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11 IOWA SEED COMPANY, DES MOINES, IOWA.

[image] LATANIA BORBONICA

ELEGANT PALMS.
These have for centuries been considered exclusively for the rich, the plants usually selling at $3.00 to $100.00 each, and in some cases line plants of the rarer sorts have brought as high as $1,500.00 each. It is now known, however, that they are easily grown from seed, and we have secured a large lot ot nice fresh seed for our customers so that we can furnish it at such a low price that everyone could afford to supply themselves with these beautiful and elegant plants. Directions for growing will be printed on the packet.
LATANIA BORBONICA.- This is the typical palm, and is more largely used than any other. Its strong, healthy habit commends it to all and gives it a fitness for window and room culture not possessed in the same degree perhaps by any other. It is the Chinese Fan Palm from which the palm leaf fans of commerce are made. Easily grown and tenacious of life. Per pkt. 10c.
CHAMAEROPS EXCELSA.- From southern China and Japan. Very hardy, having stood three degrees Fahrenheit with but slight covering. One of the very best palms for house culture in cool climates, forming a fine specimen, standing ill usage remarkably well. Very handsome palmate leaves. Per pkt. 10c.
PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA.- A native of northern Africa. This is the palm trom which the date of commerce is obtained. It is grown in some parts of California successfully from a commercial point of view. Produces fruit when about ten years old. Exceedingly beautiful for pot culture and very hardy. Per pkt. 10c.
WASHINGTONIA FILIFERA.-This is one of the best window palms, needing no petting to succeed. Stands dust and dry air, and lack of sunshine, and is very ornamental with its elegant fan shaped leaves of a rich, dark, leathery green. Picturesquely fringed with long, thread-like filaments along the segments of the leaves. The plant is a compact grower, well adapted to pot culture, succeeding in any situation, and with any treatment that will keep a geranium alive. Per pkt. 10c.
A GRAND OFFER I-One packet each ot the above four varieties for 25 cents; five packets of each for $1.00.

[image] LEGION OF HONOR MARIGOLD

IMPERIAL NASTURTIUMS.
If we were asked to name the six best annuals, the nasturtium would be one of them. They are so easy to grow that a six-year old child could plant and care for them, and they have every good quality of a bedding plant-compact habit, attractive foliage, intensely bright and beautiful flowers borne profusely the whole season, not troubled by insects, and standing dry weather well. Our Imperial Nasturtiums
consist ot about 20 of the best dwart varieties, selected from both American and foreign growers. When planted in beds will produce a most gorgeous display of beautitul flowers of all shades of color. Per pkt. 10c, oz. 25c.

LEGION OF HONOR MARIGOLD.
Now don't say, "It's only a marigold," and pass it by, for this is the prettiest of all, and in fact few would take it to belong to that family. It is dwarf, compact and of pyramidal growth, about five inches high, with dark green, fern-like leaves, furnishing a striking background for the bright, golden, star-like flowers. The blooms are of medium size, rich golden yellow with the center of each petal broadly marked with velvety crimson brown. Easily grown from seed, and flowers freely from July until frost. Per pkt. 5c.

NEW FANCY FLOWERING GIANT PETUNIAS.
This is the most costly and scarce seed we have, and the cost of production is so great that the crop is actually worth more than the same weight of gold. It is unquestionably the finest and most thorough selection of petunias in existence. They are of enormous size (four to five inches across), and exquisitely ruffled and fringed, but their great merits lie in the varieties of colors, markings, veinings, blotchings and stripings in the most grotesque and beautiful combinations; some with charming deep throats of yellow, white, black, green, or maroon, running off into intricate veins. Some of the colors are rich and gorgeous, and others of lovely delicate shade. In order to fully introduce this magnificent class of petunias, we make the price very low. Per pkt. 20c, 3 pkts. 50c, 7 pkts. $1.00.

CALIFORNIA YELLOW BELLS.
One ot the lovliest of California annuals, which has escaped attention among lovers of flowers. The Yellow Bells of California, as it is called, forms a broad bush eighteen inches to two feet high. Each of its numerous branches is fairly loaded with bell-shaped, pedulous flowers, a half inch long, and of a delicate cream color. The flowers are almost everlasting, the persistent corolla drying and retaining its shape until the seed has ripened. The pinnatifid foliage has caused the plant occasionally to be taken for a fern before it blossoms. The seeds may be sown in mellow soil early in spring or as soon as frosts are past, or in the greenhouse, hotbed or cold frame, and afterwards transplanting to a permanent place in the border. Per pkt. 10c.

DIAMOND FLOWER.
A dainty little annual with tufts of tiny foliage, and beautiful little white and violet blue flowers that bloom within a month from the time seed is sown. It will grow in the open ground, over rock-work or in pots, never exceeding three inches in height and rarely two. The tiny flowers have a glistening sheen that has given them their name of Diamond Flower, and being surrounded by a wreath of bright green foliage, they show to a wonderful advantage. For pot culture in winter it is just superb. Sprinkle a few seeds in a small pot or sancer, or in pots where other plants are growing, and within a month you will have the most charming mat of foliage and flowers-covering the surface of the soil like moss-that you ever saw. In the fall the self-sown seed will come up and bloom profusely until the ground freezes and begins again early in the spring. Per pkt. 8c.

HIGHLAND PANSIES.
The most exquisite new varieties, grown by a celebrated pansy specialist in Scotland. Their merit consists in uniformly clear, distinct markings, high colors, pertect form and largest size. They are sure to please. Per pkt. 20c.

[image] CALIFORNIA YELLOW BELLS