ANNUAL GLORIES.
If any corroboration were needed of the growth of the cult of gardening in England it would be supplied by some of the catalogues that are sent out about New Year's Day.
They are not only decorated with gorgeous pictures, coloured or plain ; but are in some cases bound like real books. What is more, they are full of information of real botanic interest. One of the more cardinal decisions that every gardener must make is what annuals shall he grow. More and more do we all come to the conviction that masses of just one sort of flower give the best effect. What " purple patch" shall it be for this bed and that in the coming year ? In small gardens the changes are often rung on calliopsis, Shirley poppy, calendula, eschscholtzia, clarkia, godetia, con- volvulus, candytuft with not so • many more, if hardy, and not half-hardy, true annuals needing no transplantation are required. A species that is often forgotten but is well worth remembering is the golden coloured Bartonia. Among the Shirley poppies some of the new doubles are singularly hand- some even in the eyes of those who hold that any single flower is handsomer than any double. And there are new clarkias both more double and more variously coloured than the old.
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