a damp cloth or sponge; if this is long
neglected, you need not be surprised if you soon discover the leaves to
be covered with red-spider or scale-lice. Cold water is the best wash,
when washing be sure and treat the underside of the leaves as well as
the upper surface. I would recommend the "English Ivy" as being the best
sort for general cultivation.

CHAPTER XVI.

ANNUAL FLOWERING PLANTS.--PANSY CULTURE.

Annuals flower the same season the seeds are sown, perfect their seeds,
and then die. "There is," says James Vick, "No forgotten spot in the
garden, none which early flowering bulbs or other spring flowers have
left unoccupied, that need remain bare during the summer. No bed but
what can be made brilliant with these favorites, for there is no
situation or soil in which some of these favorites will not flourish.
Some delight in shade, others in sunshine; some are pleased with a cool,
clay bed, while others are never so comfortable as in a sandy soil, or
burning sun. The seed, too, is so cheap as to be within the reach of
all, while a good collection of bedding plants would not come within the
resources of many, and yet very few beds filled with expensive bedding
plants look as well as a good bed of our best annuals, like Phlox,
Petunia, or Portulaca, and for a vase or basket many of our annuals are
unsurpassed. To annuals, also, we are indebted mainly for our brightest
and best flowers in the late summer and autumn months.

"Without the Phlox and Petunia, and Portulaca and Aster, and Stock, our
autumn gardens would be poor indeed, and how we would miss the sweet
fragrance of the Alyssum, Mignonette, and Sweet Pea, if any ill-luck
should befall them, or deprive us of these sweet favorites!" Annuals are
divided into three classes, hardy, half-hardy, and tender. The hardy
annuals are those that, like the Larkspur, Candytuft, etc., may be sown
in the autumn, or very early in the spring in the open ground. The
half-hardy annuals should not be sown in the open ground until all
danger of frost is over. The Balsams and Marigolds belong to this class.
The tender annuals generally require starting in a green-house, or
hot-bed, to bring them to perfection, and should not be set in the open
ground until the weather is fine and warm, some time in June. From a
perplexing number to be found in plant catalogues, we select the
following twelve sorts of annuals as being the most desirable for the
garden; they are a galaxy