the centre of a small garden, and will make a great show in July. ALONSOAS. The Alonsoa, or Mask-flower, comes to us from Peru, and is a most satisfactory annual because it is easily grown and goes on flowering until the winter frosts come. There are several varieties, and one of the best—the Alonsoa Warscewiczii—has a name you remember because it is so queer, but will never know how to pronounce, unless you have Polish or Russian friends to tell you. Its flower is bright scarlet, and if you look at it closely you will see that it is like a small snapdragon. You must be careful to put a label where you sow it, and watch for a colony of seedlings all alike, because the seed-leaves of the Alonsoa are very much like one of our commonest weeds. ESCHSCHOLTZIA. These are often called Californian Poppies. They are white, pink, and various shades of yellow, and they have feathery green foliage. They succeed in almost any soil, and may be sown either in spring or autumn. Slugs and snails do not like them, so if you are much troubled with these pests you should certainly have some Californian Poppies. They will seed themselves in most situations, and the same plant will often flower a second year. They are described in seed catalogues as nine inches high, but though they really grow rather taller than that, it is not usual to stake them. At the same time, these and many other flowers inclined to straggle a little may be supported with great advantage, just as Sweet-peas are, by a few branched stakes of Hazel or some similar wood. When you treat a non-climbing plant in this way, your stakes should be rather shorter than the plant, and artfully hidden by its leaves. No tying is necessary where these branched stakes are used. Messrs. Sutton and Sons, of Reading, have consented, at our request, to sell three collections of flower-seeds suitable for children’s gardens. The first collection will cost 2s. 6d., and will contain twelve varieties of annuals and biennials. 1. Nigella, Miss Jekyll. 2. Sweet-pea, mixed. 3. Mignonette, large-flowered. 4. Malope, Pink and White. 5. Antirrhinum, intermixed (biennial, unless brought on early in heat). 6. Nasturtium, Dwarf, King of Tom Thumbs. 7. Clarkia (Salmon Queen). 8. Shirley Poppy. 9. Annual Larkspur. 10. French Marigold (half-hardy). 11. Sweet William (biennial). 12. Wallflower, Dark (biennial). The second collection will contain six varieties, and cost 1s. 6d. 1. Nigella. 2. Sweet-pea, mixed. 3. Mignonette, large-flowered. 4. Malope, Pink. 5. Antirrhinum, intermixed. 6. Nasturtium, Dwarf, King of Tom Thumbs. The third collection will contain four varieties, and cost 1s. 1. Nigella, Miss Jekyll. 2. Sweet-pea, mixed. 3. Mignonette, large-flowered. 4. Malope, Pink. CHAPTER III HARDY PERENNIALS