The following lists suggest some excellent sorts in various classes, but not the most costly and modern.

How to Start Old Dahlia Tubers.

Show Double Dahlias

Gloire De Lyon

Pure white.

Imperial

Deep purple.

Esmond

Yellow.

Colonist

Fawn and chocolate.

Goldfinder

Yellow, tippedmwith red. Majestic White, edged with purple.

Marjorie

Yellow and buff, tipped red.

Mrs. Gladstone

Pale pink.

Mrs. Peter Mckenzie

Gold, edged with crimson.

Southern Queen

Lilac and rose.

William Neate

Terra-cottafawn.

Diadem

Deep crimson.

John Wyatt

Crimson-scarlet.

Spitfire

Vermilion.

Cactus Dahlias

Dorothy

Pink, white-tipped.

Flame

Orange-vermilion.

Harold Peerman

Deep yellow.

Mauve Queen

Bright mauve.

C. E. Wilkins

Salmon and yellow.

Mrs. W. H. Raby

Cream.

C. H. Curtis

Scarlet-crimson.

Caradoc

Pale yellow.

Juliet

Rose pink.

Ballet Girl

Red, white-tipped.

Admiral Togo

Vermilion.

Mrs. Carter Page

Velvety maroon, with yellow base.

King Of Siam

Deep purple maroon.

Coronation

Scarlet.

Bernard Shaw

Red-salmon.

Bride

Pink and primrose.

Mrs. H. Shoesmith

White.

Decorative Dahlias

Primrose Queen

Primrose.

Countess Of Pembroke

Pale lilac.

Kuroki

Salmon.

Captain Henderson

Crimson scarlet.

Constance

White.

Crawley Star

Rosy-salmon.

Yellowstone

Yellow.

Peony-Flowered Dahlias

Isadora Duncan

Apricot-salmon.

Geisha

Yellow and scarlet.

Queen Wilhelmina

White.

Glory Of Groeneken

Orange-yellow.

Andrew Carnegie

Salmon and bronze.

Garibaldi

Deep scarlet.

Glory Of Baarn

Pink.

Phyllis Kelway

Deep crimson, tipped green.

Collarette Dahlias

Diadem

Rose, with yellow tips, and white collar.

Oberon

Mauve-pink, with white collar.

President Viger

Crimson, with white collar.

Madame Lepage Viger

Scarlet, with yellow collar.

Joseph Gougon

Tomatoorange, with yellow collar.

Count Chemeretiff

Vermilion, with gold ring.

Single Dahlias

William Kelway

Maroon.

Alba Perfecta

White.

Agnes Kelway

Yellow, flushed rose.

Cromer

Wine colour, with gold ring.

Conon

Crimson-maroon.

The Cardinal

Crimson-scarlet, paling to rosy edge.

Twentieth Century

Rose-carmine, with white tips and ring.

Pugilist

Crimson-violet.

Good Form

Blush-pink.

Horizon

Apricot-gold.

Capella

Rosy mauve.

Single Cactus Dahlias

Novak

Magenta-purple and crimson.

Alice Lee

Pink and white.

Argyle

Deep crimson.

Cygnet

White.

Sun Spot

Pale yellow.

Queen Mary

White, with pale yellow disk.

Beauty

Orange-vermilion.

Moidore

Orange-bronze.

Phantasy

Yellow shaded pink.

Debutante

Deep and pale rose.

Delicious

Cream and pink.

Gold Ring

Lilac and yellow.

Pompon Dahlias

Goldfinch

Yellow, slightly edged mauve.

White Queen

White.

Salmoned

Salmon and yellow, tipped red.

Lemon Pet

Primrose.

Oriflamme

Orange-gold.

Flossie

Rose pink.

Lilacea

Lilac-pink.

Pomponia

Dark gold, edged cherry.

The Duke

Velvet crimson.

Tom Thumb Dahlias

1 to 1 1/2 feet tall.

Hop-O'-My-Thumb

Scarletcrimson.

Gnome

Blush-white.

Pretty Dear

Ivory, edged with pink.

Beatrice

Pale pink.

Swagger

Scarlet.

Robin

Deep rose.

Mignon

Pink, with white ring.

Girlhood

White.

Ayesha

Yellow, flushed with pink.

Apricot

Apricot-gold.

Dahlias, of all the classes, may be raised from seed, sown in sandy compost in pans or pots, in a temperature of 650, or more, in March. Seedlings should be potted off separately into thumb-pots and kept near the glass, being shifted into larger pots as their roots fill those they occupy. They can be flowered in pots if desired.

An autumn flower that may well be associated with Dahlias, in beds and groups, is the Belladonna Lily, or Amaryllis Belladonna. It should be placed in a warm spot, but an open sunny one serves as well as the south-wall border it is generally introduced into, if cinders are heaped over the site during winter. For this bulb should live out. Plant it 6 inches deep in late August, or early September, then mulch with leaf-mould. The many flowers are white, flushed with rose. Or the variety Purpurea maxima offers deep rose blooms, with a sweet scent.

The Guernsey Lily, Nerine Sarniensis

The Guernsey Lily, Nerine Sarniensis, scarlet, may be similarly used, but lifted, the bulb dried, and replanted the following August.

Mirabilis Jalapa, The Belle De Nuit Of France, Or The Marvel Of Peru

Mirabilis Jalapa, The Belle De Nuit Of France, Or The Marvel Of Peru, had a long period of immense popularity, then sank into ill-deserved neglect. The plants come of symmetrical, bushy form (of itself a merit), their leaves are glossy and always fresh-looking, the tubular flowers rise well out of them on all sides as well as at the summit of the bushes, are red, rose, yellow, white, crimson, some curiously mottled, or striped, open at sunset, and perfume the air for many yards. Those blossoms will have passed by the morrow, but there will be many more of the long buds ready to unfurl by another night.

Marvels of Peru may be raised in quantity by seed sown as for Dahlias; they can be lifted annually, if it is desirable, but had better be planted, in June, where they can reside for years in such localities as are fit for Myrtles and Laurustinus. Hot borders by bay windows of villas, in country or seaside towns, are very suitable for them, and their shrub-like appearance will surely be appreciated. I have admired the effect of a couple of bushes of Marvel of Peru flanking house steps. They grow into quite large specimens. Or they are handsome pot subjects for rooms and cool conservatories. Tubers can be bought for starting into growth in April or May.

Mention must be made of Funkias, known formerly as Japanese Day-lilies, which are also half-hardy, though able to live out in warm dry borders. It is preferable to cultivate them in tubs or pots, however, because they are willing to remain attractive very late in the year unless checked by frost. Mostly spoken of now as Plantain Lilies, they rank as herbaceous plants with ornamental foliage, yet their blossom spikes of white or lilac, are charmingly elegant, and also fragrant, and can be increased by division of their crowns.

Plant in September, October, or March. Mulch over them with cinders and leaf-mould, and in April with old cow-manure.

Another idea is to establish them in well-drained parts of waterside gardens and half in shade. They will flourish among hardy Bamboos, for example. Funkia Sieboldiana major, violet blue, with peculiar greyish-blue foliage, is a great contrast to Funkia subcordata grandiflora, a white-bloomer with pea-green leaves. Funkia Fortunei robusta is silvery-lilac, and there is a variety with silver variegated and undulating foliage that is of great service in the greenhouse.