Sept. 11—The various marigolds are beginning to add a touch of colour to the garden and take the place of zinnias which are getting "mildewy" and past their best. In some gardens we have noticed that young zinnias are being planted to replace those which have flowered all the Summer: it is quite a good practice to sow a batch of seed of these plants in late July for Autumn flowering. Why do marigolds grow so tall? They produce attractively coloured flowers; but the general effect is often spoiled by the plants growing tall and untidy. Summer humidity encourages the rank growth and the bushy, compact growing plants, having a mass of healthy foliage and covered with flowers. which we used to enjoy in England, are seldom seen here. We wonder if it would help if we severed the tap root occasionally during the Summer. The plants are natives to Mexico and are divided into three groups. The French marigold Tegetes paula is a useful bedding plant: it is much more compact growing than Tagetes erect which is known as the African marigold and which grows into an "open" plant. The foliage of the latter is strongly scented and disliked by many for this reason. Marigolds with odourless foliage have been raised, however, so in time we may have a dwarf, large-"flowering, odourless plant. Tagetes signate is a dwarf-growing species, but the flowers are small and the plant is useful only for edging flower beds. As we were passing a garden today we noticed a nice border of the Fairy Lily Zephyranthes candid, this native of Uruguay makes an excellent display in the Autumn and it generally provides us with three crops of flowers, the foliage is also attractive, and as the plant will thrive in partial shade it is a good ground cover despite the fact that at certain seasons the foliage looks unhealthy. We are extremely fond of Zephyranthes rose a rosy-coloured species from Cuba; but we do not s
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