beauty.  Sow in pans during February or March and pot on as required.

All the foregoing are perennials, but two little hardy annual Campanulas are =Attica= and =A. alba=, growing about six inches high.  They make useful foreground plants, and are quite at home in rock gardens.  Sow in April on light soil.

==The Canterbury Bell== has already been alluded to; it is a charming hardy biennial forming a valuable feature of the mixed border.  The large semi-double blooms of the Cup and Saucer class and the double varieties are modern introductions which have become extremely popular; the range of colours now includes the most delicate shades of pink, mauve, and blue, in addition to pure white.  Seed may be sown from April to July.  When the seedlings are large enough transplant them where required for flowering in the summer of the succeeding year.  But Canterbury Bells are also interesting in the greenhouse during spring; for this work pot them in October and on to December.  So treated, they bloom even more generously than in the garden.  There can be no more beautiful adornment for a hall or large drawing-room than a well-placed group of the fine white flowers, backed by a mass of dark-foliaged plants.

==Canna==

==Indian Shot.  Half-hardy perennial==

Cannas have ceased to be regarded simply as sub-tropical foliage plants, adapted only for the adornment of beds and borders.  They have not lost their merits for this purpose, although in all probability the taller forms will be less grown than formerly, because the new dwarf varieties, which maintain a high standard of beauty in the foliage, include a diversity of rich tints previously unknown, and they possess the additional merit of producing flowers that have lifted the race into prominence as brilliant decorative subjects for the garden and the greenhouse.