The Argemons, or as they are popularly called, Prickly Poppies, are a group of exceedingly showy, free-flowering, hardy annual plants belonging to the natural order Papaveraceae.

They are plants of free, vigorous growth, having spinous pinnatifid, bright green leaves, which are armed with slender prickles and marked with white stripes. The flowers, which are very showy (being from 2 to 3 inches in diameter), are freely produced on long peduncles, both axillary and terminal, during the summer months, the precise time depending upon the manner in which the plants are grown; while from their size, color and manner of flowering, they bear so much resemblance to a poppy, that the popular name, prickly Poppy, has been bestowed upon them.

The Argemons are plants that can be easily grown, doing best in a deep, well enriched soil, and as the plants spread widely, they require a good deal of room to look handsome and properly develop themselves. They are especially suited for the mixed border, where, if properly grown, will always attract considerable attention, on account of the large size and showy color of their flowers. The seed should be sown about the last of March or first of April in a well drained pot or pan filled with light loamy soil; sow thinly, cover slightly, and place in a warm, moist situation, as close to the glass as possible. As soon as the young plants are large enough to handle they should be transplanted into shallow boxes filled with light turfy loam, and placed in rows an inch and a half apart each way. These young plants should be kept close and moist until they become well rooted and growth commences, when they should be removed to a cooler situation, and where air can be freely given, and in this manner grown on until the weather has become warm and settled, when they can be planted outside.

Or the seed can be sown very thinly in a cold frame in April, or on a nicely prepared border in May, and the young plants very carefully removed to the place it is intended they should bloom, as soon as they are strong enough to handle. But unless they are started under glass they will not flower early. The following are the varieties briefly described :