The common sorts of morning-glories, if combined, will answer well. But one who would do the best should have two beds, one of the _Convolvulus_ and the other of _Ipomea_. The difference is of importance only to a botanist. To the common eye the flowers are the same. Of _Ipomeas_ there is a _puce_-colored one, which blossoms late in the afternoon, named _Buona Nox_; a _mazarine-blue_, shading to red (_Learii_); a _sky-blue with white edge,_ called in the catalogue—don’t be afraid!—_Ipomea hederacea superba grandiflora_, i. e. the superb great-flowering ivy-leaved _Ipomea_. And then there is a very fine variety of this same one, whose Latin name you will get by adding to the above the compound word _Atro-violacea_. One more name, viz. _Ipomea limbata elegantissima_.
Plant the seeds as soon as the frost is finally out of the ground. Let there be pales, or strings, or trellis, arranged for them to climb upon, and you will have all summer long, and till the frost kills them, a magnificent show of exquisite blossoms every morning; Sundays as well as week-days, for flowers wear their Sunday clothes all through the week. We have derived as much pleasure from these morning-glories as from any one thing in our garden. They are healthy and hearty growers, not infested with insects, profuse in bloom, surpassing all blossoms in exquisite form and delicacy, and, what is of prime importance, holding forth through the whole summer, whether hot or cold, wet or dry.
The common morning-glory will sow itself, and come up every year in the same place; but the seed of the _Ipomea_ must be saved and planted every spring anew. Now, let some sweet girl begin her flower-life with morning-glories—nothing else—the first year, and see if she will ever let a summer go by afterward without flowers!
A bed of _China Aster_, although blossoming for only a few weeks, may be had with so little trouble that one may well undertake it. Send for the best kind, say _Truffant’s Giant Emperor_, or his new _Peony-flowered_. Plant them in rows six inches apart, in a seed-bed. Keep them clean from all weeds. When grown from an inch to two inches high, transplant them to a prepared bed, placing them about fifteen inches apart each way. The ground should be rich, light, and gently hoed, at least once a week, to keep the surface open. If _very_ large flowers are wanted, not more than three blooms should be allowed to one root. We prefer, however, to give the plant a rich soil and let it yield its flowers, large and small, to suit itself. The seed should be saved from the largest blossoms only.