Manual of Gardening Part 25

For lower-growing and less gross ma.s.s-displays, the following are good: California poppies for oranges and yellows; sweet sultans for purples, whites, and pale yellows; petunias for purples, violets, and whites; larkspurs for blues and violets; bachelor's b.u.t.tons (or cornflowers) for blues; calliopsis and coreopsis and calendulas for yellows; gaillardias for red-yellows and orange-reds; China asters for many colors.

For still less robustness, good ma.s.s-displays can be made with the following: alyssums and candytufts for whites; phloxes for whites and various pinks and reds; lobelias and browallias for blues; pinks for whites and various shades of pink; stocks for whites and reds; wallflowers for brown-yellows; verbenas for many colors.

A garden of pleasant annual flowers is not complete that does not contain some of the "everlastings" or immortelles. These "paper flowers"

are always interesting to children. They are not so desirable for the making of "dry bouquets" as for their value as a part of a garden. The colors are bright, the blooms hold long on the plant, and most of the kinds are very easy to grow. My favorite groups are the different kinds of xeranthemums and helichrysums. The globe amaranths, with clover-like heads (sometimes known as bachelor's b.u.t.tons), are good old favorites.

Rhodanthes and acrocliniums are also good and reliable.

The ornamental gra.s.ses should not be overlooked. They add a note to the flower-garden and to bouquets that is distinct and can be secured by no other plants. They are easily grown. Some of the good annual gra.s.ses are _Agrostis nebulosa,_ the brizas, _Bromus brizaeformis,_ the species of eragrostis and pennisetums, and _Coix Lachryma_ as a curiosity. Such good lawn gra.s.ses as arundo, pampas-gra.s.s, eulalias, and erianthus are perennials and are therefore not included in this discussion.

Some of the most reliable and easily grown annuals are given in the following lists (under the common trade names).

_List of annuals by color of flowers._

White Flowers

Ageratum Mexicanum alb.u.m.

Alyssum, common sweet; compacta.

Centranthus macrosiphon albus.

China asters.

Convolvulus major.

Dianthus, Double White Margaret.

Iberis amara; coronaria, White Rocket.

Ipomoea hederacea.

Lavatera alba.

Malope grandiflora alba.

Matthiola (Stocks), Cut and Come Again; Dresden Perpetual; Giant Perfection; White Pearl.

Mirabilis longiflora alba.

Nigella.

Phlox, Dwarf s...o...b..ll; Leopoldii.

Poppies, Flag of Truce; Shirley; The Mikado.

Zinnia.

Yellow and Orange Flowers

Cacalia lutea.

Calendula officinalis, common; Meteor; sulphurea; suffruticosa.

Calliopsis bicolor marmorata; cardaminefolia; elegans picta.

Cosmidium Burridgeanum.

Erysimum Perofskianum.

Eschscholtzia Californica.

Hibiscus Africa.n.u.s; Golden Bowl.

Ipomoea coccinea lutea.

Loasa tricolor.

Tagetes, various kinds.

Thunbergia alata Fryeri; aurantiaca.

Tropaeolum, Dwarf, Lady Bird; Tall, Schulzi.

Zinnia.

Blue and Purple Flowers

Ageratum Mexicanum; Mexicanum, Dwarf.

Asperula setosa azurea.

Brachycome iberidifolia.

Browallia Czerniakowski; elata.

Centaurea Cya.n.u.s, Victoria Dwarf Compact; Cya.n.u.s minor.

China asters of several varieties.

Convolvulus minor; minor unicaulis.

Gilia achilleaefolia; capitata.

Iberis umbellata; umbellata lilacina.

Kaulfussia amelloides; atroviolacea.

Lobelia Erinus; Erinus, Elegant.

Nigella.

Phlox variabilis atropurpurea.

Salvia farinacea.

Specularia.

Verbena, Black-blue; caerulea; Golden-leaved.

Whitlavia gloxinioides.

Red and Rose-red Flowers

Abromia umbellata.

Alonsoa grandiflora.

Cacalia, Scarlet.

Clarkia elegans rosea.

Convolvulus tricolor roseus.

Dianthus, Half Dwarf Early Margaret; Dwarf Perpetual; Chinensis.

Gaillardia picta.

Ipomoea coccinea; volubilis.

Matthiola annuus; Blood-red Ten Weeks; grandiflora, Dwarf.

Papaver (Poppy) cardinale; Mephisto.

Phaseolus multiflorus.

Phlox, Large-flowering Dwarf; Dwarf Fireball; Black Warrior.

Salvia coccinea.

Saponaria.

Tropaeolum, Dwarf, Tom Thumb.

Verbena hybrida, Scarlet Defiance.

Zinnia.

_Useful annuals for edgings of beds and, walks, and for ribbon-beds._

Ageraturn, blue and white.

Alyssum, sweet.

Brachycome.

Calandrinia.

Clarkia.

Collinsias.

Dianthuses or pinks.

Gilia.