HARDY BIENNIALS  .—Biennials live through one winter period . They require to be sown in the summer months, about June or July, in order to get established before winter; they should be pricked out as soon as large enough, and should have ample space so as to become hardy and stocky . They should be planted in good soil, but not of too stimulating a character . Those that are perfectly hardy are best planted where they are to flower in good time during autumn . This transplanting acts as a kind of check, which is rather beneficial than otherwise . Of those that are liable to suffer injury in winter, as the Brompton and Queen Stocks, a portion should be potted and wintered in cold frames ventilated as freely as the weather will permit . The number of biennials is not large, but a few very desirable garden plants, such as the following, occur amongst them: Agrostemma coronaria (Rose Campion): hardy, 11 ft., bright rose-purple or rose and white . Beta Cicla variegata: hardy, 2 ft., beautifully coloured leaves and midribs, crimson, golden, &c . Campanula Medium (Canterbury Bell) : hardy, 2 ft., blue, white, rose, &c . The double-flowered varieties of various colours are very handsome . Campanula Medium calycanthema: hardy, 2 ft., blue or white; hose-in-hose flowered . Catananche coerulea: hardy, 2 to 3 ft., blue or white .

Celsia cretica : hardy . 4 to 5 ft., yellow, with two dark spots near centre; in spikes . Cheiranthus Cheiri (Wallflower): hardy, 11 to 2 ft., red, purple, yellow, &c.; really a perennial but better as a biennial . Coreopsis grandiflora: hardy, 2 to 3 ft., bright yellow; the finest member of the genus . Dianthus barbatus (Sweet

William) : hardy, 1 to 11 ft., crimson, purple, white or parti-coloured . Dianthus chinensis (Indian Pink): half-hardy, t ft., various; flower earlier if treated as biennials; must be protected from frost . Digitalis purpurea (Foxglove): hardy, 3 to 5 ft., rosy-purple or white; beautifully spotted; the variety called gloxinioides has regular, erect flowers . Echium pomponium: hardy, 4 ft., rosy-pink . Hedysarum coronarium (French Honeysuckle) : hardy, 2 to 3 ft., scarlet or white; fragrant . Hesperis tristis (Night-scented Rocket) : hardy, 3 ft., dull purplish ; fragrant at night . Lunaria biennis (Honesty): hardy, 2 to 3 ft., purple; the silvery dissepiment attractive among everlastings . Matthiola incana (two groups, the Brompton and the Queen stocks) : hardy, 2 to 2+ ft., white, red and purple .

Meconopsis . Charming members of the

poppy family, of which M. aculeata, purple; M. grandis, purple; M. heterophylla, coppery-orange; M. nepalensis, golden yellow; M. integrifolia, yellow; M. sunplicifolia, violet purple, are grown with care in sheltered spots, and in rich, very gritty soil . Michauxia campanuloides, a remarkable bell flower, 3 to 8 ft. high, white tinged purple . Requires rich loam in warm sheltered spots . Oenothera biennis and O . Lamarckiana (Evening primrose) : hardy, 5 ft., bright yellow; large . Scabiosa caucasica: hardy, 3 ft., blue, white . Silene cornpacta: half-hardy, 3 to 6 inches, bright pink; clustered as in S . Armeria . Verbascum Blattaria: hardy, 3 to 4 ft., yellowish, with purple hairs on the filaments; in tall spikes .