-for bouvardias and tender
primulas.

To grow these flowers well there is nothing special about their
management, but a method of treatment may be mentioned which, from the
improved form it imparts to the specimens, as well as the more prolonged
period in which extra-sized blooms are produced, is well worthy of being
adopted. When the stems are 12in. or 15in. grown, nip off the tops of
all the outer ones, they will soon break into two or four shoots. These
will not only serve to "feather" down the otherwise "leggy" specimens
and render them more symmetrical, but they will produce a second crop of
flowers, and, at the same time, allow the first to develope more
strongly. When the taller stems have done flowering, or become shabby,
the tops may be cut back to the height of the under part of the
then-formed buds of the early pinched shoots, and the extra light will
soon cause them to flower; they should then be tied to the old stems
left in the middle; this will quite transform the specimen, not only
making it more neat and dwarf, but otherwise benefiting it--the old worn
stems will have gone, and a new set of beaming flowers will reward the
operator. The tops pinched out in the early part of the season make the
best possible plants for the following season's bloom. They root like
willows in a shady place in sandy loam, and are ready for planting in
the open by midsummer, so that they have ample time to become strong
before winter. Another way to propagate these useful flower roots is to
divide strong clumps in the autumn after they have ceased to bloom.

The very earliest kinds (some three or four) begin to flower early in
August, and by the middle of the month many are in bloom; the
late-flowering (_decussata_) section is a month later; all, however, are
continued bloomers.

Phlox Frondosa.

FRONDED P.; _Nat. Ord._ POLEMONIACEAE.

A hardy creeper; one of the dwarf section, having half-woody, wiry
stems. For this and many other species of the Creeping Phlox we are
indebted to North America. Of late years these beautiful flowers have
received much attention, not only from the trade, but also from
amateurs, some of whom have taken much pains in crossing the species by
hybridising, notably the late Rev. J. G. Nelson. Perhaps the most
distinct and beautiful of all the dwarf Phloxes is the one which bears
his name--the white-flowered _P. Nelsoni_. I have selected the species
_P. frondosa_, because the specific na