LONDOF: FREDERICK WARNE & CO.

8F.DFORO STREET, STRAND.

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ive met

JJIH^I*ISH VV .HUitOW^I'My LU UC IVUIKX — KTJ — crrc — I I iij i f F IfilflT^

Hedgerows, Rivers, Moorlands, Meadows, Mountains, and Sea-shore. By
J. T. BURGESS. With Practical Illustrations.

" This seasonable little book will be welcomed by the thousands of summer
tourists who take delight in contemplating the beauties of country fields
and lanes where wild flowers abound." — News of the World.

The British Bird-Preserver: with Practical Instructions

on How to Skin, Stuff, and Mount Birds and Animals. By SAMUEL WOOD,

Naturalist and Professional Bird-Preserver.
"A more complete, handy little manual, and one more thoroughly adapted to

the purposes it has in view, we are not acquainted with." — Canterbury

Gazette.
"The instructions are detailed and minute." — Scotsman.

Poultry: An Original Guide to their Breeding, Rearing, Feed-
ing, and Exhibiting. Uy E. WATTS.

NOTICE. — This completely New Poultry Book is the only one the Author has
fully written ; all others bearing her name being only edited by her, and much
anterior to this volume.

Bedford Street, Strand.

Frederick Warne and Co., Publishers,

WARWE'S USEFUL BOOKS-continueet.

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THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

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of their
Original

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or then

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The :

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" The
Spo;

Out-door Common Birds; Their Habits and General
Characteristics. By HENRY STANNARD. With Eighty Original Illustrations.

"The habits, appearance, and peculiarities of the birds are graphically and
minutely described. " — Graphic.

" No fewer than fifty-five of our most common birds are here figured and de-
scribed, a picture of the eggs of each species being also given?' — Scotsman.

Bedford Street, Strand.

Wilt*,

FLOWERS

AND

THE FLOWER GARDEN.

WITH INSTRUCTIONS ON THE CULTURE OF

ORNAMENTAL 1EEES, SHEUBS, to., &c,

BY ELIZABETH WATTS,

AUTHOR OF ^VEGETABLES, AND HOW TO GROW THEM.'

LONDON:
FREDERICK WARNE & CO..

BEDFORD STREET, STRAND.

DAL2IEL BROTHERS, CAMDEN PRESS, LONDON, N.W

S&W6

PKEFACE AND DEDICATION.

"WHEN I began to write this little book, and to reckou
what its readers would most require in it, I looked back
to the time, some years ago now, when we first owned a
garden, rather large in size for Middlesex, and, like
hundreds similarly placed, sorely stood in need of the
exact, though concise information it contains; and I
have tried to arrange it so that it will meet the wants
of this numerous class. If they find it lessen the
difficulties that stood in our way in cultivating our
flowers when we first had a garden, I shall be satisfied.

As the little work is intended for the many rather
than for the scientific few, I have as much as possible
avoided botanical names and technicalities, only in-
troducing them when general identification seemed to
render it necessary .

To all who own a flower garden and delight in flowers
I dedicate FLOWERS AND THE ELOWER. GARDEN, and
lope they will find it useful.

M363I75 E-w-

CONTENTS.

Chapter Page

I. Pleasure Gardens 1

II. Laying out of the Garden . . » • 8

III. The Tool-house and its Contents . . 14

IV. Ornamental Trees and Evergreens .

V. Ornamental Shrubs and Climbers

VI. Hardy Handsome Foliage Plants

VII. Tender Handsome Foliage Plants

VIII. Roses : Growth and Propagation

IX. Roses : their Culture

X. Florists' Flowers : Anemones, Calceolarias
Chrysanthemums, Cinerarias

Carnations,

20
27
37
43
51
59

65

XI. Florists' Flowers : Dahlias, Fuchsias, Hyacinths,

Pansies, Pelargoniums ..... 74
XII. Florists' Flowers : Petunias, Phloxes, Auriculas, &c.,
Ranunculuses, Tulips, Verbenas, and American
Plants 84

XIII. Bedding Plants 94

XIV. Bulbs, Tubers, &c 106

XV. Annuals 116

XVI. Perennials and Biennials 126

XVII. Garden Adjuncts, the Greenhouse, and the Window . 136

XVIII. Garden Decorations 143

XIX. Garden Operations in January .... 151

XX. Garden Operations in February . . . .156

XXI. Garden Operations in March . . . . .159

XXII. Garden Operations in April 162

XXIII. Garden Operations in May 165

XXIV. Garden Operations in June . . . . .166
XXV. Garden Operations in July 171

XXVI. Garden Operations in August 173

XXVII. Garden Operations in September . . . .176

XXVIII. Garden Operations in October 179

XXIX. Garden Operations in November and December . 181

'i

FLOWERS

AND

THE FLOWER GARDEN,

CHAPTEE I.

PLEASUEE GAEDENS.

THE Pleasure Garden, in all its various forms, can
scarcely fail to be the delight, the occupation, the pride,
the glory of the English gentlewoman. It is work for
the idle and recreation for the busy. "Whatever our
station renders desirable in either shape we may get
among flowers, trees, and shrubs; and there all the
good qualities so paramount in the women of England
find scope. A well cared for garden displays— and dis-
plays to good advantage too— the love of home, domestic
taste, a wish to please, industry, neatness, taste, and
all the sweet household virtues that create home where-
ever good women rule, and that make Englishmen,
when blessed with such as wives or relatives, so fond of
it and of them. Nor is it ladies only that find, in
gardening, employment for mind and hands, givino-
ample return in gratification, health, and pleasure ; fo*
the master too, if he be a man of taste and feeling
likes it no less : only, gardening and the love of &a
garden are not solitary pleasures ; and I do not think
any owner—or gardener either, for the matter of that-—
ever really delights in it unless those whose smiles are
a? pleasant to him as the fragrance of the flowers, do so

B

2 FLO WEES AND THE FLO WEE GAEDEN.

too. To the little ones of tbe family also, the value of
the garden may have no limit : give a little boy or a
little girl a bit of ground to call his own or her own,
and encourage the young owner to cultivate it well, and
it may be the nursery of all the good qualities that I
have named, and many more.

One great merit in horticulture is, that it confines
itself to no rank, and that it may form the amusement
or the pursuit alike of great and small, rich and poor ;
only, the kind of garden we choose, what we do with
the land which we have at command, must depend on
those extraneous circumstances to which we all have
to submit.

The Landscape Garden is perhaps the most preten-
tious, since it demands not only an extensive, but a varied,
site. Those, however, who happen to have a rough
piece of ground to bring into cultivation, can devote
their knowledge and prescience to create from it a
pleasure ground of varied and great beauty, by contrivi g
the planting to humour the accidents of the ground, and
by altering the ground to assist the plantations, thickets,
shrubberies, and vegetation of different kinds. Trees and
shrubs planted in large or small groups, or singly ; taste-
ful openings to show distant peeps of scenery, wherever
such happen to be at command ; promontories reached
by rough rustic stairs, now seen, now hidden ; faces of
cliffs, in some parts densely draped with foliage, in others
shaped into little flats, planted with groups of plants of
bold foliage, hollowed out into caverns and grottoes,
adorned with picturesque erections, or left in naked rug-
gedness, helped by the hand of man to an angle taking
the1 finest sunset tints, — will lead on such a bit of ground
to a very beautiful landscape garden. The top of the
height may be shaped into terrace walks, approached
from below at intervals by gradual ascents and rustic
jstairs ; and half way up and near the bottom, summer-
houses, aviaries, grottoes, little caves, arbours, and seats
of various form, may at once please the eye and utilize
the position by offering pleasant places for rest, and cool
or warm refreshment to suit all seasons. Little hills can

LANDSCAPE GARDENS. 8

be tinted and varied by winding devious gravel paths,
and diverse vegetation ; and flat parts may have ponds
for water fowl, surrounded by rising ground planted as
shrubberies. Sheets of water, the largest at command,
must on no account be absent from the landscape garden.
Jn fact, there is no end to the beauties which the gardener
may press into his service in working a rough bit of
ground, including high ground and low, into cultivation.
In such ground ultra-precise gardening would be out
of place. The paths should be kept neat, but they do
not need a border : the undergrowth of trees and shrubs
at their edge will in many places make the best-looking
border they can have ; and where they leave patches that
would look bare, grass may be encouraged to grow, and
wild and other hardy flower roots which the locality will
suit may be planted. Lilies of the valley, wood ane-
mones, primroses, periwinkle, and all shade-loving, free-
flowering roots may be used for this purpose. The trees
and shrubs for clumps and shrubberies must be chosen
according to the space at command. If the shrubbery
or space to be planted be not large, variety should be
studied : plant only one tree and shrub of a kind. If,
on the contrary, the ground to be planted be extensive,
with varieties in the formation of the ground, group the
, trees, &c., in masses of several of a sort in one group, and
let no one group be like another. In planting the ground
think of the future : plant as sparsely as you may, the
trees and shrubs will require thinning out witliin five
years, but they should be so planted as not to get
overcrowded much sooner than that. I remember a
shrubbery walk the outline of which always seemed to
me very pretty and picturesque, and would have done if
the dear name of home had not appertained to its locality.
The walk turned off at an angle from the entrance gate,
and took a zigzag course, hidvien in its own shrubbery,
round a wide deep lawn, and led to aside entrance some
distance from the house. At the corner, by the gate, a
fine horse-chestnut towered over every other tree (except
the poplar and the larch) ; on a bank, covered with peri-
winkle and St. John's wort, on the side of the path

r, 2

4 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GAHDEN.

opposite to it (so as to look before it from the windows of
the house), stood a fine round evergreen oak. Then came
thick bushy lilacs on the farther side of the path, and
under them, divided from them by the path, low laurels ;
then one Lornbardy poplar tapered up into the sky, and
farther on. flanked on each side by bushy laurels, was a
remarkably fine weeping ash ; a wide division in the
laurels before it laid it open in view of the windows,
and some little way beyond it again a larch rose tall and
graceful. Lilacs, syringas, snowberries, a birch, labur-
nums, lilacs, and another dense cluster of snowberries,
on the one side, and double furze, pink acacia, and more
laburnums, on the other, led on to the corner. After
these the path turned the corner and went on its course
between tall trees on the one hand, and low bushes on
the other, until it diverged to the side gate amid Cor chorus
and ivy on the one hand, and the flower garden on the
other. The outline of the shrubbery was varied and
pretty, and in that it deserves to be taken as a model.
A landscape garden, to be fully carried out, needs an
extensive piece of ground; but its principles may be
brought to bear on a rough bit, whatever be the size.

Gardens in the Italian style also need sufficient space,
for if anything of this kind be attempted in a medium-
sized back garden there will be great danger of its de-
generating into a tea-garden-like assemblage of fountains,
parapets, and pedestals, or at any rate of incurring the
odium often bestowed on Cockney gardens. A varied
surface favours this kind, as it should have facilities for
being constructed with terraces, and raised positions for
temples, fountains, and such like ornaments. One of its
characteristics is stone, or stucco, as the case may be.
Terraces with parapets, flights of steps, balustrades, urns;
and vases ; fountains of every shape and make ; temples
and erections of all and every kind, viaducts, tunnels,
and all appliances of the kind that man ever invented to
put into a garden, appertain to it. An Italian garden
agrees well with a house of formal architecture, whence
it may be reached by steps descending from a terrace
stretching along the front. The flower beds in such

ITALIAN GARDENS. GEOMET1UC GARDENS. H

gardens are formal in character, edged witli stone (or an
imitation of it), and each filled with flowers of one or
two kinds. Care and taste in filling the vases are neces-
sary, as, if the flowers in them are shabby, it will quite
spoil the effect. Plants of a drooping growth, hanging
carelessly over the edge of the vases, or light graceful
creepers led up the pillars, will assist the general pretty
appearance and prevent disagreeable formality. Nume-
rous groups of ornamental trees and shrubs should be so
placed as to aid the general effect.

The Geometric Garden, in which the beds appear to
have been marked out with rule and compass, to suit
which shrubs and evergreens should be kept clipped into
form, has given place to the more fanciful symmetrical
parterre, in which the beds twist about each other, and
fit into each other in set pattern only a degree less for-
mal than squares, parallelograms, and triangles. The
ancient art of cutting trees and shrubs into curious
forms, called Topiary, was done by placing a shape of
wirework over the tree to be trimmed, and clipping to it.

The symmetrical parterre is in small beds, generally of
fantastic form, cut out in a lawn or separated by paths.
It has of late years become such a favourite that it is now
the kind of flower garden most in use of any kind. The
beds are of set form, side agreeing with side, and end
with end ; and the colouring is massed by planting each
little bed with one flower, or with two or three only, set
into large patches, or with a centre of one colour and a
border of another. In planting this garden the whole
of the bed is to be covered, so as to present to the eyo
one mass of colour of the shape it bears. Vases placed
in set form, and fountains, are in character. In making
a plan for a garden of this kind it is well to avoid long
sharp angles, and very narrow bits, from the difficulty of
keeping the plants within bounds, and also of main-
taining the form in clipping the edges. A method that
has sometimes been resorted to in diminishing pictures
will be found of great help in shaping beds. Draw the
plan on paper, taking care that its four quarters, or two
sides, as the case may be, agree exactly, which may be

6 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWEft GAKDEtf*

done by a tyro, by folding the paper and pricking
through ; then divide the paper into squares, and mark
out the ground into the same number of squares ; and
simple measuring will do the rest. If the beds be
separated by paths, not cut out on grass, they must
be edged with well-kept box. If a garden of this
kind be surrounded by a border, that may be planted
with tall-growing vegetation — such as ornamental trees,
shrubs, standard roses, and plants of a like height, but
for the beds themselves low-growing things will have the
best effect. The highest should not exceed the height
of a rosebush ; and it is a general practice to peg down
most of the plants, so as to maintain quite a low surface.
The corresponding beds of the two sides, and even of
the four quarters, should agree exactly, and the flowers
chosen should be of kinds which bloom abundantly.
There is no kind of garden which requires more exact
care, as extreme neatness should especially characterize it.
It looks very poor if some of the beds are behind others
in flowering, and others only partially full of plants and
flowers, or if the edges are not exactly kept. In the
spring a symmetrical garden planted with bulbs is
very bright and gay ; but in this case either the bulbs
must be sacrificed when they have done flowering, or
the use of the garden given up for a portion of the year
afterwards. This, however, may be obviated by planting
the bulbs in pots, and sinking them.

The old-fashioned English flower garden will always
have many friends. The landscape garden is for the
rich, or, at any rate, for the owner of an extensive piece of
ground. The Italian garden appertains appropriately to
mansions, and requires expensive mason's work, hydraulic
apparatus, and plenty of gardeners to keep it in the trim"
order without which it conveys more idea of shabbiness
than the humblest garden of smaller pretensions. The
geometric garden must come down to us from ages back,
or it is nothing. Its clipped trees, yew hedges, formal
paths, and stately growth are the creation of centuries.
The symmetrical flower garden needs a greenhouse or a
long purse to supply plants in sufficient numbers for its

THE OLD-FASHIONED FLOWER GAKDEtf. 7

requirements, and a gardener to keep it in the exact
order without which it will never show to good advan-
tage. But the simple flower garden, with its protecting
screen of trees (\\here there is space for them), its lively
pretty flowering shrubs, its rich clusters of perennials,
its standard roses and rosebushes of all varieties, its
flowers of graduated heights, descending to low bright
varied pinks, pansies, carnations, cloves, and all that is
bright and sweet, and, above all, its constant succession
of flowers, mixing them up, as Nature does, with plenty
of green, is much less exigeant. Life is not made up of
great patches of brightness ; and it does not seem that
gay flowers were ever intended to be planted so, but
were meant to come like our brightest moments, de-
tached and resting in repose — green foliage. Whoever
owns a little bit of ground, industry to work in it, and
the wish to make it pretty, may have a flower garden.
Even Dirk Hatterick could reckon on spending his ill-
gotten gains on a " Blumengarten " ; and there are cer-
tainly none so rough that they cannot be softened with
the beauties of Nature, none so dull that they cannot be
cheered by them. The plain flower garden, with its
border round, its beds of just any convenient shape, its
lawn, if there be room for one, and the ease with which
its work can be done, is especially suitable to those who
cultivate their own flower gardens. In the arrange-
ment of these gardens the highest things should stand
at the back of the borders, and in the centres of the
beds. The plants in front or around should be in bold
clumps, and should stand well apart, and the earth
between should be well weeded ar d neatly raked. In
planting it is necessary to calculate time and space.
Consider the time of flowering of all that is put in the
garden, so that all seasons as they come round may have
flowers in bloom, well spaced about the garden, with
tolerable regularity. Consider the space which the plants
planted and the seeds sown will take when they grow
up. In planting and sowing look forward not less than
two months, and plant and sow in such a manner that
the borders shall not be overcrowded at the end of that

8 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

time. The plain flower garden is the especial theatre
for choice roses ; for the recesses among trees and shrubs,
sheltered sunny nooks, and warm borders of various
aspect, offer good places for all degrees of hardihood,
height, and size. Pine herbaceous plants, too, of which
we have such endless variety, have every facility in
gardens where plants of all heights are wanted arid can
be well placed.

The sort of garden on which we decide, among those
I have named, and many other kinds, must depend on
the size of the ground at command, the climate in which
it stands, its aspect, surface, and soil ; also on the money
and labour which we wish to bestow on our horticul-
tural pursuits. Most persons who take to gardening,
however, have no power of choice in the matter, but follow
after others, take in hand the garden which happens to
come to hand, and make the best of it. Those who
make the best of it, whether in the affairs of life or the
affairs of the garden, are pretty sure to do well and
prosper. If we take a garden already in cultivation,
much uncertainty in decision will be spared us. Let us
in this instance go to work with caution, and take care
how we destroy ; for old gardens may have many trees
and roots well worth saving which do not look so at
first sight.

CHAPTER II.

THE LAYING OUT OE THE GARDEN.

THE kind of fencing is a matter of less importance in
the flower than in the kitchen garden, provided it offer
good protection and be pleasant to the eye. It must
also be sufficiently substantial to ward off biting winds
and live intruders.
A wall is an ugly thing in a flower garden, although a

WALLS. FURZE WALLS. WIRE FENCING. HEDGES. 9

good protector. To hide its unseemliness, it may be
covered with ornamental creepers, or with fruit trees,
which none can think an eyesore anywhere. A wooden
fence, for its own duration and to keep it from being a
harbour for insects, should be well tarred. Almost all
walls, for their own protection and that of the trees and
plants trained against them, should have a coping at the
top to project a little beyond their surface, thus preventing
the rain from soaking into the substance of the wall, and
trickling down its sides to the injury of the plants. A
wall of earth by itself has not the power of withstanding
wear and tear for a length of time ; but if it have the
protection of a lattice against it and a coping at the top,
it may do. A wall of turf, also, may be made lasting
under proper treatment. Let it be three feet wide at
the bottom, tapering to fifteen inches at the top, and sow
it well with furze seed, which may be bought at the
seedsman's at Is. §d. per pound. AVhen the furze grows,
clip it, and keep the whole surface regularly clipped, and
in time it will be like a good-looking green wall. Orna-
mental wire fencing is neat, and does very well, provided
a more substantial screen be not required for shelter.
Evergreen hedges always look nice, bright, and pretty,
and with the constant care they are likely to get if their
home is the flower garden, they are sure to do well :
they are thick when shelter is most needed, and almost
all the year round form a pleasant screen for the eye to
rest on, and a good background for bright vegetation and
gay flowers. Laurel, yew, and holly, are all good, as are
also the evergreen privet and box, if the locality be one
which favours its growth. Many recommend mixing in
the hedge flowering trees and shrubs, such aslaurustinus,
Oydonia Japonica (formerly known as Pirns Japonica),
flowering currant, and double-blossomed furze; but for
the convenience of keeping the hedges constantly
clipped, it is better to plant such trees apart from the
hedge, although they may be placed in front of it, so as
to break its uniformity. A hedge of ivy, trained in a
thick mass over an open paling or wire fence, forms a
good background. It has the advantage that any inex-

10 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

pensive fence under it will do, provided it have strength
to bear the weight and to stand against the wind.

Deciduous hedges are not good, as, from being bare of
leaves in the winter, they fail to give shelter when it is
most needed. Some one stated (I think in the Cottage
Gardener) that a hedge of hawthorn is worse than use-
less for shelter, as the cold wind positively becomes colder
in passing through it, from the moisture retained in the
foliage.

For gravel paths, complete drainage is only necessary
in a very damp locality, or where there is a great rush
of water from higher ground near at hand. In such
cases a system of tile-draining to the paths may be
requisite. Generally, however, a thick substratum of
draining material, laid in when the paths are made, will
suffice. Shape out the paths exactly, and remove the
earth in their whole course to the depth of eighteen
inches, making a clean square trench. Then spread
stones, oyster shells, and collections of rubbish, consist-
ing of broken crockery and such like hard material, or
burnt brick clay, so as to fill the trench ; let this lie for
a time, ramming it down repeatedly. After a few days,
or a few weeks, according to weather and labour bestowed,
there will be a space of six or seven inches above it to
the top of the trench. Lay on a layer of coarse gravel,
from four to six inches thick, and let it be well rammed
down and rolled as flat as it can be. At this stage of
the path-making it is best to plant the box edging to
the beds. One yard of old box edging, if well divided,
will make several for replanting. Divide the box
thoroughly, and throw away all that has grown too
woody ; that which is replanted should not be thicker
than a crowquill. Trim the roots of ihe plants so that
the plants may be about four inches in length, and place
the tops exactly even. Make a trench, or rather cut,
three inches deep, or rather more, by pressing the spade
Jnto the earth, and moving it backwards and forwards a
little to give sufficient width to the opening at the top,
and let the perpendicular side of the cut be towards the
bed. Then place the little box plants against the per-

GRAVEL PATHS. BOX EDGINGS. CONCRETE PATHS. II

pendicular side of the cut, with the top edge exactly
even, and (as the roots will not be even also) press m
the earth with your left hand while you still hold them
in their place, so as to fix them. The plants should touch
each other, and should he, when the path is done, not
more than an inch out of the ground. Autumn and
spring are the times for transplanting box, and it should
not be done too early in autumn, nor left too late in
spring. Beat the earth well down to the roots of the
box, and then lay on the last coat of gravel to the paths.
Spread a sufficient thickness of fine gravel, water and roll it
at once, and continue to roll it until it is firm and smooth >

The late Mr. I). Beaton, that well known gardener
and writer, recommends concrete paths, the construction
of which he describes in the following words : — "A layer
of stones, brickbats, shells, or clinkers, six inches deep,
to form a dry bottom ; a layer of chalk or lime, in the
proportion of one to ten of the stones or other founda-
tion, and well rolled and watered, to the thickness of
three inches, with a rise of two inches in the centre ;
over this, half an inch of gravel and lime or fine chalk.
"Water and roll it well again. Add an eighth of an inch
of fine gravel ; and again roll it until it is quite solid.
Have the walk two inches wider on each side than you
desire, as this checks the turf and weeds from encroach-
ing, and prevents the rain-water getting to the foundation
of the walk." This would make a capital path, only I
should give it more thickness of foundation than six
inches, and also more than a mere sprinkling of gravel
on the surface.

The lawn, whether it be left a plain surface of grass,
or be cut out into beds, formed into a symmetrical
parterre, or planted with standard roses and ornamental
trees and shrubs, is always an important feature in the
flower garden. It should be uniform in surface, and
uniform in herbage ; for if the surface be uneven it will
be difficult to keep it well mown, without which it can-
not look nice ; and if it be sown with various kinds of
grasses, &c., it wrill never appear of a smooth unvaried
green. The best soil for a lawn is a sandy loam, or a

12 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

loam rather inclining to sanely. The earth should be not
less than a foot deep ; it should be drained if necessary,
and the draining should be regular, so as to avoid swain py
spots. Laying down cut turf is the best way of making
a grass plot, for two reasons: first, as it is generally
taken in the neighbourhood, it introduces the kinds of
grass which do best in the locality; and secondly, it
becomes a green surface sooner than the produce of seed,
supposing, of course, that it gets sufficient watering and
care. The season for laying turf is any time from Sep-
tember to April. The turfs are cut a foot wide, a yard
long, and as nearly as possible an inch in thickness.
Before cutting them the ground should be marked out,
and cut downwards with a racer or rutter — a thin sharp
instrument with a rounded edge, like a cheese-cutter,
fixed to a handle about four feet long. They should then
be raised with a turfing-iron — an implement with a flat
arrow-shaped blade, for cutting up the turf, fixed to a
handle which goes straight from the blade for several
inches, then turns at an angle and turns again at a
second angle, so that the handle is above the ground,
while the blade is at work beneath it. As one man cuts
the turfs, another should roll and remove them. They
are unrolled as they are laid, placing edge to edge with
great exactness, and mending and filling in the broken
parts as they are laid. As soon as the grass is laid, it
should be beaten flat, rolled repeatedly, and watered if
the weather be dry.

If it be thought better to sow seed than to lay turf,
the following will be found good sorts : yellowish oat
grass (Avena flavescens), crested dog's tail (Cynosurus
cristatus), fine rye grass (ILolium perenne tenue), wood
meadow grass (Poa nemoralis), evergreen ditto (Poa ne^
moralis sempervirens), rough -stalked meadow grass {Poa
trivialis), white clover (Trifolium repens), smaller yellow
clover {Trifolium minus), fox-tail meadow grass (Alopecu-
ruspratensis),$\\reet-$cented spring grass (Anthoxanthum
odoratum), meadow grass (Poa pratensis). A mixture
may be made, according to circumstances, and sown early
in spring.

LATINO TUEF. KINDS OF GRASS. SPERGULA, 18

Spergula pill/era forms a moss-like carpet, which is
said by many to be better than grass for a lawn. "Where
it takes well, it maintains a bright uniform green; in
shade, where grass often will not thrive, it does well, and
on hot sunny banks it will do with watering. It has the
advantage of not requiring mowing, and its pretty little
white flowers are very fragrant, and are great favourites
with bees. The surface to be planted with it should be
manured, and then prepared as for another lawn, and
gently rolled. Break up the spergula turf into bits two
inches square, or rather less ; plant the bits two inches
apart, roll the ground and give one good watering. Keep
the surface weeded, roll it once a week, and when it has
taken, it may now and then have a watering with liquid
manure. It may be grown from seed. It is especially
good for small lawns, borders, and banks. The Messrs.
Carter, of Holborn, sell the turf in small quantities, 2s.
for enough to plant a square yard, and, I believe, charge
less for a large surface. They supply the seed also.

The soil of the beds must be made according to the
use to which they are to be devoted. The productive
earth forming the beds should be about three feet in
depth. Clay imparts tenacity, sand gives lightness, and
chalk and lime have an intermediate effect. The due
mingling of these earths may render heavy soils more
friable and light soils more retentive. The constant
addition of animal and vegetable manures is continually
altering the quality of earth under cultivation, and the
different proportions of it and of the different kinds of
earth must form the constant study of the floriculturist.
A light loam, greatly enriched with decayed vegetable
matter, is an excellent soil for the flower garden ; but as
various plants differ in their likings and requirements,
no set rule can be given. Planting the garden, and
modifying the soil, so that the vegetation may like
its position, and the position suit the plants, are two
things which must accommodate themselves to each
other. In laying out and planting we must consider for
what the situation and capabilities of the garden are
suited, to the end that ^ur work may turn out a credit

14 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN".

and a satisfaction, rather than a loss and a disappointment.
With a sweet mild sheltered position, clear country air,
and a fine soil, we may attain almost any amount of
floricultural success ; but if our field of action be a small
wall-enclosed space, on which the smoke of some great
town beats pitilessly down, we must confine our horticul-
tural ambition to the few plants which can accommodate
themselves to such circumstances, and be very glad that
there are a few which can.

CHAPTER III.

THE TOOL-HOUSE AND ITS CONTENTS.

HOWEVER true it may be that a bad workman finds fault
with his tools, it is no less so that a good workman wants
good tools ; and this is in no case much truer than in the
tiower garden.

A good tool-house and potting-shed are essential
adjuncts to every garden. The tool-house should be
fitted up with shelves for stowing away mats, canvas,
netting, and things of that kind used at times only for
covering and shading. The walls should be covered
with supports, pegs, nails, and hooks, among which every
long and short handled tool, watering-pot, fumigator,
hammer, axe, and other tool should have its place, to
which it should be returned, cleaned, every time it is
used. The habit which many gardeners have of leaving
their tools about when they have done using them, is
extravagant and mischievous to a great degree. The
tool-house should also have shelves for boxes whetstones,
roses of watering-pots, and water-engines, tallies, pegs,
and all small things so likely to get mislaid or lost.
There should also be hanging boxes and other receptacles
for shreds, nails, cords, lines, and such like. The wheel-
barrow and water-engine should always go under shelter
when their work is done, and some old casks for the pre-
servation of any fertilizers that wet would injure, will be

TOOL-HOUSE. SPADES. KAEES. HOES. 15

useful. Almost any spare corner out of sight will do
for the tool-house, but it should be dry, or else shears,
knives, saws, and bettermost tools of that kind must not
be kept in it. Spades, shovels, rakes, hoes, forks, and
trowels, are too well known to need many words respect-
ing them. With regard to these and all other tools, it
is the best economy to buy the best of their kind. AIL
eccentric unions of two tools in one I reckon more dai?
gerous than useful.

Spades are made of three sizes, and it is best to have
two for a medium-sized flower garden. The largest,
or the second size, may be chosen according to the
strength of the hand which will have to use it, for the
chief of the digging ; and the smallest will be useful
among the flowers in rather crowded borders. There is
also a deep spade much scooped, which is very good for
getting up plants with a good ball of earth. A really
good spade will wear with a good edge throughout. A
shovel is a kind of spade, broad in make, and rather
hollowed in form, and is used for removing earth and
such like jobs.

It will be found convenient to have rakes of three
sizes : one of a rather large size, for the main portion of
the raking; quite a small one for raking in amongst the
flower roots ; and a third, with short teeth, for surface
tidying. A wooden rake is useful for getting together
the cut grass on the lawn, but in its .absence the large
iron one will answer the purpose. A daisy rake is an
implement for removing daisies and other intruders of
the kind from lawns.

The hoe is used for cutting up weeds on the surface
of the ground, and for earthing up plants, by drawing
earth up round the roots. The Dutch hoe is fixed
straight on the handle, whereas the common hoe is placed
at an angle ; thus the gardener works from himself with
the one, and towards himself with the other. They are
tools of constant utility, as the surface of the ground can
scarcely be too often stirred. A small and a medium-
sized hoe, and a medium-sized Dutch hoe, will find
plenty of work in a flower garden. The spud is a little

16 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

tool of constant utility. It is like a wide-made chisel,
set on the end of a long handle, and is good for cutting
up weeds on grass, paths, or beds.

The fork is an implement which should be always used
in the flower beds in preference to the spade ; it is less
labour, it pulverizes the earth better, and it is less
likely to do mischief among unseen roots. A light fork,
with three prongs, is best for common use. A four-
pronged fork is also good for some purposes. A tulip
fork — a nice little three-pronged fork, with a handle little
more than a foot long — is a most useful tool. It is espe-
cially handy for ladies, as with it they can fork as much
as is necessary, while they stoop over a bed to plant and
arrange it. Where the ground is large enough to require
a large assortment of tools, a leaf fork will be found
handy : it is a large four-pronged fork, made of wood,
shod with iron, and it will enable one person to take up
more leaves than two can without its help, as it is large
and light, and the leaves do not fix to it as to a common
fork. One trowel will be enough ; it should be kept
clean and bright, and it will have plenty of work to do.

A large garden will require a good water-engine. For
it to work well and last well, the workmanship must be
very good, and therefore it is a dear thing to buy.
A good one will cost several pounds. The hydropult is a
water-engine, the pipe of which can be placed in a tank,
or in a vessel of water ; its cost is two guineas, and there
is one of smaller size for 35s., which a lady can \vork.
It is sold by E. N. Button, 27, Leadenhall Street, Lon-
don, E.G. ; it is recommended by all the leading horti-
cultural periodicals, and it works very well. Some at a
lower price have been advertised, but in the purchase of
a thing which should last for years, I doubt the economy
of buying a less efficient article, because it is cheap. The
hydropult works until the reservoir is exhausted. Water-
ing-pots are made of all shapes and sizes. The roses of
some should be finely perforated that the watering may
the more nearly resemble rain. Besides common water-
ing-pots of all sizes, there are long spouted watering-
pots for watering the plants on the shelves of a green-

FOltKS, ENGINES, WATERING POTS, ETC. 17

house; French watering-pots, with zigzag bends in
the spouts, to break the force of the water as it
descends upon the plants; and shelf watering-pots, small
and flat in shape, for watering plants that are high up
and in out of the way corners, and near the glass in
greenhouses.

Allied to the apparatus for watering is the syringe, an
implement of great value to the floriculturist. It may
be used, held at a distance from the plant, for the purpose
of giving a soft refreshing watering, or held near the
plant, the water may be impelled with force to destroy
the aphides. Syringes are made in three sizes; the
cost of the smallest is 5s. 6d. ; we have had one in use
for several years, for which that sum was paid ; it was
made by George, of Camden Town.

A fumigator is also a good thing to have, for fumigat-
ing plants when they are infested with insects. It is on
the plan of the blast bellows used in houses, and to it is
attached a reservoir for the tobacco, or whatever may be
used for fumigating. It is rather dear to buy, the price
being, I think, 10s. 6d.

A turfing iron, for raising turf, is scarcely needed in a
private garden, where laying a lawn is a matter of rare
occurrence ; but the sharp tool with a circular edge,
called a racer or rutter, is wanted wherever there is a
lawn, or edging of grass, for trimming the edges.

Some sort of greenhouse, for raising plants, is most
valuable to aid the flower garden, and almost necessary
where a great number of bedding plants are required.
For the purpose of raising plants for the beds and bor-
ders, a house with vines in it will do, as by the time they
give shade from being thickly covered with foliage, the
seedlings and the plants which have needed winter pro-
tection, will be ready for putting out.

In the absence of a greenhouse, a good roomy frame
may be made to do a great deal in rearing plants and
cuttings. Any out of the way warm corner will do for a
hotbed and frame. That old writer on gardening, Aber-
crombie, gives, as dimensions for a one-sash frame, 4 J feet
from back to front, 3J from side to side, 15 inches or 18

C

18 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

inches high at the back (for preserving garden plants, 18
is best), and 9 inches in front; for a two-sash frame, 4^
feet from back to front, 7 feet from side to side, and the
same height as the smaller, with a good stont well fixed
bar in the centre, from back to front, to support the
sashes; for a three-sash frame, 4J- feet from back to
front, 10£ from side to side, from 18 inches to 2 feet
high at the back, and 9, 12, or 15 inches in front; these,
of coarse, must have two cross bars. The larger frames
may be deeper, because they will need more depth of
earth. The woodwork should be of 1^-inch deal, planed
and neatly put together, that there may be no cracks to
hold wet or harbour insects. The cross bars should be
3 inches wide, and dovetailed in front and back, that the
sashes may shut down close, and a slat of wood should
be set on at the sides of the frame, for the sashes to drop
against, leaving the front and back without this addition,
for the convenience of drawing the sashes up and down.
The sashes should extend beyond the frame at the top,
and be made of IJ-inch wood, and should be 2^
inches wide ; the cross frames should be an inch wide
and an inch and a half thick, as in this part it is not
good to interrupt the light more than necessary ; these
may be nine or twelve inches apart. The frames should
have three good coats of paint to begin with, and should
never be more than a yea?1 without painting. Of course
the frame must be placed with the high back to the north,
so that it may slope towards the south.

In sharp weather the sashes will want to be covered,
to keep out the frost. This is generally done with mats,
and other materials that absorb wet, which then lowers
the temperature of the air within the frame, instead of
retaining the heat. To obviate this, a framework may
be made to cover the lights in severe weather, and ward
off wet also. Make a lattice of stout laths the size of
the frame, or, if it be a large one, the size of the lights,
making one for each sash. The laths of the lattice may
be a foot apart. Lay on it a mat, and over the mat fix a
thatching of straw from three to six inches thick. These
may be put on and taken off as the weather renders pro-

SHEARS, BARROWS. SUNDRIES. WATER. 19

tection necessary, they will give less trouble than covering
of other kinds, as well as being better for the plants.

A good supply of hand-glasses is very useful. Those
of cast iron are good and durable. There are some which
are made square with movable tops : the square frames
which form the lower parts fixing together with pegs at
the corners. Bell-glasses, too, for raising cuttings, may
be named.

Shears, knives, and scissors of different kinds, and a
few other implements will be wanted for pruning, bud-
ding, grafting, and all processes of that nature.

A wheelbarrow of light make, with a broad wheel to
prevent disarrangement of the gravel, and boards to fit
in so as to make it deep in case of necessity for the col-
lection of light rubbish in large quantities, will be
required. A hand-barrow too is useful, its greatest
drawback being that it requires two persons to move it
about. Perhaps the best hand-barrow for the flower
garden is a strong wicker basket, set between two poles,
as it is light and manageable, and answers the purpose
well in collecting weeds as they are drawn, dead flowers,
cuttings, and small pots, full or empty.

A scythe or a mowing machine, one or the other, or
both, must have a place among the implements where
grass has to be kept in order. A mowing machine is
dear to buy (from three or four pounds to thirty) and
complicated in make, and must consequently be treated
with care, by being thoroughly cleaned and oiled after
every time it is used. Many who have no prejudice
against the mowing machines are deterred from buying
one by its cost, and continue the use of the older imple-
ment, the scythe. This must be of good metal, and have
for a companion a good stone for sharpening it.

In addition, a good heavy roller is indispensable ; a
ladder will be needed if there are tall- trained plants, ,and
the following small items are wanted at times — a line,
a measuring rod, a dibber (one may be made out of an
old spade handle), a sieve, a saw, a hammer, a pair of
pincers, a broom, and baskets. Things for use to be
kept in store are naiis, shreds, mats, netting, poles,

c 2

20 FLOWERS AND THE JFLOWER GARDEN.

stakes and sticks, garden pots, labels, linie, sulphur,
tobacco, &c.

Conveniences should be arranged in the form of water-
tanks and butts (kept tarred when necessary), pipes, and
all such appliances for catching the rain-water which
falls on all the roofs, for the use of the garden.

CHAPTEE IV.

ORNAMENTAL TREES AND EVERGREENS.

BY ornamental trees, I mean all which may, with good
effect, find place in the flower garden and such sur-
rounding pleasure ground as often appertains to a dwell-
ing of moderate pretension. The list of such is so
extensive that a mere catalogue might fill a volume; I
will therefore only mention a few suggestively, and they
will be quite enough to choose from to plant a shrubbery
of moderate size ornamentally.

Perhaps the largest kinds admissible into the pre-
cincts of the flower garden, or its immediate neighbour-
hood, are the Horse-chestnut and the Catalpa. Not that
we need shut out many trees which grow as tall, but
these are bulky from growing wide as well as tall, and
from bearing a bold foliage. There are spots where a
large thick tree will grow, and its shelter be valuable,
and for such a position it is nice to have one which is
handsome in foliage most part of the year, and gay and
beautiful with flowers in its season. The horse-chestnut
loves a deep rich loam ; the common sorts grow readily
from the nut : other kinds grow from grafts, buds, or
layers. The bloom of the common horse-chestnut is so
grand and showy, yet so delicate and soft in colouring,
that I do not think any of the newer kinds surpass it in
beauty ; but the red-flowered (/Esculus rubicunda) is
very much admired, and it has the merit (for grounds of

HORSE CHESTNUT. CATALPA. MAGNOLIA. 21

limited dimensions) of not growing so large as the com-
mon sort). Whitley's scarlet is a beautiful variety. For
the bloom to be full coloured, shade is required. The
yellow-flowered kind bears the chestnut in a smooth husk
There are of the same kind red and white flowering sorts,
and some of them are shrubs.

The Catalpa syringcefolia is hardy, and deserves a place
in our shrubberies, from its splendid foliage and hand-
some flowers. Ifc must have a dry situation, and it re-
quires plenty of air: it is propagated by seed or by
cuttings of the root.

The Magnolia grandiflora Exoniensis deserves a place
in every garden where there is a sufficiently warm situa-
tion for it, from its handsome foliage and magnificent
and deliciously scented flowers. It thrives in a rich
loam, but prefers peat. It will flower freely only in a
favourable situation, so it is frequently grown against a
wall. It flowers from August to October. There is a
rarer variety, Magnolia grandiflora prcecox, with broader
leaves and larger flowers, which flowers in July and
sometimes in June. In buying young magnolia plants
care must be taken that they are plants which have been
raised from layers, as the seedlings are many years before
they bloom. The Magnolia conspicua flowers in the
spring, before the leaves are out, and the flowers are not
nearly so large as those of the grandiflora. There are
also several other beautiful varieties. The bark and
wood of all are fragrant.

Those elegant-growing, graceful- foli aged trees, with
white sweet flowers, which we have always been in the
habit of calling Acacias, but which are in fact Robinias,
are beautiful for a screen, or to mingle with other trees
in a walk near the house. The rose acacia, Eolinia
liispida, with beautiful racemes of rose-coloured flowers,
is a great ornament to the screen of a flower garden or of
a shrubbery. The wood of these trees is very liable to
break. They do well in a rich soil, and are easily pro-
pagated by layers, cuttings, or suckers, and also by seed,
but the seed should be soaked in warm water, and left
in it for twenty-four hours,

22 FLOWERS AND THE PLOWER GARDEN.

The Almond, that glory of suburban gardens, is both
pretty and sweet, with the additional merit of blooming
very early. The tall kind is produced by grafting on
plum stocks, and the dwarf by suckers. "When almonds
are planted for ornament they should be placed against
a background of evergreens, because they produce their
delicate pink flowers before the leaves come out. When
so planted the effect is very beautiful.

The gay and graceful Laburnum produces its charming
early bloom in almost any situation, and has the merit
of doing well even very near to large towns. The Scotch
laburnum, Cytisus Alpimis, has finer foliage and larger
flowers than the common kind ; it is scented, more pen-
dant, and flowers later in the season. Rabbits and hares
bark the trees, and will choose the laburnum in pre-
ference to any other tree. Laburnums grow readily and
quickly from seed, and there are several choice green-
house kinds which must be grafted or budded on the
commoner sorts. Among laburnums which grow in
gardens there are some with variegated foliage, and one
which produces a double white flower. The Broom
belongs to the same family, Cytisus ; its peculiar sprayey
growth makes a great variety in the shrubbery, and its
yellow and white flowers are both of them gay and
pretty.

Lilacs are useful in the flower garden ; for the tender
green of their foliage is as early among leaves, as their
gay masses of fragrant bloom are among flowers ; and
they too have the merit of living and doing well in and
near towns, where few things so pretty will live.

The Hawthorn, or white May, and the pink May, are
encouraged in gardens on account of the beauty and
strong fragrance of their early bloom. The double pink
May is beautiful, being covered with abundance of bloom
like tiny roses, but it is not scented. The Glastonbury
thorn, a variety of the common hawthorn, is said often
to flower at Christmas. The evergreen thorn, Cratcegus
pyracantha, or burning bush, looks well trained against
a wall; it has shining leaves and pure white flowers,
and in winter is covered with brilliant scarlet fruit. A

ALMONDS. LABTJBNTJMS. LILACS. HAWTHOBNS, 23

dry situation is the chief requirement of the hawthorns,
The common hawthorn is propagated by seed which will
sometimes lie two years in the ground, unless it be pre-
pared for sowing beforehand : this is done by throwing
the seed in a heap for several months, but it must be
frequently turned over during that time, or the fermen-
tation would destroy vegetation. The finer kinds are
generally grafted or budded on the common thorn. The
jSreobotrya Japonica or Loquet-tree, is very handsome,
with clusters of white flowers, and yellow fruit. It is

fenerally obtained by being grafted on the hawthorn,
t requires a rich loamy soil, and it is delicate, but in a
warm situation it will do in the open air, if it be pro-
tected from frost.

The double-blossomed Peach, the double-blossomed
Cherry, and several trees of the cherry kind, are very
ornamental, and quite deserve a place in the flower
garden. They grow in common soil, and are propagated
by grafting, or are raised from seed.

The Larch, Birch, and Mountain Ash should never be
forgotten by those who want a picturesque outline in
screen or shrubbery. The tall larch, and common white
birch, form a pretty contrast with other trees, and there
are also weeping varieties of both. The mountain ash
will grow almost anywhere ; it has a tall handsome
growth, and is gay in winter from its profusion of large
bunches of scarlet berries.

The Tulip-tree is very hardy, of large growth, and
fine foliage, bearing handsome tulip-like flowers : it
looks very well standing out on a lawn. It was intro-
duced from North America, and does well in a deep
rich loam. It is generally raised from seed : if it be
sown in the autumn it will come up the following spring;
but if it be not sown until the spring, the seed is said
often to remain a year in the ground.

The Liquidamber is another American tree of large
growth, and there is also a smaller variety from the
Levant. It is quite hardy, prefers a moist loam, or any
garden soil provided it be moist, and is splendid in the
foliage in autumn. It is grown from cuttings, layers,

24 FLOWEKS AND THE FLOWEE GAKDEN.

and imported seed, which should not be shelled out of
the catkin until it is wanted. It is often & year before
the seedlings show themselves.

The Copper Beech makes a good contrast when planted
among trees of different foliage.

The Osage Orange, Madura aurantiaca, has been so
much talked about in its own country, North America,
that it may be interesting to grow it in our gardens, on
account of. its "ornamental orange-like fruit, and also
because it has been mentioned as one of the trees with
the leaves of which silk-worms may be successfully fed.
It will grow in peat or loam, and may be propagated
from cuttings of the root or layers. It is a thorny tree,
with shining yellowish green leaves, and rather small
white flowers, with pistil and stamens in different flowers.
It wants protection in severe winters.

Abundance of evergreens are almost necessary. In
winter they are invaluable, and for spring a good tall
background of them should be provided for the early
flowering trees, especially the almond, double-blossomed
peach, Magnolia conspicua, Cydonia Japonica, and all
trees and plants which flower before they put out the
graceful clothing of foliage.

The common Laurel (Cerasus laurocerasus) and the
Portugal Laurel (Cerasus lusitanica) are valuable, not
only for their fine foliage in winter, but also on account
of the abundance of their handsome spikes of flower.
They are propagated by layers, and grow rather quickly.

The Holly, so many kinds of which are variegated in
the foliage, are slow growers, and often difficult to esta-
blish. They like a rich dry soil, with free air; and will
not bear smoke nor overshadowing by other trees. There
tire eight varieties : silver-edged, gold-edged, thick-
leaved, prickly, yellow-leaved, variegated, spotted, and
recurved. The leaves of the bottom of the tree and
those from its upper shoots are often curiously varied in
character.

To produce young plants from seed gather the berries
when they are ripe, and place them at the bottom of a
hole three feet deep : crush them and mix them up with

OSAGE OBANGE, EVEEGREENS. 25

a little sandy loam ; fill up the hole with the earth again,
and throw over the spot a covering of litter, or some-
thing of the kind, to keep off wet and frost. Big them
up and sow them in March.

The end of August is the best time for removing large
hollies. Tie the lower branches well together : mark a
circle two feet from the stem, and a second two feefc
beyond it, and dig out the earth between to a good
depth. Dig, at the place to which the tree is to go,
a large deep hole (larger than the root will require),
throw in some good soil, and with it and water make a
puddle. Work round the root of the tree, leaving a
good ball of earth, and when it stands loose wrap it
round with garden mats, old carpets, sacks, or such like,
and tie the ball firmly together with a rope: wrap the
Btem round in the same way, and fix to it a stout pole
eight or nine feet long. Lower the tree geutly, and
remove it, by the aid of as many men as are necessary,
to its new position, taking care to lower it gently into
the puddle, and rather above than below its former level.
Remove the incumbrances, and fill up the hole with
good earth. Puddle the surface, and fix the tree with
props so that the wind cannot shake it. Trim hollies
with a good sharp knife (not with shears), quite early
in the spring, before they begin to shoot. The less
pruning the better ; but encourage the leader, by stop,
ping laterals which would interfere with it.

The Aucula, which is so gay in foliage that it can
scarcely be out of place anywhere, is best increased by
layering, and its merits make its increase desirable, for
it will accommodate itself to any soil, and any circum-
stances. The smoke of London, and the drip of trees,
do not daunt it ; so its bright mixture of colour and
bushy growth come in where they are most needed. In
addition to the trees I have named, there is a long list
of evergreens from which to choose — cypresses, pines,
firs, cedars, junipers, arbores vita?, and evergreen oaks,
besides shrubs of various growth.

Of trees which are especially fitted for planting out
on a lawn, there are many, both deciduous and ever-

26 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

green, among which may be specified the Cedar of
Lebanon, and Cedrus deodora. To promote fine growth
in the last, great care should be taken not to injure the
leading shoot, without which it is almost impossible to
get a tree to a handsome growth. It does best in 9
deep sandy soil. The tulip-tree has been mentioned
already. A weeping ash is a handsome tree to plant on
grass, and it may be arched widely asunder on a large
hoop, concealed among the branches.

The Araucaria imbricata, or Chilian pine, is quite
hardy, and its peculiar growth shows very well when it
stands alone. The soil for it is a good friable loam, and
it may be grown from cuttings of young ripened wood,
under a bell glass, in a cool shaded place. The splendid
but delicate Norfolk Island pine is of the same family.

That magnificent conifer Wellingtonia c/iyantea, the
loftiest of known trees in its native country, is a per-
fectly hardy evergreen, and looks very grand on a large
lawn. It may be increased by layers and cuttings.

There are two other plants which are so well adapted
for single objects on lawns that I must name them here,
although they may seem out of place among trees.

The Yucca, with its stout sharp-pointed leaves, of stiff
growth, and fine branch of large flowers, looks very well
on grass. It does best planted on a knoll, requires a
deep dry sandy loam, and may be increased by offsets
from the old plant. It is also grown from seed. It is
best to mat up yuccas in the winter, to protect them
from frost and too much wet.

A fine tuft of Pampas grass is ornamental on the
lawn, where it is often planted in conjunction with a
pillar or statue, although many prefer seeing it simply
standing alone. It is hardy, only requiring a little pro-
tection in very severe winters. It is propagated by
offsets from well-established roots. It is very large,
showy, and handsome, especially when in flower, and
may be grown from seed ; but for the seed to be pro-
duced the male and female plants must be planted to-
gether.

EVERGREEN SHRUBS* 27

CHAPTEE V.

ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS AND CLIMBERS.

SHRUBS which are ornamental in their growth, or in
their flowers, are very abundant.

The Arbutus, or "Winter Strawberry, is a hardy ever-
green, the bright-coloured strawberry-like fruit of whicli
is gay and pretty in winter. It thrives in common
garden soil ; it is propagated by budding or in-arching,
and may also be grown from seed. In favourable situa-
tions it grows to the size of a tree.

The "Winter Cherry is also a useful plant, of dwarf
shrubby growth, the showy flowers of which are suc-
ceeded by bright red berries, no less ornamental in
winter. The bladdery calyx does well in making
skeleton leaves, among which from its peculiar shape it
forms a pretty variety.

The Myrtle is a universal favourite, from the beauty
of its foliage and flowers, and also from their delicate
delicious fragrance. In Dorsetshire and the western
counties, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and all mild
localities, myrtles will do out of doors all the year ; but
in less favoured spots they have to be housed during
winter. The rich beauty of their glossy foliage is very
charming ; a tall well-grown tree is splendid. Cuttings
will strike readily. They may be kept in a bottle of
water until the roots grow, and then be planted, or
struck in sandy soil, under a bell glass.

The Laurustinus is a beautiful evergreen bush, which
flowers abundantly throughout the winter under
favourable circumstances. It grows readily, by layers,
and November is the best time for removing it. The
Guelder Eose, or Snowball-tree, is a deciduous shrub of
the same family, which is beautiful in the spring, with
its great balls of snowy white flowers, and which will do

28 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN,

well in confined neighbourhoods. It will grow from
layers, and cuttings will do if they are kept moist and
shaded.

The Sweet Bay is an evergreen shrub which should
find a place in every garden. It likes a sheltered
situation ; but when a fine tree is killed down to the root
by frost, hopes of it need not be given up too readily,
for I have known old roots spring up again when the
trees have seemed quite dead. It is very ornamental,
from its beautiful deep green. It is best propagated
by layers.

The Kalmia is a handsome evergreen from North.
America, producing beautiful red flowers in June. It
may safely be grown in the open air. It thrives best in
sandy peat, but it will do in sandy loam and leaf-mould.
It may be grown from cuttings of the young shoots,
planted in sandy peat, and placed under a hand glass, in
shade, from layers made at the end of summer, or from
seed sown in shallow pans of sandy peat, covering the
seed very thinly, and keeping the pans in a close frame.
While quite small the seedlings should be pricked out
three to each pot, and planted out the following spring.
Kalmias are nice plants for early forcing.

The Hibiscus Syriacm, or Althceafrutex, is an old-
fashioned, but beautiful hardy shrub, producing abun-
dance of handsome flowers in summer. There are whitef
double white, purple, double purple, red, and variegated.
They require an open sunny situation, and are chiefly
propagated from seed, but the double ones by layers,
and by cuttings of ripe shoots, placed under a hand
glass in autumn, and kept covered through the winter.
They may likewise be grafted. They will do in common
garden soil.

The Syringa, English Orange, or Philadelphus, is well
known, from the scent of its pretty white flowers being
like that of the orange blossom. Although 'it is com-
monly called syringa, it is in no way related to the lilac.
It is quite har'dy, and not at all particular, growing near
London, and under the drip of trees. It may be propa-
gated by seed, layers, cuttings, or division of the root.

ORNAMENTAL SHETJBS. 29

There are several varieties. No garden should be with-
out this flower, of peculiarly delicious scent.

The flowering currant, Riles sanguineum, for its
bright pink, abundant early bloom, and pretty growth,
should be plentiful in every garden of flowers of various
heights. The trees begin to flower while quite young,
and go on until they are tall and large. I have had one
as much as twelve feet high, when it was really a
splendid object in spring. They grow readily from seed
or cuttings, will do in any garden soil, and in almost
any locality, objecting but little to smoke arid confined
air. There are several sub-varieties, differing in the
colour of the flower. There are also Eibes of other
varieties, all of which are hardy except Riles punctatum,
which is a native of Chili.

The fruit-bearing Berberry, generally called Bar-
berry, is very ornamental. A pretty way of growing it
is to train it to a single stem, when it forms a head,
which falls over gracefully, and looks very gay in spring,
covered with its yellow blossom, and again in autumn,
with its abundance of bunches of polished scarlet
oblong fruit. There are five sub-varieties deserving
notice : the scarlet, with and without stones ; the black,
the fruit of which is sweet, but which is tender enough
to require a sheltered border ; the purple ; and the
white. The seedless kind, Berleris vulgaris asperma,
is preferred for preserving. The fruit is ripe in October;
it has a fine acid, and makes a most delicious preserve,
either plucked from the stalk or in bunches. The
bunches are also preserved in salt and water, for gar-
nishing, and it is good for candying. It does best in a
sandy or chalky soil, with dry subsoil, and it may be
propagated by cuttings, suckers, or layers, in spring or
autumn. As it is a tedious little fruit to gather, the
bush should be well cut out in the centre, like a goose-
berry. The spines are so sharp and strong that it is a
good plant to fill gaps in hedges to keep out tres-
passers.

The evergreen Berberry (Herberts aquifolia) is a hand-

30 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

some thick-growing shrub, with beautiful dark tinted
foliage, producing abundance of yellow flowers in spring,
and later in the year clusters of bloom-covered purple
berries. It may be grown from seed sown in spring,
cuttings planted early in the autumn, or suckers. It
likes a deep sandy soil. The evergreen berberries are
sometimes called Mahonias. There are several varieties,
the rarer species of which are sometimes propagated by
grafting.

The Andromeda is a splendid evergreen shrub, many
varieties of which are hardy. A peaty soil is best,
although some of them will do in any garden earth ;
drought will kill them. Some kinds flower in the spring,
and others in summer. To propagate them lay down
layers in September, and do not disturb them for a year.
They may also be increased from seed, sown as soon as
ripe, covered thinly with earth. Place the pans or pots
with the seedlings in a cold frame, and let them have
plenty of air.

The Gdultheria is a hardy shrub, with white flowers
like those of the arbutus, and berry-like fruit, which is
good to eat. The G. procumbens grows close to the
ground, and flowers in July ; the G. shallon is taller, and
flowers in May. Both kinds like a damp situation, but
will grow, flower, and produce fruit in London.

The Snowberry is a bushy shrub, producing delicate
tiny pinkish flowers in summer, and covered with a
quantity of fruit of snowy whiteness through the winter.
It grows in any good common soil, and is increased by
suckers, or cuttings planted in the autumn.

The Halesia, or American Snowdrop-tree, is a tree in
its own country, but a bush with us. It will grow in a
poor sandy soil, by water. The flowers are white, and
like snowdrops, and the seed is curiously winged. The
trees are generally increased by layers, but they ripen
seed with us.

The Cotoneaster is a pretty evergreen, with small
glossy foliage, which makes a nice-looking screen for any
low bare object. It is gay with flowers in the spring,

ORKAHEKTAL SHRUBS. 81

and with peculiar-looking bright red or black berries all
through the winter. It is hardy, grows on common soil,
and is easily increased by layers, or from seed.

The Box Thorn is a quick-growing spray ey shrub,
called, by a great mistake, the Tea-tree. It deserves en-
couragement in gardens very near to towns, because it
is one of the few things which will thrive there, arid also
on account of its rapid growth and the quickness with
which it will cover an arbour or unsightly wall. It has
a pretty little flower, followed by a berry of a bright
coral colour; and it may be increased from cuttings
of ripened wood in spring or autumn, under a hand
light.

The Bladder Senna is another quick-growing shrub,
which is valuable from thriving in almost any soil, and
under almost any circumstances ; it does not seem to
mind a confined spot near a large town. Its yellow
flowers are followed by bladder-like seed-pods, which are
quite as ornamental. It may be grown from seed, layers,
or cuttings.

The Nitraria is a low shrub, bearing white flowers,
which is valuable, from thriving near the sea. It is very
hardy.

The Tamarisk is a tall tree-like shrub, which is valu-
able on the same account. It is very good in withstand-
ing the sea breeze, produces pretty little pink flowers,
and grows from cuttings taken in autumn.

The double-blossomed Furze, from its peculiar growth
and bright yellow flowers, so curiously nice in scent,
deserves a place in every flower garden where a corner
can be spared for it. It likes a sandy soil, and flowers
abundantly in May. It may be propagated by cuttings
in spring and autumn, which should be planted in a
shady border, under a hand glass. For a hedge (where
there is space to spare for a hedge of furze), it is much
handsomer than the common furze.

The Sumach is a bush of tree-like growth, which cornea
in well in the garden on account of its facility of growth,
bold foliage, and the brilliant colours it puts on in
autumn. The sumachs are all poisonous. It likes a

32 JFLOWEBS AND THE FLOWER GABDEN.

light fibry loam, and may be increased from seed, layers,
cuttings of roots, or shoots from the roots.

The Ptelea, or Shrubby Trefoil, is an American shrub,
which also makes a variety on account of the fine yellow
which the leaves assume in autumn. It will grow in any
garden soil, and can be grown from layers and cuttings.

The Weigela rosea and Weigela rosea alba, both
deserve a prominent place for the gay beauty of their
abundant flowers and thick bright foliage. Weigela
rosea bears flowers of a bright rose pink, and the other
is paler in the green of the foliage, and the flowers are
white. They are hardy, and may be grown from seed or
increased by cuttings taken in spring and autumn, and
struck under glass, or in a protected open border. It
grows best in sandy loam and leaf-mould, and is a good
plant for forcing.

The Hiidlea globosa, or globe-flowered Eudlea, is a
showy shrub, which is good in foliage, and also in its
bright orange balls of flower, of peculiar but pleasant
scent. There are several other Budleas, but this is the
only one which is hardy, and it is sometimes killed in
hard winters. It requires a dry sheltered situation, and
may be propagated by well ripened cuttings, struck
under glass in September, and kept indoors until the
spring. The more delicate varieties may be treated in
the same way, only in a higher temperature. J9. Lynd-
leyana produces long spikes of flowers, of a fine lavender
purple. They are great favourites with bees. .

The double red-flowered Pomegranate is a splendid
shrub for a warm situation, or to train on a wall, being
no less pretty in the foliage than it is beautiful in the
bright scarlet flower. It requires a deep loamy soil,
and a warm but airy situation. It blooms in August,
and in cutting it the twigs must be left unshortened, as
it is they which produce the flower. The double kinds
of Punica, or pomegranate, should be grafted on the
single, which curtails their rampant gro\vth, and makes
them flower better. The pomegranate may be propa-
gated by cuttings of the shrub or root, or layers, in a
light rich soil, as well as by grafts. There are several

CLIMBEES. 33

varieties : single and double red, single and double
whitish flowered, and yellow. There is also a dwarf
kind, requiring heat.

As the flower garden generally includes the front of
the dwelling, and often, besides summer-Hi »uses and other
erections of the sort, walls, trellises, and all things of
the kind needing to be beautified, a good choice of orna-
mental climbing and creeping plants will often be
needed. Ivy, that never-failing resource in covering
unsightly objects, has many varieties ; some large and
bold in the foliage, some prettily minute ; and there are
several kinds of which the leaves are variously varie-
gated, as to both the disposition and colour of the mark-
ing. A deep rich soil suits the common ivy ; the
tender kinds require lighter earth. It may be grown
from seed, but the quicker plan is to plant slips in a
north border in sandy soil, keep them moist through the
autumn, and plant them out where they are wanted to
grow, when they are well rooted. If one had room to
spare, from giving plain information, to get poetical, all
sorts of loving things might be said of ivy, unfailingly
refreshing to the eye as screen or carpet where it alone
will cling, and thrive, and beautify, and showing its
sober green even in the smoke of densely populated
towns. But I must leave it to the love that all feel for
it, and turn to gayer climbers.

The Eignonia, or Trumpet-flower, Bignonia capreo-
lata, is sufficiently hardy to stand our climate on a wall
of south aspect. Its magnificent flowers render it one
of our handsomest plants for a wall. It must have
plenty of room. Cuttings root readily in sand, or cut-
tings of the root may be taken ; they should be planted
in spring or autumn, and covered with a hand glass.
There are many beautiful tender bignonias ; as they are
very handsome, it might be worth while to try the least
tender sorts out of doors, in a warm position, by graft-
ing them on the Bignonia capreolata. Teeoma radicens
used formerly to be called a bignonia ; it is hardy ; and
Teeoma grandifiora is nearly so.

The Cobaea scandens is a climbe of rapid growth, pro*

D

34 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

ducing in August a profusion of large bell- shaped
flowers, which come green at first, and turn purple after-
wards. The root must haye plenty of room, and rather
poor soil, to prevent its strength running to leaf instead
of to bloom, and the shoots should often be stopped (i.e.
the tips pinched off), to make the tree grow thick. It
will climb by aid of its own tendrils, if its position gives
it the opportunity ; if not, it must be nailed up, or tied
with bast. It is propagated by seed, sown in a hot-bed
in March, or cuttings of firm side shoots, taken in sum-
mer. The root may be protected in the winter. Cobcea
scandens variegata is a handsome foliaged climber of
more recent introduction.

The "Wistaria, which used to be called the Grlycene, is
beautiful from its profusion of large drooping racemes of
bright lavender fragrant flowers in the spring. It
requires a rich soil, and it should be watered in dry
weather. It flowers well in the outskirts of London,
and it will sometimes flower a second time in the year.
The young trees are often backward in beginning to
flower ; they, and older plants also, will be benefited by
the use of liquid manure, taking care to put it down a
long way from the stem. The plant is easily propagated.
The seed seldom ripens in England, but when it does it
grows rapidly. Layers produce abundantly, as a long one
laid down will root at every joint. It will also grow from
cuttings of the plant and root. It is the Wistaria
Sinensis which has fine large pale lavender flowers ; the
Wistaria frutescens has a flower which is smaller in size
and deeper in colour, and which comes later. There is
also a white early flowering variety, which contrasts
well with the others, and does best when grafted on
the root of these.

The Maurandya Barclayana is an elegant and delicate
climbing plant which often dies in the winter. If it is
planted in the open ground, it will not bear being over-
grown by more rampant vegetation, but it will often do
very well if the root be kept in the pot, as it does not
need much room, and it can then be taken in for the
winter. The flowers are of a beautiful dark blue. It must

CLIMBERS. 35

have light rich earth, and it is propagated by cuttings ia
spring and autumn, or seed sown in spring.

The Eccremocarpus is a climber of vigorous growth,
which does in our climate if the roots be protected in
winter. Its flowers of orange scarlet are very handsome,
and the seed ripens well. It flowers in July. It will
grow in common garden soil, and it is best to cut it
down to the root in autumn, and cover it with a sufficient
quantity of straw and dead leaves to preserve it from
frost, when it is almost sure to shoot up in the spring.
It is easily raised from seed, which should be sown on a
hot-bed as soon as it is ripe. The seedlings may be kept
in a frame or greenhouse, and shifted two or three times
before April or May, when they may be planted out
Cuttings also may be taken in August, and kept in a
frame through the winter. It likes a light fertile soil.

The common blue Passion-flower, Passiflora ccerulea, is
hardy, and will produce its beautiful flowers in great
profusion in the neighbourhood of London. It requires
a good loamy soil ; if the place where it is planted be
not favourable in this respect, it is best to dig a pit two
feet square and fill it with the right kind of earth. Some
persons like the fruit, but it is insipid. There are many
tender varieties, and some of the hybrids with the com-
mon sort are found to be hardy enough to grow out of
doors. Cuttings of the young shoots strike readily irt
sand under a glass. The root had better have a little
protection in winter.

The LopJiospermum grows luxuriantly in the summer
but dies down in the winter, so that cuttings should be
made in autumn, and kept in a greenhouse or frame
until the spring. It covers a trellis or wall very soon,
and bears beautiful bell-shaped flowers. It will grow in
any garden earth, if it be light, and if its roots are not
crowded. The cuttings should be taken in August.
Seed may be sown in a hot-bed in March or April, or the
fleshy roots may be preserved through the winter in dry
earth. There are three varieties bearing flowers, that
are respectively rose-coloured, dark red, and purple.

Menispermum, or Moon-seed, is a handsome-looking,

x> 2

36 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEK.

climber, with leaves of curious form. Menispermum
Canadense is very hardy, will cover a space quickly and
ornamentally, and bears drooping racemes of greenish
yellow flowers of elegant appearance. It will grow in
almost any soil or situation, and has a graceful growth if
planted out alone and tied to a stake, leaving the top to
droop over. Menispermum Lyonii has a purple flower.
They flower in June, and they may be propagated by
division of the root, by cuttings planted under a hand
glass, in spring, or from the seed sown in spring.

The Virginian Creeper is admired for the brilliant hues
which its foliage assumes in autumn, and for its quick
growth. It grows from layers or cuttings.

The Canary Creeper, Ampelopsis hederacea, Qana-
riensis, or Tropceolum peregrinum, is pretty, from
the bright delicate harmony of its gay yellow flowers
and pale green foliage. With us, it is a half-hardy
annual and most useful creeper, covering a fence
and keeping it gay until frost interferes. It may
be raised from seed on a hot- bed in the spring. Plant out
the seedlings where they are wanted in May, with a
trellis or wall for support. A hot-bed is not necessary
for raising these pretty creepers ; the seed may be sown,
as soon as it is ripe, in a pot, and kept in a room for the
winter. "Water the young plants regularly ; when they
shoot up train them to sticks, and plant them out in
the spring. The.y are not particular about the smoke
of towns, but will enliven London balconies with
their gay green foliage and lovely flowers. The Nas-
turtiums belong to the same family, and they ought
to be encouraged, not only because the berries make
a most delicious though little appreciated pickle, but
because the green of their luxuriant foliage is bright
and tender, and their flowers are brilliant with every
shade of yellow, orange, and maroon. If nasturtiums
were rare, their pretty bright foliage and brilliantly
varied flowers of peculiar shape would make them much
sought after ; but as a seed will spring up on any hillock
on which it happens to fall, and clothe it with varied
beauty, the plant does not get its due. When they are

CLIMBEKS. HAEDY HANDSOME FOLIAGE PLANTS. 37

wanted to climb, they must be helped to mount (like
aspiring man), and afterwards they will cling by their
own stalks, and root from the stem like ivy. Besides the
tall kinds there are several dwarfs.

The Clematis, or Virgin's Bower, has many varieties,
among which the common white is a general favourite
for its extreme fragrance, and the bat's-wing clematis for
its deep-coloured abundant flowers of large size and
peculiar form. Most of the clematises like a dry situa-
tion. They may be increased by cuttings of firm side
shoots under a glass in summer, or by layers in Sep-
tember.

The Honeysuckle deserves a place in the flower garden,
on account of the sweet scent of the flowers. It is very
hardy, and thrives in any common garden soil. The best
way to increase it is to put down layers in autumn, after
the leaves begin to fall.

The Hop is a good plant for training over an arbour,
on account of the quickness of its growth, and the shade
given by its bold foliage. Its pale green flowers are very
ornamental. It likes a rich loamy soil, and can be in-
creased by division of the root. There is a variety with
variegated foliage.

CHAPTER VI,

HAEDY HANDSOME FOLIAGE PLANTS.

THE beautiful variety and rich colouring in the garden
is not dependant solely on flowers. The heavy green of
some evergreens, " deuil de 1'ete et parure de 1'hiver,"
forms a rich background for spring flowering trees and
shrubs. While they sober down the rampant green in
summer, they give a verdant screen in winter, when the
eye hungers for green, and when the shrinking form of
man, animals, and plants delights in its warm shelter.
Foremost in beauty of foliage must therefore ever stand
our evergreens.

38 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

A careful mixture of trees which leaf early with those
which put out late will keep up a pleasant variety in the
green of screens and shrubberies, from the first bright
shoots of spring to the time when Autumn dips his
brush in warm colouring, and dashes away among the
foliage at random, as if to keep among us, to the pleased
eye, the warmth we are so soon to lose.

-For trees of bold foliage we have the catalpa, the horse
chestnut, and the sycamore. For contrast to these, there
are the birch, the lady of the woods, with her light
feathery drooping sprays ; the larch, with its peculiar
growth and light tender green in spring; and the broom,
contrasting with the others in the line-like straightness of
its up-springing growth. There is no end to the variety
which judicious planting and planning may effect in
shrubberies and screens.

The different kinds of Ivy, some of which are splendidly
variegated with green and yellow, and green and stone
colour, and of which the varieties vary so much in size af
leaf that they are like quite different plants, may be used
in a flower garden in many ways to promote picturesque
effect. Ivy is useful wherever a bare place has to be
covered in small space of time. It will do for a wall,
trellis, dead tree, or paling ; or to cover the little rising
ground round a pillar, fountain, or statue, provided of
course that it will not be walked on or even stepped on.
It will often grow where nothing else will. The broad-
leaved Irish ivy grows the fastest of any kind. Some of
the beautiful variegated sorts are Hedera latifolia macu-
lata, a roundish-leafed sort, margined with pale yellow ;
Hedera Hibernica foliis variegata, which has a somewhat
narrow leaf, with a green patch in the middle, the rest
yellow ; Hedera lielix maculata, with leaves rather deeply
cut, and irregularly but deeply margined with yellow ;
the new silver edge, a very small-leaved ivy, with a silver
edge ; gold striped, an elegant cut leaf, beautifully
variegated ; Hedera elegantissima, a plant with splendid
leaves, irregularly and showily blotched with green and
yellow ; and last, not least, the old silver edge, an ivy of
splendid large foliage, beautifully mottled with white

IIARDY HANDSOME FOLIAGE PLANTS. 39

and green. Ivy requires a deep and rather light soil.
Before it begins to climb, it is best to nail it up, as a tree
is trained, and it will soon throw out rootlets and attach
itself, if the substance to which it is trained offers any
facilities whatever. The above-named variegated kinds
are sufficiently hardy to stand our English winters,
unless they happen to be most unusually severe. ' They
may be propagated by cuttings on a north border, in a
sandy soil, and they must be kept moist through the
autumn.

The common ivy will grow to a height of 40 feet, and
it is often wonderfully stout in the stem. The following
dimensions may be named : — One at Brockley Hall,
Somersetshire, stem 12 inches in diameter ; one at Mor-
peth, 19 inches ; and one at Gigean, near Montpellier,
described by De Candolle, is six feet in circumference at
the base: this covers 72 square yards, and is said to
be 430 years old. There is also one near Fountains
Abbey, the stem of which is 3 feet 2 inches in girth. A
curious peculiarity in the ivy is the variety in the shape
of the leaves on the same plant. It flowers in October,
and the flowers are much frequented by bees and flies of
different kinds. The berries are ripe by Christmas,
when they form food for blackbirds, thrushes, and wood
pigeons.

The variegated-leaved Colt's-foot is a low growing,
very beautiful, hardy perennial, producing its yellow
flowers in March. It is a native of Great Britain, and does
best in a moist clayey locality. The leaves are put out
after the flowers are gone off; they are large and round-
ish, with an angularly varied, toothed edge, and are
boldly variegated with shades of green and white. They
are covered with a cottony down above, and are white
and woolly beneath. They can be increased readily
from pieces of the running root.

The variegated Lily of the Valley, Convalaria majalis
variegata, has its bright oval pointed leaves beautifully
and distinctly striped with bright yellow. It requires a
shady position, and soil of poor sandy loam. To keep
the stripes distinct it is best to cultivate the roots in pot?.

40 FLOWEKS AND THE FLOWER GAttDEN,

The variegated Mezereon is a handsome shrub, growing
well on dry sandy loam without manure : it must have
good clear air. It originated in a seedling, and is per-
petuated by grafting, very carefully performed.

The golden striped Japan Spindle-tree, Uluonymus
Japonicus aureus variegatus, is a low-growing evergreen
shrub, which will do well in warm localities, but will not
stand the north of England, without being taken up for
the winter. The ovate leaves are a gay mixture of green
and bright yellow. It requires a sandy loam and a dry
subsoil, and it may be increased by layers and cuttings,
choosing for the purpose the shoots which are the most
handsomely variegated. June is the time for layering
it : bend the shoot down with great care, make a slit on
the under side, peg it down, and cover it with an inch in
thickness of sandy soil. In the autumn of the following
year it may be parted from the old plant, potted, and
kept in the house, but in a cool situation, until the next
spring, when it may be planted out. Cuttings may be
taken in March, and plunged in gentle heat for striking.

The variegated Yucca is a very handsome variety, its
long leaves being gaily striped with yellow and two
shades of green, and tinged with pink at the base, with
curious thready appendages hanging from the sides. It
must be planted in an open space, not crowded among
shrubs, nor subject to the drip of trees. . It wants a good
loamy soil, mixed with well rotted cow-dung, and is pro-
pagated by offsets from old plants.

The golden variegated Thorn, Cratcegus prunifolia
variegata, is a low bushy thornless tree, with handsome
foliage, beautifully, richly, and constantly variegated. It
is perfectly hardy, requires only a common soil, not too
rich, as manure makes the leaves run to green. It wants
full exposure to the sunlight to bring out its beautiful
colours. To propagate it, bud in June on the common
thorn, taking the buds from the most variegated
branches. It may be grafted in the same way in March.
As soon as the buds or grafts have grown rub off all
other shoots, giving the variegated kind the full strength
of the plant.

HAEDT HAHDSOME FOLIAGE PLAKTS. 41

The FunJcia Sieboldiana is a beautiful perennial, with
large handsome foliage, variegated white and green, pro-
ducing a rather pretty lilac flower in summer. It must
have a deep sandy loam, and a warm dry situation. It
should be potted into a large pot, and put in a cold pit
in winter, brought forward in a greenhouse, and after-
wards planted out. It must not be allowed to suffer
from want of water. It is easily propagated by division
of the root in autumn.

The 'Farfugium grande is a splendid plant, with bold
magnificent showy foliage, gaily and thickly blotched
and spotted with yellow on a dark green ground. As it
will stand the winter (losing its leaves) in the south of
England, it is quite worth while to attempt to acclimatize
it more completely. The best soil for it is strong fibry
loam, sandy peat, and leaf-mould in equal parts. It must
be new potted in March, and again in August; and if it
be tried in the open ground the pot should be sunk in a
warm sheltered border, after the warm weather begins,
and taken up before winter. The old plants send up
suckers, which may be taken off with roots, potted singly,
kept under a glass, shaded for a few days, and then har-
dened and placed in the greenhouse.

Some of the new Begonias might be made as hardy with
us as our old ruby-leaved favourite, by trying to acclima-
tize them by careful gradation. They have lived near
London through severe winters, in a room in which a fire
was kept up by day, but not by night. The begonias
grow in light rich sandy soil ; cocoa-nut fibre is good
manure for them.

The Perilla NanJcinensis is most valuable, either as a
bedding plant or to mix with other flowers in the
borders, on account of its deep crimson foliage, almost
amounting to black. It must be sown in heat in March
or April, and planted out in May.

Cineraria maritima mixes in good contrast with the
perilla, and other plants of deep-coloured foliage, being
clothed on leaves and stalks with silvery down. This
is propagated by cuttings and offsets, in a hot-bed, and
requires a warm soil and situation.

42 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

The Holy Thistle is beautiful in its white and pale
green foliage, but if it is introduced care must be taken
that it does not become a weed in the garden.

To enter into the cultivation of many of the handsome
foliaged trees, shrubs, and plants that may be used to
vary most beautifully the general appearance and colour-
ing of the flower garden, would take too much space,
but I may just cursorily name a few of each which are
well worth attention. Among trees we have the varie-
gated maple, striped-leaved horse-chestnut ; variegated
leaved chestnut ; several oaks with variegated foliage ;
the golden-twigged lime ; the copper beech, and others.
As shrubs there are the never- failing aucuba, that host
in itself; the variegated syringa (Pliiladelplius coronarius
foliis variegatis) ; the golden-edged leaved buckthorn ;
the variegated rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum
variegatum) ; the variegated yews ; and the variegated
arbor vitse. As plants we have the variegated peri-
winkle ; the variegated germander ; the variegated se-
dum; the variegated blue Jacob's ladder; the ^Enotliera
glauca variegata ; the variegated balm and mint ; the
variegated toad-flax (a pretty ground creeper) ; the
variegated white lily ; the variegated Grerman iris ; the
variegated hairy willow herb ; the variegated daisy ;
the greater variegated astrantia; the variegated shiny
Arabis, and the variegated blue agathsea.

There are also ribbon grass, Belgian daisies, variegated
Arabis, Centaur ea dealbata, Centaur ea cruenta, the tri-
coloured salvia, and various bedding plants with deep
crimson and glaucous leaves. There is. in fact, so much
variety in foliage, natural or obtained by cultivation,
that by its judicious utilization we may permanently aid
the varying beauty of floral arrangement.

I have endeavoured to confine my list in this chapter
entirely to hardy handsome foliaged trees, shrubs, and
plants, deferring to another those splendid plants
which require the aid of the greenhouse, but some of
which I hope to see more hardily domesticated among
us at a future time.

There are some herbaceous plants of gigantic growth

TENDER HANDSOME FOLIAGE PLANTS. 43

and foliage of magnificent size which may be advan-
tageously introduced in any rough ground which it is
desirable to ornament without much loss of time. The
Heracleum giganteum and Heracleum asperum are bien-
nials of such rapid growth, that they have been known
to attain a height of 12 or 14 feet 'n one year. The
stem is fluted, the leaves of enormous size, and the com-
pound umbels of white flowers large in proportion. It is
their size, and the boldness of their foliage and growth,
which render them so handsome to fill a place where a
large object is required. They are raised from seed, which
ripens in abundance, and they do well in a moist situa-
tion, near a pond, as they require a great quantity of
water.

The Tree Mallow (Lavetera arlorea) is another bien-
nial of grand proportions, although not so large as the
heracleum ; it is a splendid and very ornamental plant
where one is wanted of bold rampant growth.

The Henbane, Hyoscyamus, is also handsome when it
is planted out so as to stand alone.

CHAPTER VII.

TENDER HANDSOME FOLIAGE PLANTS.

Now that plants which take their beauty from their
splendid and gaily variegated foliage are so popular that
they form a main feature at the shows, and have become
especial horticultural favourites with all who can by any
means compass the cultivation of a few of them, it will
not do to pass over even the tenderer varieties without
casual mention. To cultivate largely the splendid-leaved
plants introduced within the present century, many of
them quite recently, requires the aid of stove or green-
house ; but persons who have an extensive flower garden,
and who can aid their efforts to supply it with those

14 FLOWEBS AND THE FLOWER GAEDEff.

convenient and valuable appliances, can enhance its
beauty and the gaiety of its appearance by keeping
such of these recherche plants as space and the heat they
can keep up will enable them to manage. A great num-
ber of them require a summer heat of from 65° to 80°,
or even 90°, and winter heat 55° to 70°, or 75°.

The CalatJiea zebrina, Maranta zebrina, or Zebra Plant
of Brazil, with its magnificent stout velvet-like leaves,
two feet long and six inches wide, beautifully streaked
from the midrib to the margin, is a leading favourite
among handsome foliage plants. The flower springs from
the root in a spike, and is a rich purple, shaded with red
and white. Of similar kind, and similar also in richness
of colour, are the Maranta vittata and Maranta alba
lineatv, both having leaves handsomely streaked with
white on green. The Maranta fasciata has a broader
leaf with a bolder stripe ; in Maranta regalis the leaves
are striped with bright red lines on the surface, and they
have a red tinge beneath. Maranta Porteana has smooth
shining oblong sharp-pointed leaves, striped with white
on the upper surface, and tinged with purple beneath.
The Maranta pardina has splendid pale green leaves,
from ten to fifteen inches long, and from four to six
inches wide, with numerous dark square streaky mark-
ings ; it has a pretty yellow flower, the most showy of
any of the tribe. The Maranta mieans is the smallest of
any ; and is, when well grown, a sweet little gem. The
leaves are dark green, with an elegant feathery glossy
stripe down the centre of each. The plant should be
placed near the glass, but shaded from the sun. The Ma-
ranta Warsewiczii is a strong evergreen, as handsome,
showy, and as easy to grow as Maranta zelrina. Its
noble leaves are two feet long and six inches wide, on a
stem a foot high; they are a rich dark green, with a
feathery pattern of pale green running up the centre.

These beautiful plants require a temperature of from
60° to 80° in summer, and from 50° to 65° m winter,
some requiring rather more heat than others. They
may be grown in a compost of fibry loam, sandy peao
silver sand, a little well decomposed cow mantur,,

TENDER HANDSOME FOLIAGE PLANTS. 45

and small pieces of charcoal. The pot should be well
drained, and its size be in proportion to the size of the
plant ; stagnant water is injurious to the root. Water
moderately in summer, and in winter very moderately,
and keep the plants rather in shade to retain the beauti-
ful marking. They may be repotted in spring, if they
are in a healthy growing state, and a little bottom heat
will then do good. Sometimes, when plants are growing
vigorously, and if it is wished to have them large, there
may be another potting in June. Keep the air of the
house moist during the growing season, and let the
plants rest from December to March. They may be
increased by division of the root, and by the careful
removal of side shoots. Shade the little plants from
the sun for a month, after which they may be treated
like the old plants.

The splendid two-coloured Caladium, Caladium fiicolor
splendens, is a magnificent foliaged plant, which dies down
in the autumn. The leaves are about nine inches long
and seven wide, the centre is of the brightest red, with
glossy metallic lustre, and the margin dark green, each
leaf rising on a tall footstalk from the root of the plant.
The flowers are white. The Caladium Chant ini is a yet
handsomer plant, its broad arrowhead-shaped leaves being
larger, crimson in the centre, shaded to pale green to-
wards the margin, and covered with a profusion of white
spots of irregular shape and size. These beautiful leaves
are on stems two feet high, with streaks of dark purple
and crimson. Caladium argyriies is a smaller but no
less beautiful plant. It is quite a gem, its arrowhead
leaves being a dark green, irregularly but prettily marked
with white, the plant not exceeding nine inches in height.
Caladium pictum has wide leaves, about a foot long, irre-
gularly blotched with white on a pale green ground,
rising on stems of a rich purple colour. "With a little
care in watering, it will retain its leaves all the year,
The Caladium Verscliaffelti is a remarkably showy plant,
the leaves six to nine inches long, of a brilliant green,
with irregular bright red spots.

All these caladiums are so bright and beautiful, and

16 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

so showy in colour and growth, that they deserve a place
m every collection of handsome foliage plants. They
require a summer heat of 70° to 80° : the first-named
variety may have a winter temperature of 55° to 60°, the
others 60°' to 70°. There is one kind, the Caladium
Virginicum, which is hardy. The ginger-like roots of
Caladium licolor are eaten in tropical countries, under
the name of cocoa roots.

They are tuberous-rooted plants, and are increased by
division of the roots. They will send out side shoots,
and these when rooted may be taken off, potted, and
placed in a frame or under a hand glass, with a gentle
bottom heat, keeping them shaded.

Their soil is turfy loam, sandy peat, and thoroughly
well rotted cow manure, in equal parts ; add silver sand,
and a few bits of charcoal mixed in amongst it. The
tubers should have some rest in winter, being at that time
kept rather dry. As soon as the plants begin to grow
in the spring, shake them clear of the old soil, and re-pot
them in fresh compost, mixed as mentioned above. Give
but little water until they have made a good start,
and then re-pot them ; give a little bottom heat, and
increase the heat and moisture in the place where they
are kept. If the plants grow fast, they will require to be
re-potted in June ; give plenty of water, and now and
then a little liquid manure. Watch-for the green fly, and
if it should appear, wage war against it at once. At the
spring potting, if mouldy or decayed spots are seen on the
tubers, clean them by scraping, and dust a little powdered
chalk on the wound. Caladium CJiantini must be kept
dryer than the rest, and its offsets may be planted in
almost pure sand.

The Begonias recently introduced are plants of magni-
ficent foliage, and are delicately pretty, although not very
showy in the flower. The peculiar shape of the leaves,
one side being so much larger than the other, and their
brilliant mixture of colour, render these plants very at-
tractive. The Hegonia rex is splendid, and many hand-
some seedlings have been raised from it. They require
about the same range of temperature as the caladiums,

TENDER HANDSOME FOLIAGE PLANTS. 47

a moist atmosphere, and for soil a compost of sandy turfy-
loam, sandy fibrous peat, and decayed leaves. To make
the variegation clear, the plants should be kept to a small
pot, in proportion to their size. They are curious in being
propagated by the leaf. The ribs of the leaf may be cut into
divisions, laid flat on the surface of a pot of sand, and
pegged down with little hooked sticks. The pot is placed
in heat, covered with a bell glass and shaded, the air
within being kept rather moist. In a short time roots
will spring from the base of each division, and young
leaves will appear, forming a new plant, which may be
taken up and potted. It should be returned to close
moist heat until it takes to growing, when it may be
gradually introduced to light and air.

Dracaena ferrea versicolor, or various-coloured ter-
minal Dragon-tree, is an evergreen of splendid growth,
requiring a temperature of 70° to 80° in summer and
50° to 60° in winter. It grows from ten to fifteen
feet high, with leaves a foot long, brilliantly tinted
with rich dark green, and shades of scarlet and crimson.
Dracana ferrea is of similar growth, but with foliage of
a rich dark shade of crimson ; very beautiful, and making
a fine contrast with foliage of any lighter colour.

These fine plants are not difficult to increase. Cut
the naked stem of a tall plant into pieces two inches long,
and bury them entirely in sandy soil, with half an inch
of sand over the tops. Plunge the pot in a strong
bottom heat, give but little water, and most likely every
piece will grow. When they are potted off, let the young
roots be carefully preserved, place them under a hand
glass until they begin to grow, then harden them gradu-
ally, and re-pot them as they require it. The top may
be used as a cutting, in sand, with bottom heat, under a
bell glass, and will make a fine plant sooner than the bits.
Mature plants should be stopped in the leading shoot
to make them spread. The soil should be a compost of
loam, peat, and leaf-mould.

There are several plants of the Croton tribe which are
beautifully variegated in foliage. Croton variegata is an
evergreen shrub, growing from eight to ten feet high,

48 FLOWEBS AKD THE FLOWEB GABDEtf.

and requiring summer heafc of 65° to 75°, and winter
warmth of 55° to 60°. The leaves are handsome, being
about six inches long, and an inch and a half wide in the
centre, and thickly variegated, striped and mottled with
yellow on a green ground. The flowers are white and
green. Croton pictum is an evergreen of similar habit.
The leaves are rather wider, and curiously spotted with
shades of red and yellow.

Croton variegatum angustifolium has long narrow
leaves, beautifully streaked with yellow on dark green,
gracefully drooping downwards. Its flowers are not
conspicuous.

Croton tiglium produces the well-known croton oil.

The soil they like is loam and peat, with silver sand:
stimulants spoil the variegation. Increase the plants of
angustifolium by cuttings taken about the end of July,
just as the summer shoots begin to harden. Take them
off, where the new and the last year's wood join, smoothly
with a sharp knife : trim off the lower leaves, and
the ends of those which are left. Plant the cuttings in
a pot of compost, with an inch in depth of silver sand
above : water them to set the sand close about them, and
cover them with a bell glass, taking care that no leaves
touch it. Plunge the pot in heat, shelter it from the
sun, and water when necessary. Pot the cuttings when
they are well rooted, but return them to their old posi-
tion until they grow again. After that harden them to
bear full light. Cuttings of the other kinds should be
taken in March or April, and the leaves left entire. Let
the plants have pots which are no larger than they
quire ; and as their habit is rather straggling, stop the
leading shoots annually, and train out the side branches.

The Pavetta Borlonica is a pretty growing plant, with
leaves about nine inches long, beautifully spotted with
white and pale green on dark green, with a bright red
vein down the centre. It is of vigorous habit, and re-
requires stopping to make it grow bushy. It grows in
fibry loam and sandy peat, without stimulating manures,
and requires re-potting when the old pot is filled with
roots. It grows from cuttings taken in spring, and

TENDER HANDSOME FOLIAGE PLANTS. 49

planted in sand, under a high bell glass, in bottom heat,
shaded from the sun. The mature plants love plenty of
light and air.

The Cijanopliyllum magnificum is a woody shrub of
fine growth, with truly magnificent leaves, about two
feet long and nine inches wide, of a handsome oval shape,
tapering to a point. The veins of the Jeaves are stout,
and raised in a regular pattern of white on a rich velvety
green surface, and the under sides are a full purplish
crimson. The temperature in summer is 70° to 75°
and in winter 65° to 70°. The soil for it is well mixed
peat, decayed leaves and silver sand. Let the pots be
well drained ; water sparingly in winter, well in summer ;
and let the plant have full exposure to the sun. If it is
inclined to run up, stop it, to make it shoot from the
sides. It may be grown from cuttings.

The Cissus discolor is a splendid climber, with heart-
shaped pointed leaves, six inches long and two and a half
broad, beautifully variegated on the upper surface ; rich
green, clouded and marked with white, peach, and pur-
plish crimson, and covered with metallic lustre ; whilft
underneath they are dark crimson. The veins of the
leaf and the tendrils of the plant are crimson. Its
summer temperature is 70° to 75°, and winter 60° to
65°. It will do well in a compost of peat and loam,
mixed with well rotted manure. It is a rapid grower
and requires a rich soil, and it will do nicely to cover a
wall in a conservatory, to train up pillars or over a
balloon trellis. It should be shaded from hot sun,
which destroys its metallic lustre, and the leaves must
not be watered. It will grow from cuttings of top shoots.
Cissus porpliyrophyllus is also a very handsome climber,
but of slower growth.

Sonerila Margaritacea is a half-shrubby, low-growing
plant, which is a perfect gem of beauty, with numerous
shoots and small leaves, marked all over the upper
surface with round silvery spots of great beauty and
distinctness, and pretty rose-coloured flowers. Its sum-
mer temperature is 70° to 80°, and winter 60° to
65°. Re-pot the plants in spring, and again in June,

50 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

During the growing season they must have a moderate
supply of water, but plenty of moisture in the air ;
in winter they should be put as much to the sun as
possible, turning them often that every leaf may get its
share of light. They bloom so abundantly that it is
advisable when the flowering is half over to cut off the
powers, buds and all. In hot days they should be kept
in a shady part of the house. They are propagated by
Small cuttings in spring, in sand, with heat, under a bell
glass. The glass should be often wiped and shaded.

The Alocasia metallica is one of the most splendid of
the handsome foliaged plants. It is of the Arum family,
and throws up its magnificent leaves, from sixteen to twenty
inches long, and wide in proportion, from the root. The
diversity of its colours, aided by a brilliant gloss, is too
variable to describe, and in sunshine produces a positively
gorgeous effect. It is a native of Borneo. It should be
grown in a compost of rough fibrous peat, mixed with a
little well decayed leaf-mould, and a large proportion of
silver sand. The pot must be well drained, to avoid
stagnant water round the root, but the plant requires
plentiful watering and a moist atmosphere. It is propa-
gated by parting the root, but it makes its offsets freely.
The young plants, after they are divided, should be
covered with a glass, and the pots plunged in a bottom
heat of 83° or 85°.

, The Hydrangea Japonica variegata is a handsome
foliaged hydrangea, requiring no higher a temperature
than 55° to 60° in summer, and 45° to 50° in winter.
Hydrangeas generally like rich earth, but the variegated
sort must be kept in poor soil, or the variegation will
disappear. They like a good deal of water, and are pro-
pagated by cuttings taken in May.

There are many more splendid plants which I should
like to add to this list, but I find it already almost too
long, and including quite choice enough for persons who
like to try a few. One, however, familiar to those who
visit Covent Garden Market, must not be omitted. The
Poinsettia pulclierrima is famous for its handsome scarlet
bracts, which are brilliant enough to exceed flowers iu

ROSES : GROWTH AND PROPAGATION". 51

gaiety. It requires summer temperature 60° to 70°,
and winter 50° to 55° ; likes rich earth, and is propagated
by cuttings, laid up a few days to dry before being
planted. When the plant has done flowering, it should
be cut down to within six inches of the pot, and kept in
a cool dry situation for two months, and then treated
with re-potting and more warmth. As the plant grows,
give more water.

CHAPTER VIII.

ROSES: GROWTH AND PROPAGATION.

FIRST among flowers in beauty and sweetness, general
favourite all over the world, without which no flower
garden can seem bright, the rose, with all its other
merits, has that also of universal utility ; for there is
scarcely a garden with situation so unfavourable that
roses of some kind cannot be found to prosper there, to
lend fragrance and beauty, where both, from being so
much needed, are sure to be most thoroughly valued.

There are very few roses that will do in the immediate
neighbourhood of large towns, but there are a few,
among which the old cabbage rose stands supreme, alike
for beauty and fragrance. That pretty old sort, the
delicate maiden-blush, too, will do ; true, she often does
not open very kindly, and sometimes treats her protectors
to an objectionable green centre ; but there are few
flowers than which even a poor rose is not better, and
this blooms so abundantly that it can afford to have some
imperfect blossoms. The common white rose does well
and flowers abundantly in gardens which are troubled
with smoke. The old-fashioned damask rose, although
deficient in the number of its fine large petals, and
showing an objectionable yellow centre, when fully open,

52 FLCTWEES AKD THE FLOWEE GARDE!?.

is sweet, large in size, brilliant in colour, and free in
growth. The York and Lancaster rose, with its striped
petals, is much like it ; and the early crimson and the
common moss roses often do very well. Some rose-growers
give a long list of choice roses for planting near towns, but
in my own experience, I have found the purchase of such
for gardens very close to London, or in any smoke-laden
locality, lead to disappointment. The five mentioned
above, and roses of similar habit and hardihood, will
give a fair variety of colour, and abundant sweetness, in
any small garden within three miles of the City. In
choosing roses for such situations, freedom of growth
must be considered, as well as hardiness ; and bushes or
any trees on their own roots are better than worked
plants, as being less likely to be lost from accidents.
The syringe in summer must be used often, as roses
cannot do well if the foliage is dirty. Under unfavourable
circumstances it is of no use to attempt too much ; but if a
garden at Islington, or thereabouts as regards distance
from smoke-creating towns, can be made gay in summer
with fine cabbage and other common roses, and white
lilies, preceded by bulbs, daisies, and primroses, and
followed by dahlias and chrysanthemums, the owner will
have little cause to complain.

Getting farther from the smoke, that chief among the
rose's enemies, we may have an endless variety of per-
petual, hybrid perpetual, Bourbon, tea-scented China,
rToisette, and China roses, and need only shut out from
our collections those which are very tender or very
touchy. In such localities the list of kinds which will
not do is more easy to give than that of the choice kinds
which will thrive.

All roses are included in the two great divisions —
summer-blooming and perpetuals. Summer roses mature
their buds and bloom, and then their flowering is over
until the next year ; perpetuals begin to bloom early or
rather late, according to the character of each, and pro-
duce buds and flowers in continued succession until
stopped by winter cold.

Bose-trees are grown in various forms. Standard

GROWTH OF ROSES : LAYERING. 53

roses have the stem, without shoots, from four to five
feet high, and the head of leaves and flowers at the top.
Half-standards are of the same form, but the stems are
from two to two and a half feet high. Dwarf standards
have the stems a foot or a foot and a quarter in height.
Kose-bushes are allowed to grow thick and bushy quite
from the ground. Weeping roses are roses of rampant
growth, budded on tall dog-rose stems, and trained or
allowed to fall over. They are very beautiful, but do not
do well in a situation exposed to wind. Pillar roses are
grown tall, and trained up a stake ten or twelve feet
high : roses for this must be of a vigorous habit of growth.
Besides these, there are climbing roses for training, and
dwarf roses for bedding.

Roses are either grown on their own roots, or budded
or grafted on wild rose or other stalks.

Rose-trees on their own roots may be made by division
of the root, by layers, by cuttings, or by suckers.

Layering, or laying down a branch under the soil to
take root without severing it from the parent plant,
should be done in summer or autumn. If the work be
omitted at these times, it may be done in the following
spring, to save more loss of time ; but July is best.
When the shoots of the year's growth are eighteen
inches or two feet long, which should be about the middle
of July, take off the leaves from the base of the shoot
to be layered two-thirds of its length, with a very sharp
knife. Then carefully bend it down to try the best spot
for fixing it, and there dig a hole, measuring four or five
inches every way, and fill it with compost. The shoot
must then be tongued (i. e. an incision made in it, cutting
upwards about half way through, just below a bud), and
gently twisted so that the cut may remain open. The
tongued part must be set in the middle of the compost,
fixed in its place with a peg, and covered to the depth of
three or four inches. The tongue should be made on the
shoot above where the bow will come, so that it may not
be more than two inches under the earth. A large stone
may be placed on the surface of the ground to fix the
layer. The compost should be rotten manure and pit

54 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

sand in equal parts, well mixed. In November the layers
may be taken up if they have rooted ; if not, they may
be removed the following spring, or may be left longer.
If the shoots are not long enough in July or August,
the layering may be done in October, or even in February
and March. The plants intended for layers should be
cut down very low the year before, that they may make
long shoots by the time they are wanted. Layering will
do well with all free growing roses, but it is most needed
for sorts which do not grow well from cuttings, such
as the old and other moss-roses, and Provence and Aus-
trian roses.

The most satisfactory of all methods of increasing rose-
trees is by cuttings. Eoses on their own roots are like
a house founded on a rock : contingencies which destroy
choice roses on others' roots leave them comparatively
unharmed. "Within the last few years we had a winter
(every rose amateur will remember it) which destroyed
roses to such an extent, in killing down the tops, that it
raised the price of rose-trees 200 per cent. That year
we did not lose one, because ours were on their own
roots, and those which were cut back to the root put
out again. An intensely severe winter has comparatively
little mischievous influence over roses on their own
roots. Violent wind may destroy a budded standard,
but in the case of one on its own root you always have
the root left, to put out again, and to produce its own
kind still. On account of the stability of a rose on its
own root I especially recommend amateurs to increase
all roses which can be so grown by cuttings — and non-
amateurs too, for the matter of that ; for certainly the
tree least subject to contingencies ought to have the
highest money value. It requires time and care to make
tall standards from cuttings, but it may be done, and
when it is, successfully, the time and care are well paid
for. A rose which has not stability of character to take
to its own root must be satisfied to use the root of
another : and roses differ as much in character as men
and women ; but I shall try to name the best sorts which
Will grow well from cuttings.

GKOWING HOSES FEOM CUTTINGS. 55

Most hardy roses — hybrid perpetuals, Bourbons, and
tea-roses may be increased by cuttings, whenever good
cuttings present themselves, and that is during the
whole of the flowering season. Whenever the roses die
off on a fine healthy shoot, cut the shoot with a spur of
the old wood to form a heel. Fill five or six inch pots
with a compost of friable loam, leaf-mould, and sand,
press it pretty firm, and plant the cuttings so as not to
touch each other ; having previously trimmed them, by
removing all the leaves from the part which is to go into
the earth, and all but one or two from the upper part.
Water them with a fine rose, and place the pots in a
frame with a gentle bottom heat ; shut up close, and
shade from the sun. As time goes on, water only when
necessary with a very fine rose on the watering-pot.
When they have rooted they may be potted singly, and
again placed in a. frame with a gentle bottom heat, where
they should be shaded and watered for nine days or a
fortnight. As the root gains growth they may be har-
dened, previous to planting out.

There are many quite first-rate sorts which may be
grown from cuttings, planted under a handglass on a
north border in summer. Dig out a space a foot and a
half deep, and rather larger than the handglass ; put in
crocks for draining to the depth of half a foot, half a
foot of manure, and fill it with good compost, as named
above. Cut and plant the cuttings in the same way,
never removing the glass except for necessary watering.
In this way I have known the following good useful
roses do well, and make handsome bushes, and, with
necessary training, standards : — General Jacqueminot,
Geant des Batailles, Souvenir de la Malmaison, Gloire de
Dijon, Safranot, A imee Yibert, Marquise Boccella, Wil-
liam Jesse, Eeine d'Angleterre, Jules Margottin, The
Aurore, Jaune Desprez, Madame Plantier, Pierre de St.
Cyr, La Eeine, Senateur Yaisse, Comte de Nanteuil,
William Griffith, Ophirie, Smith's Yellow, Mrs. Bosan-
quet, Napoleon, and many others of similar habits —
not a bad collection for a plain garden of modest pre-
tensions.

56 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

It is a good plan, in planting the cutting, to make a
hole, put in the cutting, fill up the hole with silver sand,
water, and press the earth tight. Cuttings may be made
in spring, summer, or autumn, but we have found no time
so good as June and July, although in favourable seasons
they have done well as late as Michaelmas. There is
another way of planting cuttings, which we have found
very successful. Get a three-inch pot, stop the bottom
hole with a cork, Jill it witli water, place it inside a six-
inch pot, with the tops of the two even, and fill up tho
outside pot with compost. Plant rose cuttings round,
close against the pot of water, and keep the whole close
covered with a glass, until they strike, which is often in
about two months.

To get cuttings ready early in the year, so that the
young trees may be ready to plant out early in summer,
strong rose-trees in pots may be forced in December,
placing them in a sunny situation to ripen the shoots.

Propagating by suckers is not often practised, but it is
useful in the case of Scotch and Austrian roses.

Eoses on stocks are produced by budding and grafting,
and for this kind of propagation the first step is to pro-
cure stocks, which should be planted in November, to be
ready for working, i.e. budding or grafting, the following
year. The stocks generally used are from the dog-rose,
the common wild rose of England, suckers of which can
be taken out of hedges, or tall stems of which can be
grown, as cuttings, planted deep. They are fittest for
standards, as the stems grow more kindly than those of
stocks of a more aristocratic descent. Manetti and
Celine stocks are the result of seedlings from cultivated
roses. The black Boursault is another having similar
origin. They are kept for dwarfs. When the stocks
are planted in autumn, the roots should be pruned close,
and the stems shortened to the height required : for
standards three or four feet; for half standards two or
three feet ; for dwarf standards one foot — a little more or
less ; and for rose-bushes to within a few inches of the
ground. The stocks should be planted in rows three
feet apart, and it will do good to throw some litter round

BUDDING EOSE3. 57

their roots. The Manetti sprang from the hybrid China :
it was introduced by Mr. Bivers, about thirty years ago,
from Como, and Mr. Cranston, the rose grower, appre-
ciates it so highly that he rears over 50,000 a year. The
Caline stock is a variety of the hybrid Bourbon ; it is
robust in habit, and is especially good for Noisettes and
Bourbons. That touchy rose, the Cloth of Gold, does
better on it than on any other stock.

Budding has the advantage of giving the vigour of the
stock to a kind of poorer growth. The season for bud-
ding is from early in June to late in August; i.e. when-
ever the scion and the stock are both in a good state,
from having the sap flowing freely ; otherwise the bud
will not be ripe, and the bark on the stock will not rise
freely. Buds should be taken from ripe shoots of the
current year, and may generally be got when the tree is
in flower. Budding should be done quickly and dexter-
ously, to leave no time for either the bud or the incision
in the stock to dry ; damp cloudy mild weather should
be chosen, and the best time is early in the morning or
after the heat of the day is past. "Where the rose-leaf
joins the stem a little bud will generally be found ; one
which is plump and healthy must be chosen. With the
sharp budding-knife pare off the bud, with a portion of
the bark in the form of a shield, leaving on a portion only
of the leaf-stalk, by which to hold it, and from behind the
shield of bark remove what woody fibre there may be,
leaving the root of the bud full, plump, and undisturbed.
A plumpness of the bud should be seen inside the bark.
In the bark of the stock to be budded make a horizontal
cut, through the bark only, and from the centre of that
a perpendicular cut downwards. If the stock is in a
good state for budding, the angles in this T-shaped cut
may be readily raised with the budding-knife. Insert
the bud by pushing its little shield of bark under the
bark of the stock, from the cross cut downwards, and
when it is pressed in far enough cut off the upper end of
the shield at the cross cut. Secure the bud in its place
by tying it round with soft cotton twist, worsted, or bast,
and the place may be covered with a coating of cow-

58 TLOWEKS AND THE FLOWER GA.EDEN.

dung and clay, or left with only the ligature. A laurel
leaf fastened at each end by a ligature round the stock,
so as to arch over the bud, will defend it from, the sun's
rays, air, and wet, any of which might interfere with its
growth. The tie which keeps the bud in place must be
watched and loosened when necessary, which will gene-
rally be in about three weeks, and removed a few weeks
later. A few inches should be taken off the briar which
has been budded, to make the sap flow more to the bud.
The Manetti stock may be budded later in the season
than the dog-rose. After the budding, about the month
of November, not sooner, all the branches not budded
must be cut from the stock ; they may then remain
until May, when they must be watched, and have all the
wild buds rubbed off as they appear, leaving, however,
two or three shoots above the bud to draw up the sap,
only nipping off their ends from time to time until June,
when they, too, may be cut off.

Grafting roses is much less frequently resorted to than
propagating them, by other means. Spring is the time
for it. The stock to be grafted should be forwarder than
the scion, and operated on when the sap is in activity.
Whip, cleft, and saddle grafting may any of them be
used. Grafting is, however, more fitted for in-door than
for out-door cultivation.

It is not difficult to raise roses from seed, as some
kinds seed abundantly ; but careful hybridizing or cross-
ing is too troublesome for the general amateur. The
sorts for crossing should be judiciously chosen. Upon a
fine dry day, when the flower is fully expanded, the
anthers must be cut away with a pair of scissors, to
prevent the seed following that parent only ; then the
pollen from the other plant must be placed on the pistil
with great care, at a time of day when the farina is
abundant, and the flower so impregnated tied in a gauze
bag to prevent interference from insects, and the two
kinds marked and noted down. An easier plan is to plant
dissimilar varieties side by side, and leave the bees to
hybridize the seed, and this might prove interesting even
to amateur rose-growers.

SEED OF ROSES. SOIL TOE EO3ES. 59

Let the seed-pods ripen thoroughly on the tree, and
when they are gathered put them away in small pots of
dry sand until February ; then rub out the seed, sow it
in light rich earth mixed with sand, with an inch thick-
ness of the earth over it, and place the pots or pans in a
frame, in a shady sheltered spot, taking care that the
temperature and moisture are kept uniform. The seed-
lings may spring up in April or May, and they may not
make their appearance until the following year. "When
the little plants are strong enough, remove them, with
care not to disturb the seed left behind, and keep them
shaded and watered occasionally. Or, if not too thick,
they may remain where they spring up until they grow a
good size. They will sometimes flower the first year,
and so show the colour, but the quality of the rose will
not be seen until the plant has been established at least
two years. Single or very poor flowers may be discarded
at once ; but any which showgood form, distinct colour,
petals of good substance, and rather full flowers, will be
worth watching.

CHAPTEE IX.

ROSES: THEIR CULTURE.

ANT deep soil, with a cool subsoil, suits roses on the dog-
rose stock, but a deep stiff loam is best for them. The
black porous soil sometimes met with in gardens is bad
for them, and must be improved by a mixture of stiff
loam. Sharp gravelly and light sandy soils are also bad.
Eich peat land is not bad, nor bog earth, if it be
thoroughly drained. The soil of all others is a deep?
rich, rather retentive, somewhat greasy loam, well
drained. Eoses on their own roots, or on the Mauettj

60 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

stock, do not require such a stiff soil as those on the dog-
rose, but all light soils for roses will be benefited by a
good allowance of surface manure. In making beds for
tea-scented and China roses on their own roots, dig out
the earth to a good depth, and lay in a layer six or eight
inches deep of draining material, and then fill in the
earth, lightening stiff loam with sand and an abundant
supply of leaf-mould and well rotted manure. Where
roses are planted on a lawn, a circle of earth should be
cleared round them to make beds for them.

Roses on briar or other stocks may be planted in
November or December ; but if the ground be wet, or
not in good condition, then the planting may be delayed
until February or early in March. Tea-scented and other
tender kinds may be planted out in the end of March ;
and tea-scented, China, hybrid perpetual, and Bourbons,
on their own roots, not before April.

Those who buy rose-trees should bespeak them, or
select and mark them early in autumn, to prevent the
disappointment arising from buying after the nursery
stock has been picked over. If they are received before
the best time for planting, shorten the long fibrous roots,
and never let the roots get dry, but put them in earth
directly; lay them in by the heels, as gardeners call it.
Tea and tender Noisettes can be put in under a wall,
where they can be sheltered with mats, or somehow pro-
tected from frost, until they may be finally planted,
Choose a fine day for planting, when the earth is moist,
but not wet enough to stick to the spade or shoe. Grood
compost is, for light soils, well rotted cow manure and
rich stiff loam from an old pasture ; and for stiif land
the manure, with sand or burnt earth, allowing a barrow-
ful each to large trees and half that quantity to small
ones. Dig the hole for the root quite large enough,
spread the roots evenly to their full extent, level the
earth and shake it in about the roots, holding the plant
the while, that it may not sink too deep, and tread in the
earth. Care must be taken not to plant dog-rose stocks
too deep. Manetti stocks, on the contrary, are worked
quite low down, to allow of their being planted so that

MANURE EOR ROSES. 61

the union of the bud or graft with the stock may be under
the surface of the ground. Tall roses should be pruned,
to prevent the wind tearing them, and they should have
stakes. Standards should be planted three feet apart,
and rose-bushes from twenty-one inches to two feet.

Pig manure is the best animal manure for roses. Next
night-soil, cow manure, and horse manure; the sweepings
of poultry and pigeon-houses are also good. They should
lie in a heap long enough to be thoroughly rotten, but
not long enough to lose the ammonia. Pig dung should
be spread and forked in at once early in spring. Night-
soil should be mixed with sand, charcoal dust, or some
such dry substance, and spread and dug in in winter. A
surface dressing of rotted manure should be applied in
autumn, allowing two shovelfuls to each standard or other
tall tree. For summer surface dressing, wood ashes,
with an eighth of guano, is good, a quarter of a peck to
each tree, spread over a circle three feet in diameter;
this dressing should have abundant watering in dry
weather. Brewers' grains, thrown to ferment for not
less than three weeks, and mixed with one-fourth of
burnt earth, is a powerful stimulant ; give half a peck or
a peck to each tree in winter. The following manures
have also been recommended : — Soot, wood ashes and
charcoal (especially for tea-scented and others on their
own roots), bone dust, and bones in half-inch bits
(lasting, and especially good for tea and other roses on
their own roots) ; guano and super-phosphate are good,
but they must be used with caution, or they may sacri-
fice bloom to rampant growth. They are best applied
in liquid manure, and in that form they suit light soil
well. Liquid manure of all kinds should be applied
while the trees are freely making their growth, and
again to perpetuals when the first bloom dies off.
Every rose-grower should establish a vessel for liquid
manure, large in proportion to the number of roses
under cultivation : it may be half filled with manure
balls from well-fed horses or sitting hens, or with any-
rich manure, and filled up with water again and again
for some time. This may be used freely with any roses

62 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

which are in a thoroughly healthy state, and making
good growth, but very cautiously with any which look a
little sickly. If a rose is exhausting itself with abun-
dant flowering, it may have liquid manure almost with-
out stinfc.

In the spring the earth round every rose should be
stirred to the depth of one or two inches, and again
whenever the surface gets hard, taking great care later
in the season not to disturb the roots. In forking,
many gardeners are apt to be very careless of the roots of
trees and plants, and want watching in this particular.

To keep the growth of roses within bounds and in
good shape, disbudding, or rubbing oiF all the buds likely
to produce shoots where they are not wanted, or where
they will be too crowded, prevents much after trouble in
pruning. After the buds are fairly started, look over
the tree with eye " on the visioned future bent," and
rub off or cut out all that are likely to shoot in a
wrong direction, and thin out wherever the shoots
threaten to become too crowded. This will not only
improve the growth but it will strengthen it.

Pruning is chiefly done in the spring. Trees may be
cut back to four or six eyes the first year after budding,
as soon as the sap rises and the buds are observed to
swell. If they are planted out in the autumn of their
first year they may need a little shortening then, to
prevent the wind having too much power over them,
but they should not be pruned closely when newly
planted.

"When the established trees are pruned, the pruning
must be done with reference to the growing shoots
forming a good and not too crowded head or bush. To
ensure uniformity of growth on all sides of the tree, all
the shoots left should be of about equal size, and any
of rampant growth had better be shortened, and their
lateral shoots stopped as often as necessary. In shorten-
ing shoots, cut close to an eye, leaving, as far as prac-
ticable, stout plump buds, because they are likely to
produce flowers ; and spare also those that turn* the
right way, to give the tree a handsome shape.

PRUNING ROSES. 63

French, moss, alba, Provence, damask, and Austrian
roses require close pruning ; that is, the wood of the
year before is cut back to within an inch or two of the
two years old wood, leaving on these shoots only two or
three eyes, which will throw out as many shoots, with
bloom. To make the plant conical, prune the centre
shoots closer than the outer and lower ones ; they will
then grow in advance of the sides, and thus make the
plant pyramidal in shape. The vigorous growers may
have more moderate pruning : for the strong shoots six
inches, the weaker ones four.

Hybrid China and hybrid Bourbons require care in
pruning, as with them pruning their long /ampant
shoots may spoil the flowering. These rampant growers
may be thinned out ; the strong shoots should be left
two feet or more in length, and the weaker one foot or
eighteen inches. With some kinds it is necessary to
leave the strong shoots their full length, while with
those of moderate growth the sprays may be about six
inches or a foot. These vigorous growers will often
decline after a few years ; when they do so it will be
advisable to prune closer. It may be well even to
prune quite close, and force the tree to make new wood
and a better form. In a healthy tree cut back, new
eyes will form, even in quite old wood.
" Austrian briars require different pruning from any
other roses. The Harrisonii must only be thinned out,
and their sprays just tipped. The Persian yellow must
be pruned in quite close every alternate year, to keep
it from exhausting itself.

Hybrid perpetuals, damask perpetuals, perpetual moss
and Bourbon roses should be pruned some time in
March. These roses are very numerous, and present
wide differences in habit. Those of a dwarf and mode-
rate growth may be pruned down to two or three eyes,
and all weak and crowded shoots removed. Those of
more robust growth may be thinned out the same : the
strong shoots may be cut to six or eight inches long,
and the smaller ones to four or five.

The tea-scented, Noisette, and China roses may be

64< FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

attended to, with the knife, at the end of March or
beginning of April, and they do not generally require
close pruning. Especially with the tea-scented and
China roses, only thin out small weak wood, and shorten
the sprays a little. In the vigorous growing Noisettes
the shoots should be left long. That fine yellow rose,
the Cloth of Gold, is worthy of great care on account of
its beauty, but it is a shy bloomer. It must have a
place against a south wall, be well manured every year,
and have no more pruning than just enough to keep it
trained. To make it bloom, get it to grow freely; when
established and in vigorous growth it will bloom freely,
both in summer and autumn. In severe winters it
must be protected.

Banksian roses will seldom bloom until they have
been established three or four years. They must be
pruned after the flower has gone off, which is generally
the end of May or beginning of June ; shorten long
vigorous shoots nearly a third ; the bloom comes on the
one and two years' old wood.

An attempt to enter into the merits of all the
varieties of all the different classes would spread out
the sechapters to too great a length ; but those who wish
to judge and select can easily get a good choice in the
published lists at the flower shows, or from the rose-
growers.

In selecting for planting, we want to know of each
one, the kind, the habit of growth, and the colour ; and
all these items are specially noted in rose catalogues
published by all the rose-growers who exhibit at the
flower shows : these lists are laid round the stands for
the use of visitors at the horticultural meetings, or are
willingly sent by the rose-growers to any who may
apply for them ; and therein we may find all our named
favourites, with all their characteristics noted down, and
the price of each.

The following are the important points of a good
rose : Constitution should be hardy, healthy, and of a
tolerably robust habit of growth, with good foliage, and
a good bloomer. The flower must be fine in form, full,

FLORISTS' FLOWERS : ANEMONES. 65

large in size, and decided and distinct in colour. The
form of the flower, whether it be cupped, globular, or
widely expanded, should be symmetrical ; the petals even
and regular in their arrangement, full, but not too
crowded ; the outer range broad and firmly set, rendering
the flower lasting. In texture they should be firm and
thick, not thin and flimsy. Fragrance, and a firm
upright stem, are points. A green or yellow centre to
a flower when open is a great fault.

CHAPTER X.

FLORISTS' FLOWERS : ANEMONES, CALCEOLARIAS,
CARNATIONS, CHRYSANTHEMUMS, CINERARIAS.

THE term florists' flowers is applied to those kinds
which can be brought to a great degree of perfection
and novelty in size, colour, and other properties, by
careful cultivation. Such flowers and plants are reared
with exact precision by gardeners and amateurs ; they
have special classes at horticultural shows, and the
attainment of a new variety in any of them is a great
triumph to the grower. I only purpose to enter into
the merits of these to the extent which will be found
useful in a little work like the present.

As a great desideratum is to grow new varieties, it is
a good thing if such flowers hybridize freely, or vary
much when grown from seed.

Anemones, as common garden flowers, five or seven
roots in a patch, may be grown without difficulty, and
form pretty clumps of gay bloom ; but to rear them in
high order requires more care. To make an anemone
bed, dig out the earth to the depth of a foot, spread a
layer of well-rotted cow manure six or eight inches
thick, over this spread fresh loam, enough to raise the
beds three or four inches above the level of the path or
grass around, and let it be ready for planting in October.

F

66 FLOWEKS AND THE FLOWER GABDEN.

Hake the surface very fine, and make in it furrows to
receive the anemone roots, five inches apart and two
inches deep. Plant the roots, buds upwards, four inches
apart, strewing some sand in with them ; little bits
which break off may be planted, and they will become
roots. The anemones, as they shoot, must be protected
from frost with mats, stretched over hoops, or any
efficient covering of the sort ; and this must be removed
whenever the weather permits, or the roots will suffer
from damp. "When the plants grow, let them be watered
with rain water, enough to save the fibrous roots from
withering from drought. When they have done flower-
ing, the beds should be covered again with hoops and
mats to keep them from wet, and in about a month the
leaves will have withered, when the tubers may be taken
up, thoroughly dried, and kept in a dry safe place until
the season for replanting them conies round.

For raising seedling anemones, the seed should be
cleared from the fluff, and sown in August, and the
young tubers may be taken up when the leaves wither
the following summer, and planted again in autumn, to
flower the year after. To increase the varieties, divido
the tubers, but not too much, or the plants will come weak
The beds may be kept longer in bloom, if the roots are
put in at three different dates : the end of September,
October, and very early in spring. They will not do in
a stiff soil. If the leaves are distorted, the earth pro-
bably wants more draining. To prevent mildew, mix a
little salt or sea sand in making the bed ; to try to cure
it, sprinkle with sulphur.

The points of a good single anemone are : a strong
elastic erect stem, nine inches high, or more ; flower two
&nd a half inches across ; petals large and stout, standing
out horizontally at first, and then turning upwards into a
shallow cup ; colour, when mixed, clear and distinct ;
when unbroken, brilliant and striking. Double ane-
mones should have the outer petals quite flat, the second
range shorter, the third shorter still, and so on, with the
centre full ; the flower should form a rather flat hemi-
sphere. The double anemones must be pelf coloured.

FLORISTS' FLOWERS : CALCEOLARIAS, 67

The anemones which are cultivated as florists'
flowers, are the offspring of Anemonia coronaria and
Anemonia Jwrtensis, multiplied ad injinitum; besides
these, there are many other kinds.

The Anemonia Japonica or perennial anemone, is
a nice, hardy, free blooming garden plant, which will do
in any common garden soil, and produce its profusion of
large, deep pink, anemone-like flowers from the end of
summer until winter ; it can be increased by division of
the root to almost any extent.

Calceolarias, besides being favourites to cultivate as
florists' flowers, make gay flowers for the garden, to
plant in groups, or for bedding plants ; but as they will
not stand frost, young plants should be made in the
autumn, separated and planted in pots singly in the
spring, gradually hardened by May, and then planted
out.

For choice calceolarias use the following compost :
one bushel of light sandy yellow loam (if it be not
sandy, add sifted river sand), a quarter of a bushel of
leaf-mould, and half a peck of thoroughly decayed cow-
manure ; mix it well, and let it be used rather dry.
Seed may be sown either as soon as it is ripe, or in
spring ; and as soon as the seedlings are up they may be
placed on a shelf, near the glass, in an airy greenhouse.
When they are large enough, plant them singly in 24-
inch pots, and re-pot them as often as they want it, until
they are in 6-inch pots, and then let them flower. Those
that are good in form, bright and distinct in the colours,
and of a fair size, re-pot again, and keep to increase by
cuttings, and all indifferent flowers can be used to make
the garden gay. Cuttings may be taken when the
flowering is over in August, or in March. Commence
potting autumn-struck cuttings early in March, and
those struck in spring as soon as they are fit. Let the
pots be well drained with crocks. Re-pot about three
times, and leave the plants in 11-inch pots to bloom,
keeping them near the glass in a light airy greenhouse,
giving them plenty of air. No flower stem must be
left until the plants have made their growth. They

F 2

68 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

should be in perfection early in July, each plant being
two feet high and as much across, and then the flower
stems may be allowed to grow. The plants require a
great deal of training and tying before they are con-
sidered presentable. As soon as the flowers are dead,
cut them off", unless seed be required; cut down the
stems, and put the plants out of doors, or in a cold pit ;
give plenty of air, and return them to the greenhouse
before frost ; keep them there until cuttings are taken in
March, and then they will be no more wanted : for old
plants are not handsome, and are thrown aside as useless.

Calceolarias do not bear forcing well, and they are
subject to a disease a little like that of the potato,
which seems to be contagious, so that when dark spots
appear on the leaves and stems, the plants affected
should be removed at once. "Wet at the root is sup-
posed to cause it.

Carnations should have a place in every garden where
they will grow, 110 less for their beauty than for their
delicious fragrance. As florists' flowers, they are divided
into three classes : Flakes are striped with one colour
and white ; Eizarres are streaked with two colours and
white ; Picotees, which are the hardiest as well as per-
haps the most beautiful, have each petal margined with
colour on a white or yellow ground, or dotted with very
small spots. The beautiful and deliciously scented
clove is said to be the original form of the carnations.

To make a compost for growing carnations, take loam
from an upland pasture, cutting thick turfs from the
surface. Let them lie in a heap for a year, turning
them over every month, and picking out the wireworm
with great care. To this add one fifth part of cow-
manure which has laid to rot two years, and a fifth part
of well decayed vegetable mould. Mix these together,
and let them lie three months longer, turning them over
three or four times during that time.

Choice carnations are wry often grown in pots.
They are planted for flowering, generally in pairs, about
the end of March, in 11-inch pots, well drained with
crocks (as they are injured by much moisture), and

FLORISTS' FLOWERS : CARHATIONS. 69

with the earth well pressed about the roots. Use the
compost without sifting, but look through it well for
wireworms. Place the pots in a sheltered part of the
garden, on a bed of coal ashes, water when necessary,
and as the flower stems shoot up, place a stick to each,
high enough for the flower when it comes out, and tie
the stems very.slackly, for fear of their bending or break-
ing. As the buds swell, thin out all but the most plump
and healthy. When the flower begins to open, it is
very apt to burst unevenly. To prevent this place an
Indian rubber ring round the bud, or tie it with a bit of
bast, and if it is inclined to burst on one side only, cut
the calyx a little open at two other places, with a fine
pair of scissors. When one side of a flower is spreading
too much towards the sun, turn the pot round. To
make flowers bloom in fine spreading form, paper collars
are put round them, to which to spread the bloom. The
collar is a round piece of stiff white paper, with a hole
in the middle to receive the calyx, the leaves of which
are turned down to keep it in its place. The outer
range of petals is arranged on the white paper, and it
should not extend beyond; and then, range after range to
the centre, the petals are put in nice order, and I
believe the tweezers are used with any which are insub-
ordinate or faulty. When flowers are exhibited, all this
manipulation seems hardly fair, but it is a question
which the most influential judges would find it difficult
to place under rule. Before the plants come into bloom
they should be ranged on stages or stands, the feet of which
should be placed in earthen or leaden cups for water fifteen
inches wide and three or four inches deep, with a socket
in the centre large enough to receive the feet, to keep
off the approach of slugs, and all creeping destroyers.
The stands should have an awning to keep off sun and
rain. Watch the flower stems to support them as they
grow taller. The flowers come in June or July.

Carnations are generally propagated by layers laid
down the end of July and beginning of August, when
the plants are in full flowering vigour: the earlier it can
be done, the better the layers will be established before

70 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GABDEN.

winter. Choose fine healthy outside shoots, not those
which have, or have had, flowers. As earth to cover
the layers, have ready a compost of light loam and leaf-
mould, half and half ; and the best pegs for fixing them
are made of fronds of the common fern, birch, or hazel
twigs. Dress the stems intended for layering by cutting
off all the lower leaves, leaving about six nearest the top
untouched. If there are too many good shoots in the
pot, take some off for pipings. Make an incision with
a very sharp knife on the under side of the first layer,
just below the third joint, bringing the knife slanting
upwards partly through the joint. Still holding the
cutting, take a hooked peg in the other hand, and with
it fasten down the layer, pressing it gently, but firmly,
down to the soil. Proceed in the same way with the
layers all round the plant, and then cover the slit joint
with the compost to an inch in depth. Do not water
the newly layered plant until the next day, by which
time the wounds will have healed over partially.
Layering is done in the same way when the roots are
planted out of doors. The young plants may be sepa-
rated from the parent plant, and potted, in August.

Carnations may also be propagated by pipings, when
the flowering is over. Fill the necessary number of pots
with the compost prepared for the carnations nearly up
to the top, and fill up with silver sand. Break off* the
pipings at the third joint, then in each piping cut a
little upward slit, plant them in the sand pretty thickly,
and place the pot on a gentle hot-bed, on a bed of sifted
coal ashes or river sand ; put on the sashes, and shade
the pipings from the sun, until they have rooted, then
harden them off gradually, and plant them out into-
small pots.

The chief points in a carnation are a firm upright-
flower stem, calyx well and regularly opened, flower
round, with the petals regularly disposed, largest out-
side, decreasing in size to the centre, and colour clear
and distinct. Those with stripes should have the stripes;
widest at the edge of the petals.

The yellow picotce carnations are very striking. These-

£LORISTS' FLOWERS : PINKS AND CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 71

beautiful flowers, in all their varieties, need by no means be
neglected by persons who do not care for them as florists'
flowers, for their culture is quite within the scope of any
lady's gardening. Good carnations are often grown from
seed. Packets of seed of twelve choice kinds are sold for
3s. and 3s. §d. by Messrs. Carter, of Holborn, and no
doubt by other first-class seedsmen. Sow the seed in
the spring, and when the seedlings have made six or
eight leaves prick them out in pots or prepared beds :
the next year will show their merits.

Pinks naturally seem to follow carnations. The
commoner sorts are most useful in a garden, especially
the white, white and chocolate, and deep pink and
chocolate, which form great patches of their respective
decided colours, and keep flowering for a long time.
They will thrive in almost any garden, but require rich
earth to make the bloom fine and large. Beds for
choice, i.e. the laced pinks, should be made with loam
and a fourth part of well rotted manure, raised above
the ground around, and highest in the middle. Pinks
require similar cultivation to carnations, but they are
raised by pipings taken in May or June. Plant in
rows, twelve inches apart every way, shelter them in
winter (wet is more injurious to carnations and pinks
than a slight degree of frost), stir the earth round the
roots in spring, and mulch them with a little wrell
decayed stable manure early in June. Pinks, when
good, have the edge of the petal white, the lacing dis-
tinct and fringed at both edges, and a distinct eye at
the base of the petal. The flower should be very large.
Old plants are not good for the florist, but form nice,
roots for the borders.

That curiously stiff looking, yet pretty and varied
flower, the Sweet "William, belongs to the Dianthus
family also.

The Chrysanthemum has even a greater merit than
the gaiety and endless variety of its handsome flowers :
there is no other plant so brilliant in bloom, that can
so easily be cultivated under the disadvantages of a
crowded smoky locality. All who have seen the eollec-

72 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

tion of chrysanthemums in the Temple Gardens, in the
very heart of London, will give this plant due graise for
this its especial merit ; and all seers owning little gar-
dens at home, struggling through the disadvantage of a
smoke-laden atmosphere, and looking miserable from an
attempt to cultivate plants that object to smoke and
soot, should at once make chrysanthemums their especial
gardening specialty. A flower which is of every shade,
of almost every colour, and varying in size from one
inch to four inches across, is not like one flower ; it is a
host in itself. It grows freely in a light rich soil, and
flowers most abundantly from October to December.
Our old favourites, the large flowered kind, than which
nothing is handsomer in appearance, are the progeny of
C. Sinense; and the later favourites, the pretty pom-
pons, have sprung from the Chinese daisy, sent home
by Mr. Fortune.

Chrysanthemums may be increased by all modes of
propagation. Take cuttings in February; young shoots,
three inches long, cut with a sharp knife, and plant
them round a medium-sized pot, filled with sandy loam,
with a layer of pure sand on the surface. Water the
cuttings to settle the earth to them, place the pot on
coal ashes or river sand, in a warm place, and cover it
with a hand glass. "When they have grown they may
be potted off separately, and put under hand glasses
again, for a time. E-e-pot whenever the roots reach the
pot, and keep them where they will be safe from frost
and damp. They will bloom the same year.

To procure low dwarf plants, plant out in the open
.ground some old plants, as soon as the frost is fairly gone,
and peg down some of the branches. Then when these
have formed flower buds, sink small pots filled with light
rich earth, peg down one of the branches into each pot,
giving it at the same time a little twist, cover with half
an inch of soil, and it will root. When the layers are
well rooted they may be divided from the parent plant,
and placed in the shade until they are established, and
they will be nice showy little plants for the front row in
a stage of chrysanthemums. Chrysanthemums may also be

CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN POTS. 73

increased by suckers, division of the root, and seed. The
seed must be taken from flowers of a fine shape nd bright
colour, and sown in February, slightly covered with finely
sifted soil. Give them a little heat, gentle watering with a
fine rose when dry, and when they get three or four
leaves they may be planted singly in small pots, kept
in a temperature of 55° to GO0, and re-potted whenever
they require it. Some will flower the same year.

You can scarcely give chrysanthemums earth which is
too rich : in a mixture of half and half light loam and
decayed dung, with a little addition of peat, they will
grow and flower well.

Plants which are intended to bloom in pots should be
shifted into good-sized pots in April. For plants grown
from the spring cuttings 9-inch pots should be used, and
for older plants 12-inch. At every potting, stop the
shoots to make the plants grow bushy. The last pot-
ting should be in the middle of June ; then and from
that time discontinue nipping oft' the ends of the shoots.
As the branches grow, tie them out so as to give them
room and air ; and with plants intended for exhibition
thin the buds that the bloom may be large. While
they are in full growth give them plenty of water, and
liquid manure once a week. Never let them flag from
the first to the end of the flowering, but water, with a
rose, over head and all twice a day in hot weather.
From May until they flower they should stand on a bed
of ashes, or on gravel, in an open situation, and when
they begin to flower they may be removed into the
house, taking care to give them plenty of room. When
the flowering is over, cut down the shoots which have
bloomed, place the pots in a cool pit, and give just water
enough to keep them alive, until the growing season
approaches again. Chrysanthemums are nearly hardy,
and do not need much protection, only a covering of a
mat or so to keep out severe frost. The old plants
which grow unmanageable in pots will be very hand-
some in the flower borders, where they will keep up a
gay show in autumn.

There are several pretty showy annual chrysanthe-;

74 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

mums, which should be sown in the open borders in
April,

Cinerarias are gay in spring, for the decoration of
rooms or stands, with their bright masses of bloom —
purple, pink, carmine, violet, bright blue, lilac and
white, and sometimes a pretty mixture of two colours.
They are grown from cuttings or seed, and good soil for
them is a mixture of peat, loam, leaf-mould, and sand.
To get cuttings, cut down the plants when they have
flowered ; and when they have grown again sufficiently
take off the cuttings, and plant them in pots filled with
the compost, with a layer of silver sand on the surface.
When the cuttings have thrown shoots about three
inches high, they should be stopped to make the plants
grow bushy. They should be re-potted whenever the
roots grow well, before they get too much matted, and
be* treated occasionally with a little liquid manure. The
seed should be sown as soon as it is ripe, and scarcely
covered with earth. Cinerarias may also be increased
by offsets. They are terribly subject to the green fly,
which must be watched and destroyed by fumigation
when it makes its destructive appearance.

CHAPTER XI.

FLORISTS' FLOWERS — DAHLIAS, FUCHSIAS, HYACINTHS,
TANSIES, PELARGONIUMS.

DAHLIAS are cultivated as florists' flowers, but they
are, like several I have already mentioned, in such gene-
ral use as handsome useful garden flowers, that they
may be considered to have both characters. Although
they flower in autumn, and keep flowering until quite
late, they will not bear the slightest degree of frost ; the
tuberous roots must not consequently be put in the
open ground until there is little chance of more sharp
weather ; and if frost should come late, the young plants

FLORISTS' FLOWERS : DAHLIAS. 75

must be covered at night with large clean garden pots.
They require a deep rich friable soil, but not over rich,
which produces fine leaves at the expense of flowers.
The ground may be trenched as deep as its nature will
allow (a foot and a half or two feet deep), and a good
layer of decomposed manure afterwards laid on the
surface, and at once dug in a spit deep. Lay the soil
thus prepared up in ridges until the time for putting in
the dahlias, when it may be raked level. The roots,
having been kept through the winter in a dry place,
safe from frost, are started in a hotbed to show where
the eyes are. They may then be divided, taking care
that each piece has a portion of the collar, with an eye
or two, and planted in pots, kept safe from frost, and
turned out when the time comes, either spaced about
the beds or in entire beds. The dwarf kinds make
good bedding plants, pegged down. To be fine and
good in colour, dahlias must have plenty of room and
air, and they should have a spot sheltered from high
winds, as the branches are heavy and brittle. It is best
to fix the stakes before putting in the roots. Dwarf
kinds should be five feet apart, and the taller ones six.
"When they have grown up into nice bushy plants throw
a little half-rotted stable litter round each to preserve
them from drought, and to give nutriment when they are
watered. As they grow large they will want plentiful
watering in hot weather. "When they are high enough
to require it, they must be tied to the stake with broad
shreds of soft bast, and the side shoots will also require
tying with longer pieces to prevent their being broken
with wind and heavy rain. It is sometimes necessary
to place some side stakes round the centre one, to which
to tie the side branches. The thinnings of larch planta-
tions make the best stakes. As soon as frost touches
the tops of the plants, cut them down and dig up the
roots at once. If they come up clean and dry they may
be put away very soon, but if the soil clings to the
tubers it must be cleaned from them, and they must be
dried. The place for storing them must be safe from
frost, and dry, but not dry enough to make the roots get

76 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

shrivelled. The chief points in a fine dahlia are the
shape and form of the flowers ; they are globe-shaped,
quilled, dwarf, &c., and must never on any account
show green or yellow in the centre. The flowers, of
whatever kind, mnst be perfectly circular in shape, and
each circle of petals should be as nearly as possible a
perfect circle too.

When the flowers are intended for exhibition, they
must be protected with caps of oiled canvas, stretched
on wire frames, or with garden pots turned upside down
on the top of a stake, to which the flower is carefully
tied. Boxes made on purpose are sometimes used, For
sending the flowers to an exhibition cut them overnight,
and arrange them in boxes which are made on purpose,
with a watertight tube to receive each stalk. Fill the
little tubes with water, pass the stalk of each flower
through a plug of wood made to fit the tin tube like a
cork, and having a hole through the centre just large
enough to admit the stalk and hold it firmly. Place a
lid on the box, with room for it to avoid touching the
flowers.

Dahlias may be propagated from cuttings of the young
shoots which first spring from the roots, or young tops
taken off at a joint, any time from February to August.
This is especially valuable for the early increase of new
sorts. If there are plenty of shoots from the roots some
can be spared, when three inches long, taken close down
to the bulb ; but if there are none to spare well, cut them
off so as to leave two buds at the base of the shoot to
grow again. Plant the cuttings in pots filled with light
earth and a layer of silver sand on the top, and place
them on a gentle hot-bed ; if the pots can be plunged in
coal ashes, or such like, they will strike the sooner
Water them carefully and moderately, and shade them
from the sun. They ought to strike in a fortnight or
three weeks, and may then be potted in 3^-inch pots,
and kept close for several days to make more root. Then
they may be put in a cool frame, shaded from the sun,
and kept safe from frost and wet. Before the roots get
matted, pot again into 4-J--inch pots, and then begin to

FLOEISTS FLOWERS : FUCHSIAS. 77

give air daily, and keep them well watered. The cut-
tings will make nice little tubers by the end of the year.

New dahlias may be got from seed. Gather seed, as
soon as it is ripe, from flowers of distinct colour and
good form ; hang the pods up in a dry place, and when the
scales of the pods turn brown, separate the seed, dry it
(in the morning sun only), and put it by in a dry place.
Sow the seed in March, and as soon as the seedlings are
large enough, plant them off singly in small pots, and as
soon as there is no longer chance of frost, plant them out
a foot apart and allow them to flower. All which pro-
duce bad-shaped or dull-coloured flowers, may be thrown
away at once ; but such as have flowers of good colour
and shape, with petals of good form, should be kept
another year for trial. Any that turn out very good
had better be propagated by cuttings from the young
tops to save the kind in case the root should die.

Fuchsias are no less popular than dahlias, and are even
more beautiful than they. They grow quite freely in
the open air, but unless in warm sheltered positions,
they must be protected for the winter, or taken up. As
they produce new sorts readily from seed, the varieties
are almost innumerable. They are greedy of manure,
and will do well in a mixture of one-half mellow strong
yellow loam, one quarter thoroughly decayed leaf-mould,
and one quarter old hot-bed manure, all well mixed.
Coccinea, virgata, conica, gracilis, and glolosa, do well
out of doors, and all the attention they need is to cut
them down after the first frost, and cover the roots with
moss, coal ashes, or other litter, to keep out the frost ;
to remove this in April, and thin out the shoots in May.

Fuchsias grow well from cuttings taken in February
and March, needing thus early a little heat to stimulate
them into growth. The best bits for cuttings are said
to be young shoots taken off close to the old wood as
soon as they are an inch long. Plant them in pots of
loam and leaf-mould, equal parts, and a layer of silver
sand on the surface. "Water the earth to make it firm,
trim the lower leaves from the cuttings, plant them,
give another gentle watering, and place them on a mild

78 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

hot-bed. "When they have rooted, pot them off, and re-
pot them as they require it. Not that taking fuchsia
cuttings need be confined to spring ; they will grow all
through the growing season, and root so readily, that
whenever a shoot is broken by accident it may be put
in at the side of the pot of the parent plant, and in due
course it too \vill become a nice plant.

New kinds may be reared from seed ; and to get new
varieties, impregnate the pistil of one with the pollen
from another, and when the seed is ripe gather the
berries, crush them, wash away the pulp, and dry the
seed on a paper in the sun. Sow the seed in March,
plant out as soon as the seedlings are large enough to
handle, and let them be until they flower, and as soon
as they flower discard the poor and keep the good ones.

Fuchsias in pots must be new potted in the spring, re-
moving some of the old soil, and trimming the roots and
branches, so as to leave the plants in a pyramidal form ;
fill in with proper soil, water moderately, syringe over
the whole plant often, and when they are in full growth
give liquid manure. Young plants should be stopped to
make them grow bushy. Fuchsias are very handsome,
grown to a single stem. The potting should be finished
with 12-inch pots, which are large enough for fine plants
•fit for exhibition. As soon as the flowering is over, the
young plants may be placed out of doors in some open
part of the garden. The old plants may be planted out
in the borders, as they will not be handsome a third
year. "When frost begins, take the pots in-doors ; they
will do in any place where they can be kept from frost,
and will require very little water through the winter.

The Hyacinth has the merit of being quite the oldest
cultivated of florists' flowers, and its fragrance is equal
to its stately beauty. Simply planted in the flower
borders, hyacinths are handsome, sweet, and easy to
grow in great beauty ; as fine roots, only requiring
planting out and proper treatment, may always be
bought. Wherever you wish to place the bulbs, loosen
the earth late in autumn with the spade, to the depth of
a foot, and clear it of intruding roots from neighbouring

FLORISTS' FLOWERS : HYACINTHS. 79

plants. Arrange the bulbs- — a centre one, and the rest in
a circle round it — near together, well pressed into the
earth, and covered with three or four inches' depth of
earth, if it be garden loam, and five or six if it be sandy.
The hyacinth is hardy, and more likely to suffer from
wet than from frost ; so, if the soil be not very light, a
little gutter may be scraped out round the roots to drain
off the superabundant wet ; or the bulbs may be planted
on a sloping border, and that will answer the same purpose.
Thus planted, they will flower well even for three years.

The more artistic method of growing hyacinths is plant-
ing them in beds, where the beautiful flowers and gay
variety of colour look very well. To make the beds, dig
out the earth in September to the depth of three feet,
and fill up to one foot above the surrounding ground
with sandy loam, mixed with leaf-mould and well rotted
cow-manure, or that from an old hot-bed. In October,
plant the roots six inches deep and six inches apart, and
during the winter protect them from severe frost and too
much wet. When the bloom comes an awning should
be put over the bed to shade it from sun and wet. As
soon as the flowering is over, give plenty of air, and
when the leaves turn yellow, take up the roots, label
each with its name and colour, and place them in an
airy shady place, until they are quite dry. Clean the
roots, rub off the dry rootlets, and store them, upside
down, on a shelf of laths until the time for planting
again. If canker attack them, slight injury may be cut
out, and rubbed with powdered chalk ; but if the canker
be extensive, the roots affected had better at once be
thrown away. Before replanting, the soil of the bed
should be partially renewed. The offsets may be planted
out for a year, when they too will be good roots.

The single flowers will produce seed, which, in ripen-
ing, will sacrifice the parent root. If it be wished to
obtain new kinds, sow the seed as soon as it is ripe ;
the seedlings will come up the following spring, and, if
well cared for, will flower in from three to five years.

To flower hyacinths in water, dark-coloured glasses
and rain-water are best, Place the roots for a few days

80 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

in damp sand, put them in the glasses in December,
let the water only just touch the bottom of the root,
and put the glasses away in a dark cupboard until the
rootlets are an inch long. When the plants grow, put
two drops of hartshorn in the water ; a piece of char-
coal in each glass, too, will do good. "When the water
gets thick, and wants renewing, pour it out very gently,
without disturbing the root, which should be carefully
held in its place the while. If, in spite of care, a long
root gets broken, raise the bulb and cut it off close to the
root with a sharp knife. "When the bulb is growing the
water should not quite reach it. Roots will flower only
once in glasses, but they often do in the beds after-
wards.

For growing hyacinths in pots appropriate pots are
made, much deeper than those in general use. Plant
the roots in October in compost like that for the bed,
pressing it very firm under the bulb, and leaving the
crown above ground ; plunge them at least two inches
over head in tan or ashes, and as they are wanted for
ffower bring them into heat. If some are forced from a
month after plunging they will be ready for Christmas.

Pansies require a tolerably light soil, made very rich.
The best is light loam and decayed turf from pasture land
thoroughly mixed, and one-third from a two years old
cucumber bed. Manure water, especially guano water,
may be applied while the plants are in flower. The
pansy bed should be in a spot sheltered from all cutting
wind, yet open and airy. It should have the morning,
and be sheltered from the mid-day sun, and the bed
should be well drained, so as never to get sodden.

To obtain fine bloom for ornament or exhibition in
May or June, plants from cuttings struck the autumn
before will do best, and for blooming in autumn those
struck in the spring of the same year. "When these
plants have bloomed, keep them for making cuttings, as
the young plants always produce the finest flowers.

Cuttings may be made in August, September, April,
and May, and the young side shoots are best for the
purpose. Plant them in light earth? mixed with silver

FLORISTS FLOWERS : PANSIES, PELARGONIUMS. 81

sand, place them in a cool frame, or under hand glasses,
keep them moderately moist, and shade off the hot sun.
They may also be propagated by division of the root,
and by layers, merely pegged down, not slit, on account
of their tendency to damp off. New sorts may be
raised from seed, which must be sown as soon as it is
ripe, in a bed, where the young plants may remain until
they give themselves a character, good or bad, by
flowering.

Pansies are rather apt to die off suddenly, without
apparent reason, perhaps sometimes from too stimulating
manures. If any especially good or rare plant begin
to wither in the leaves, take cuttings at once, for it will
most likely die. As a preventive, lightly fork and rake
the beds between the plants.

A fine pansy should be large and round, the petals
fitting exactly to each other to give this circular form,
colour fine and distinct, and eye distinctly marked.

The boxes in which to exhibit th£ flowers have zinc
plates, on which the petals lie flat, with tubes for water
fixed below for the stalks. Each h^le for the stalk is
long in shape, so that it takes in thp calyx, and so fixes
the flower down flat.

Pelargoniums, our dear old friends, formerly called
Geraniums, are favourites with all on account of the gay
beauty of their flowers, and the facility with which they
can be kept, propagated, and grown, with no appliances
whatever except some place in which they may be pre-
served from frost. Wherever they are kept they should
have a free circulation of air around them ; if they can
have light on all sides they will grow all the better for
it, and the plants should be so placed that they can grow
quite free of each other. To make excellent soil for
potting geraniums get turf cut thick from an old pas-
ture, where the grass is fine ; chop it up and lay it in a
ridge, facing east and west, so that it may get the sun
on both sides in the course of the day. Let it be
turned over every three months for a year, and then it
will be fit for use. If it then be found to be too heaey
and close in quality, add sand.

82 FLOWERS AKD THE FLOWER GARDEN.

The points of a fine geranium are, first, the form of
the flower ; then substance, then size, and last colour.
Habit of growth and size of truss of flowers are also
to be considered. Never save seed from any but first-
rate flowers, and in crossing let the plant which is to
bear the seed possess the quality of good form in the
flower. Take the pollen from plants having properties
wanted, having previously cut off the anthers from the
flowers to be inoculated, and as soon as the flower is set
cover it with a bobbin-net bag to keep it safe. Gather
the seed as soon as it is ripe, keep it in a dry place, and
sow it early in March, in light rich earth. Place the
pots in a hot-bed, and when the seedlings are growing,
remove them to a shelf in the greenhouse, near the glass.
"With these and all seeds be careful not to sow too
thickly ; if they come up very far apart, the seedlings
will be all the finer; but if they come too thick, the
young plants will lose much in fineness. When the
seedlings have made their second leaves pot them singly,
in two-inch pots, in good compost, and put them back
on the shelf, but shade off hot sunshine. As soon as
they fill the pots with roots re-pot them, keep them
near the glass, and give them plenty of air. When the
weather is settled fine and warm, put them out of doors,
on a bed of ashes, in an open situation, to ripen the
wood, and induce a bushy habit. In the autumn, when
there may be frost, take them in. Do not top them,
but let them grow and flower as soon as they will, as a
test of worth. I have found it answer to sow the seed
as soon as ripe, and prick out the seedlings when large
enough, and those which live through the winter will
ilower the next year, and thus save time.

Cuttings may be put in from March to August, but
the usual time for getting an abundant stock of them is
when the plants are cut down, after they have done
flowering, to induce them to make bushy plants for the
next year. This is generally from the end of June to
the end of autumn. They will strike readily anywhere,
in the good earth in which the parent plants grow ; the
earth in which they are grown should not be pressed

FLORISTS' FLOWERS : PELARGONIUMS. 8$

too tight, and it should neither be very wet nor very dry.
Side shoots that have not flowered make the best cut-
tings. Trim the cuttings, as cuttings usually are
trimmed, by cutting off the lower leaves, and leaving
two or three at the top intact ; but afterwards place
them in a dry place in the shade to dry the cut ends for
an hour or two before they are put in. Plunge the
pots in the frame, or place them where they are to
stand, so that the cuttings will not touch each other,
and shade them from the sun When roots are formed,
pot them separately ; and as they grow, stop the top
shoot, and afterwards the side shoots, to make them
grow bushy. The kinds which are very difficult to
strike with cuttings may be increased by division of the
roots. Shake the mould from the root of an old plant,
cut the root into pieces, and plant each piece in as small
a pot as it can be got into, leaving the top visible.
Sbade until they shoot upwards and downwards, and
then give more light. The shoots will come in bunches ;
as they grow, strip them off one at a time until only one
remains, which is to be left to become the future plant.
When it is three inches, stop it to make it shoot at the
sides.

Cut down old plants in July ; place them in a cold
pit, and water moderately rather over the tops than to
the roots. Then give a fair watering, so that every good
root may get a share. When the buds break, give air
gradually, and when the shoots are an inch long shake
the mould from the roots, prune the roots a little, and
shift the plants into pots of the same size again, or
rather smaller ; return them to the cold pit, and keep
them close until the roots are growing. Then give air
gradually, and get them out of doors, but keep them
from cold, rain, and any approach to frost. Those cut
down in June and July may begot into blooming pots at
the end of October, and those cut down in the end of July
or in August will not want re-potting into the larger
pots until the spring, thus giving succession of bloom.

Winter requirements are cleanliness, air, light, plenty
of room, and a temperature seldom below 45 degrees ; in

o 2

84 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

winter it should not be higher. "With large plants
little stopping will be required after re-potting, but
thinning will sometimes be needed, so that the old
plants will bloom earliest, as stopping and re-potting
delay the flowering period.

CHAPTER XII.

FLORISTS' FLOWERS (concluded).

PETUNIAS, PHLOXES, AURICULAS, ETC. ; RANUNCULUSES,
TULIPS, AND YERBENAS.

PETUNIAS, besides being cultivated as florists' flowers,
are useful, from rapid growth and freedom in flowering,
either for plants in pots or for bedding. They may be
raised from seed, sown on a hot-bed in March, and planted
out in May ; or the seed may be sown out of doors as
soon as it is ripe, and protected with a little litter in
cold weather. It may also be sown out of doors in the
spring, when all chance of frost is past. When grown
out of doors they must have a warm sheltered situation.
Petunias will grow from cuttings of the ends of shoots,
or side shoots. In the spring they require a little heat,
but in summer and autumn they will strike without.
The plants must be kept in-doors, protected, or put in a
cold pit in winter, as they will not stand frost. A light
rich sandy loam is the soil they like.

When they are cultivated in pots they must have
plenty of room for the roots. When fine large plants
are wanted, begin with them in small pots, shift them
into larger and larger by degrees, and stop the tops and
shoots until the plants are large and handsome in shape j
then allow them to flower.

When petunias are wanted to cover a bed, do not stop
them, but peg down all their long shoots, and the side
shoots will put out freely, and make a good show of

FLORISTS FLOWERS : PHLOXES AND PRIMULAS. 85

bloom. The white petunia and its hybrids have the
flowers scented.

The Phloxes are gay useful plants, of various heights,
flowering almost incessantly. They are all perennials,
except P. Drummondi, an animal which is very pretty
either for the flower beds or for growing in pots. Its
seed must be sown in April, in gentle heat, and the plants
may be planted out of doors in May. Many of the phloxes
are good as bedding plants. Seed may be grown out of
doors in April or May. "When seed does not ripen, cut-
tings may be struck in August, and kept through the
winter.

Many of the recently grown phloxes are very beau-
tiful, and these gay flowers have the merit of blooming
very freely, the different kinds in continuous succession
almost through the year. They are increased by division
of the root, and by cuttings taken in summer, and struck
under a hand glass, in a shady spot. Sandy loam and leaf-
mould is the soil.

P.pilosa amcena, with pink flowers, P. nivalis, with
white flowers, P. setacea, with flesh-coloured flowers,
and P. subulata, with dark purple flowers, are quite dwarf
in their habit ; and to them may be added P.procumbens,
with flesh-coloured flowers, and P. reptans, with blue
and purple ; and from these there are all heights, up to
five and six feet, and all colours— purple of all shades,
pink, rose, red, blue of different tints, lilac, white, and
flesh-coloured. "Whether it be to cultivate them as
choice flowers, or to ornament the garden, no lover of
flowers should be without a nice collection of the supe-
rior kinds of phloxes.

The Primula, or Primrose kind, yields three favourite
florists' flowers — the auricula, the polyanthus, and the
primrose. Auriculas must have a rich soil, and what-
ever manure is used to make it so should be so
thoroughly rotted before it is applied as to be in fine
powdery mould: such manure may be mixed in equal
parts with good light garden earth, and if for pot cul-
ture add about a sixth of coarse sand. As florists'
flowers, auriculas are grown and bloomed in pots.

86 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

The almost innumerable named sorts are divided into
five classes— green edged, grey edged, white edged,
selfs (i.e. those of one colour), and alpines; the last
have the edge of the petal shaded by a mixture of two
colours, not separated into distinct bands of colour as
in the edged ones, and they are yellow in the paste,
whereas the others are white. There are technical
terms used by auricula fanciers : the group of stamens
in the tube is called the thrum ; the part next the tube,
which is yellow in the alpines, and white in the rest,
is the paste or eye ; the next colour on the petal, and
the distinctive colour, is the ground colour ; the outer
colour or border is the edge. As in all flowers of this
kind, a single flower is called a pip, and the whole group
on the stem the truss. Pin-eyed is when the style is
higher than the anthers — an unpardonable fault in an
auricula. A fine auricula should be large and circular,
and the petals should be equal, firm, fleshy, smooth at
the edges, and quite flat. The centre or tube should
not be more than a fourth of the diameter of the flower,
quite round, well filled with the thrum, and with the
-edge standing a little above the eye. The paste or eye
should be circular, smooth, and of a dense pure white,
without crack or blemish, forming a band not less than
half the width of the tube. The ground colour should
be dense, unbroken, and forming a perfect circle. The
brighter, darker, or richer the colour, the better the
flower. The edge should be clear unchangeable green,
.grey, or white, about the same width as the ground
colour. The more exactly the flower is divided into
four in the breadth of its circles the better — the tube,
the eye, the ground colour, and the edge. The ground
colour may be a little wider; and the edge may feather
into it a little. The colour should not be changeable.
The stem should be strong, firm, round, and upright,
from four to seven inches long, and the flowers of the
truss should all bloom out at once, forming then a com-
pact semi-globular truss of five or seven flowers, of
equal size, perfect form, and standing out distinct and
apart. It looks well if some of the leaves grow up

FLORISTS' FLOWERS : AURICULAS, 87

well with the bloom, and the foliage should be healthy
and abundant.

New sorts are obtained from seed. Inoculate as iu
the geranium, and when the seed is ripe, gathered, and
dried on paper, sow it in September, or keep it in the
seed-vessel and sow it in the spring. Eaise the seedlings
in light earth, keep them weeded, and when they are
a nice size, plant them out in a box or border, eight
inches apart. They will flower in the spring, when
good ones should be potted singly. The usual mode of
propagation is by slips divided from the sides of the
root, which generally have roots of their own : they
should be taken when the bloom is gone off, and planted
singly in pots.

The plants should be re-potted when the flower is
quite gone off, which will be by the end of June. Take
off the suckers that have roots, shake the earth from
the old roots, trim the roots a little, replant them,
draining the pots with crocks, and place them on a
layer of ashes, in a place having an eastern aspect, that
they may get the morning sun only. Water in fine
weather, and keep them free at all times from slugs,
worms, and the green fly. When the weather gets hot
remove them to a north border, and shelter them from
heavy rain, and by winter place them in a frame, six
inches only from the glass. They will require good venti-
lation, and in fine weather plenty of air, but very little
watering, and that given on fine sunny mornings. Stir
the earth in the pots often, and constantly clear away
slugs and wood-lice. By the end of February top
dress the pots with mould and manure, with a little sand
dried. In a month more the bloom will show ; then
keep them rather warmer, with protection of mats, &c.,
at night, but still give air freely in very fine days, and
water plentifully, but without wetting the leaves. When
they are in flower they must be shaded from rain and
Bun, and the beautiful bloom on the leaves and on some
of the flowers must on no account be disturbed.

Auriculas are subject to canker. The only thing to
do is to take up the plant directly a yellow unhealthy

88 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

appearance shows itself in the leaves, cut away the
affected part of the root, fresh pot it, and remove it to
a cool shaded place.

The Polyanthus is cultivated much like the auricula,
but it is a hardier and stronger plant, and only very
choice kinds are grown in pots. A fine flower should
be flat, round, a little scalloped at the edge, and three-
quarters of an inch across. It should be divided in five
or six places as if into petals, each division cleft in the
centre, so as to give it a heart shape, and the indenta-
tions not reaching to the yellow edge. The edge must
be the same colour as the eye ; the ground colour must
be clear and well defined. The tube, the eye, and the
ground colour should all be of the same width.

The seedlings vary so much that raising them is very
interesting. Sow the seed as soon as it is ripe in July,
in a shady border ©r in pots, very slightly covered.
Seed sown as soon as it is ripe will produce plants
which may flower at the end of a year, but which will
be sure to do so the following spring twelvemonth.
Treat the young plants like auricula seedlings. The
polyanthus is, I believe, a sport from the primrose.

Primroses, delicate and pretty as they are, have an
additional value from coming out so early, when flowers
are scarce. There are double kinds, in different colours,
for the garden, but none can rival the chaste beauty of
the sweet wild flower, which has a merit that few wild
flowers have ; we can transplant it from its native wilds,
and it will grow and bloom, and still delight us as it
does when it peeps out with modest beauty in the wild
woods. The pretty Chinese primrose is a greenhouse
plant, of which there are varieties with flowers of
different shades of lilac, white, and pink: there are some,
too, double, as well as the fringed Chinese primrose, all
valuable from flowering through the winter. They are
biennials. New plants should be made every year, by
cuttings struck in sand, on heat, under a bell glass, or
by seed. The pots in which they are grown should be
well drained with crocks, and they should be grown in
very rich earth, mixed with a little sand.

FLORISTS' TLOWEBS : RANUNCULUSES. 89

The choice Kanunculuses have tuberous roots, and are
too tender to bear our climate out of doors, without some
protection. They require a loamy soil, made rich with
manure thoroughly rotted, and leaf-mould. Tt should feel
soft to the hand, and have a very little sand added to it.
For making a ranunculus bed, dig out the earth to the
depth of about a foot, lay in a layer two inches thick of
rotten cow-manure, and fill in with the compost until
the bed is two or three inches above the surface. The
bed had better be made in January, so that it may
mellow and settle by the time for planting the roots —
towards the end of February. The earth should at the
time be just so moist that if a handful be squeezed and
let fall it will go in pieces. Eake the surface fine,
and plant the roots, two inches deep, and five inches
apart. Choose a fine day for planting, and sprinkle a
little sand in the drills made for the roots before
planting them. When the roots are placed and partly
covered, fill in just over the crowns with sand. When
the plants begin to grow, press the earth firmly about
them, and the bed must be protected from frost and
heavy rain : the best protection is some waterproof
covering over hoops. During April and May a little
watering may be necessary, and a little tan or moss
spread between the rows to keep the soil sufficiently
moist. When the flowers come they must be protected
from sun and rain by an awning, and the roots will
then want watering every second or third evening. July
is the flowering season. In a wet season the roots
should be taken up when they turn yellow, but in a dry
one they may remain in the earth until the leaves are
brown. Take them up as dry as can be, and let them
dry off quite in a warm place, not in the sun, when they
may be put by.

New sorts may easily be raised from seed. Save
from none but flowers which are good in form and
colour. Sow in boxes, in February, about the eighth of
an inch apart ; cover the seed thinly, water with a fine
rose, and keep the boxes in-doors, but without heat.
Let them have air, but protect them from frost. When

90 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

the young plants are grown, sink the boxes in the open
ground, and water them until the leaves wither, which
will be about July, and after that take up the roots,
keep them in bags until February, plant them then, and
they will flower the June after. The general mode of
propagation is separating the offsets from the larger
roots.

For getting the ranunculus to flower in winter, keep
back some tubers from planting, plant them in pots the
beginning of August, and force them a little before they
are wanted.

These are pretty showy flowers for the garden, and
there are several common kinds often grown in gar-
dens : the white and yellow bachelor's button, globe
ranunculus, and several others.

The cultivation of the Tulip, now almost out of
fashion, was once a mania, and in truth a tulip bed in
full flower is a gorgeous sight. The best situation is a
spot which is open to the south and south-east, and well
sheltered from north, north-east, and north-west winds.
The tulip bed must be well drained ; where there is
depth of good loam, on a dry gravelly or sandy subsoil,
very little draining will be required. "When, however,
for want of good draining subsoil, the bed has to be
made, dig out to the depth of 18 inches ; below this lay
draining tiles along the middle of the bed. Cover them
and the bottom of the bed to the depth of three or four
inches with rubble, small stones, clinkers, and such like.
Place over this a layer of straw or brushwood, a layer
two inches thick of well rotted cow-manure, and then
fill in partly with the earth, which should be good loam,
mixed with a sixth part of thoroughly decomposed hot-bed
manure, and fill up quite with the same mixed with
about a third of river sand. The bed should be flat ; and
if the locality be unfavourably damp, it had better be
some inches above the surrounding surface, the edges
well supported with slate or board edging. September
is a good time for making the bed. Tulip fanciers con-
sider the best time for planting the bulbs to be as near
as possible to the 10th of November, but the best rule

FLORISTS' FLOWEHS ; TULIPS. 91

is to plant them at such time, according to the locality,
that they will not push through until the severe weather
is past. They should be so planted that the tallest
stems shall be in the middle of the bed, and the shortest
at the edge, descending in gradual gradation. Make
perfectly straight drills two inches deep, and press the
roots down in them, five inches apart. Let the drills be
nine inches apart. Cover the bulbs with a rake, and
stir the earth between with a tulip fork — a small three-
pronged fork, with a short handle, almost indispensable
in tulip culture, and, in fact, in the flower beds generally.
Protection must be provided, either hoops over the beds
with canvas covers to put over them when wanted, or
regular awnings with the covers to put up or down.
This protection forms necessary shelter from late frost
to the roots, from cutting winds at all stages, from too
much or too heavy rain, and from the sun when the
bloom is out. It must, however, be used with caution,
not to make the plants too tender. After flowering, the
bulbs should be left until the leaves turn brown, when
they may be taken up, laid out to dry, cleaned, and
then stored in drawers, with labels to distinguish all the
named sorts. The tulip bed must be renewed in the
soil before it is used for tulips again, although it is said to
do without for polyanthus, and many other flower roots.

A fine tulip should have a cup-shaped flower, round
at the base ; the ground colour must be quite clear on
the inner side of the petals, and all the marking should
be sharp and distinct. A feathered tulip has a dark edg#
to the petals ; the feathering is called light if narrow,
nnd heavy if wide. Flamed tulips are those having a
dark spot in the centre of each petal : some flowers are
both feathered and flamed. A bizarre tulip has a yellow
ground, with coloured markings ; a liblomen, a white
ground, with black, lilac, or purple markings ; and a
rose, a white ground, with markings of crimson, pink,
or scarlet. There are also selfs.

New sorts are raised from seed, and the seedlings do
not flower until they are about five years old, when
ttiey produce flowers of a dull indistinct purple tinge.

92 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN,

Afterwards they are called breeders, and go on producing
these dull flowers four years more, when they break, i.e.
show distinct marking or colour. To bring them to
break sooner it has sometimes been recommended to
starve them in poor soil, with little water, and then to
remove them suddenly to rich soil, with plenty of
moisture, or to send them to a new locality and air.

As common garden flowers, tulips need only a top
dressing every year.

The Verbena has been increased to all shades and all
varieties of colour as a florists' flower, and it is also one
of the best bedding plants we have, from its creeping
habit of growth, and the readiness with which, when
pegged down, it will cover the earth and root itself all
over it. Verbenas will root freely as layers, strike as
cuttings, and thrive in the open air through the summer ;
but frost cuts them off. It is, therefore, necessary to
make young plants in autumn, and keep them indoors
until the frost is gone, when they may be planted out.
A rich sandy loam suits them.

A small piece as a cutting is said to form a better
plant than a large one, and points of the shoots will
strike in spring, in a little peat, or in silver sand. We
have often struck plants of this and many other kinds,
for making the garden gay, in a saucer of silver sand on
the mantelpiece of any room in constant use as a sitting
room. The seed may be sown in a slight hot-bed in
March, or in the open air in May.

The Verbena melindres, a fine scarlet, was one of the
earliest we had, and some that have been bred from it
are of a more intense scarlet, and hardier — V. melindres •,
latifolia, and splendens. The verbenas are rich in nume-
rous splendid scarlets, crimsons, purples, violets, and
lilacs of every shade ; those of a deep rose colour, and
also the white, are most useful as bedding plants. Some
of them — V. Neillii, V. teucrioides, and others — are
sweet-scented.

The plants which go under the general name of " the
American plants " have a department given up to them
in extensive establishments, for they all require about

PLOHISTS* FLOWERS I AMERICAN PLANTS. 93

the same treatment. They must have a well drained
peaty soil, do well on a sloping bank facing north or
east, and require plenty of water. The Rhododendrons,
Azaleas, and Andromedas will thrive if overshadowed by
trees. The best annual dressing for them is decayed
leaves and the bottom of an old wood-stack, or any
mixture of earth and old woody fibre. Spent tan or
sawdust is good for them, or any refuse of the same
character. In making compost for them use two-thirds
vegetable matter, with one-third of ordinary light soil
and sand, A covering of moss is beneficial to them.
The American plants are Azaleas, .Rhododendrons,
Heaths, Kalmias, Andromedas, Ledums, and Vacciniums ;
the first two of which are florists' flowers.

The American Azaleas are propagated by layers, laid
in March : cover the layers with moss to retain mois-
ture, and leave them on the parent plant until aftex*
the second year's growth. The Indian or Chinese
azaleas may be propagated by cuttings of young tops
three inches long, trimmed only in the lower leaves, and
stuck in pots of silver sand, over peat. "When they are
planted, water them gently, cover them close, place
them in a temperature of 55° to 60°, and keep them
shaded from the sun. "When they are rooted put then,
in a greenhouse, take oif the bell glass every night, and
put it on in the day. Pot off singly, keep them in a
close frame until the roots are growing well, and then
harden them off to bear sun and air, and, by re-potting
from time to time, get them to a large size. Azaleas
may be grafted in early spring, on stocks of Azalea Indica
Ma and A. Phcenicea, both easy to strike. Varieties
may be raised from seed taken from the best shaped
flowers and those of the best colours crossed with each
other. Sow the seed in February, in gentle heat, and
when the little plants have three or four leaves prick
them out far apart in pans fresh filled with sandy peat.
The following spring they may be potted out singly.
Azaleas will not bear frost. Keep them for the winter
just safe from frost, and water sparingly. When they
begin to show for bloom give more heat arid a liberal

94 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

supply of water. After the flower is off, keep them in
a temperature of 55° to 60°, and syringe them freely.
Train the trees to a good shape by judicious stopping ;
when they have made their growth, give them plenty of
air for a few weeks, and then set them under a low
north wall until autumn. The hardy azaleas will live
out of doors, in a peat border, with a little protection
from frost. These and all the American plants should
be watered with soft water.

Most of the Rhododendrons are hardy, but a few of
them require a little protection to bring them to their
beauty. They grow in sandy peat, kept rather moist,
and are propagated by layers, either in spring or
autumn. Cuttings may likewise be taken when the
base of the shoot* by the older wood is getting firm.
The Rhodora Canadensis, a native of Canada, is a pretty
plant, with flowers like small rhododendrons, requiring
similar culture. It flowers in the open ground in April,
but it may be forced, under glass, with a little heat, to
flower quite early.

The Vacciniums are the "Wortlebury family, one of
which, a Thibaudia, was shown at a recent horticultural
meeting, of which Dr. Poeppig, a well-known traveller,
had stated that the young shoots were so brilliant in
colour that they were seen a league and a half off.

There are others which might be included amongst
florists' flowers, but those which I have taken, and
roses, include all which can be cultivated by amateurs,
without more costly appliances than fall to the lot of
many.

CHAPTER XIII.

BEDDING PLANTS.

THE kind of flower garden most in favour at the pre-
sent time is the set flower garden, laid out in beds of
various forms, each bed filled and made gay with roots

BEDDING PLAKTS. 95

of one flower, or else with roots of one flower completely
to cover the centre, and with bands of another flower,
handsome either in bloom or in foliage, to surround it.
When all the beds can be made gay with bloom and
healthy foliage at the same time, it is very effective,
though stiff and unlike the gaiety that nature shows us.
With it, to get the beds all in prime blooming condition
at one time, and to keep them so, is an imperative
necessity for the beauty of the garden. Constant atten-
tion must therefore be bestowed on it : such attention
as ladies, with leisure at command, can so well give.
In addition to not allowing a weed with a dozen leaves
to hold its unwelcome place, all the flowers as they
wither should be cut off; to keep the plants long in
bloom, all shoots inclined to get too rampant in growth
should be stopped, those too backward in growth
encouraged with a little liquid manure, and nothing be
allowed to run a hair's breadth out of order. In
planting this kind of flower garden it should be made a
study to select flowers which will be in beauty at the
same time, and, as far as can be managed, such as will
remain in beauty for about equal duration.

The ribbon borders are on the same principle of
massing the colours, the flowers being arranged in close
bushy rows, each row contrasting with its neighbours in
colour of flower and foliage.

In the plans given an effort is made to shape the beds
so as to avoid very sharp angles, narrow strips, and all
shapes which it would be very difficult to maintain, and
in which it would be impossible to keep the flowers
from straying over the edge.

Among the florists' flowers already spoken of are
many capital bedding plants. The common yellow
Calceolaria gives a capital mass of bright yellow. Take
cuttings in autumn, keep them in-doors through the
winter, harden them gradually, and plant them out in
May, in a rich light soil. Fuchsias of free growth make
recherche beds, with the tallest plants in the centre,
descending gradually to quite low plants round the
edo'e of the bed.

96

FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

All the florists' flowers that are usually planted in
this way make beautiful beds, such as anemones, ranun-
culuses, hyacinths, pansies, tulips, and others. The

Diagram No. 1

A. Pampas grass, pale lavender Phlox round.
B Broad-leaved Myrtle and scarlet Salvia mixed,
c. Broad-leaved Myrtle and blue Salvia mixed.

D. Purple Petunia.

E. White Foxglove, scarlet Geranium round.

PLANTS. 97

verbenas are first-rate bedding plants, and ofter valuable
masses of flower in all shades of crimson, rose, scarlet,
purple, violet, and mauve, besides a good white. Purple
king verbena is in constant requisition. Verbenas flower
in the summer, and keep gay a long while. Petunias are
especially good as bedding plants, because the flowers
are large and conspicuous, and full and varied in colour,
showing a good mass of bloom at one time. They
bloom from June onwards, and keep in flower for
months. All plants of a creeping habit, which throw
out abundant masses of showy bloom, are good for bed-
ding, and all upstanding flowers used for forming beds
should be of low bushy growth, and such as flower so
abundantly as to show the whole plant a mass of bloom
when the flower comes out.

The pegging down, so useful in getting a bed covered
with foliage and flower, is done with twigs cut just below
where there is a fork. Cut one side of the fork short,
and leave the other a few inches long: the long side is
pushed into the earth, and the shorter bit fixes the stem
to be pegged down.

The plants with foliage of peculiar colour form an
important feature in gardens of this kind, and have the
merit of filling a void in maintaining a pretty general
appearance at any time that accidental disarrangement
may happen to those the beauty of which depends on
the flower. Among plants of beautifully varied silvery
foliage we have the variegated coltsfoot and Cineraria
maritima before mentioned. Ccrastium Biebersteini and
'Cerastium tomentosum have a low habit of growth, and
white flowers. They are easily propagated by division
of the root in spring, and will grow in any light mode-
rately rich soil. For taller silvery foliaged plants we have
the Salvia argentea, three feet high, bearing yellow flowers
in June ; the Stachys lanata, two feet high ; the Arctotis
grandiflora argentea, about the same height, and requir-
ing a mild sheltered situation, and a place in-doors for
winter ; the Agathcea c&lestis varieyata, the same height,
and also delicate, with beautiful blue flowers; the
Oentaurea argentea, Centanrea candidissima, and Cen-

H

98 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

taurea gymnocarpa. The Alyssum variegatum makes a
nice showy silvery edge to a bed, as does also the
variegated mint.

There is a peculiar beauty and distinctness in the dark
foliaged plants, on account of which their value in
assisting the variety of bedding plants should not be
overlooked. The Perilla Nankinensis makes a capital
mixture in a bed of bright-coloured flowers : threepenny
packets of the seed can be bought, and reared without
difficulty. The Oxalis tropaoloides is a charming half-
hardy annual from the Cape of Good Hope, growing
close to the ground, and with fine dark bronze foliage.
A plant recently introduced, the Iresine herbsti, will also
make a splendid bedding plant. The foliage is beautifully
ornamental— dark crimson leaves, with ribs and stems
of carmine. It is readily propagated, and only requires
to be housed in a cool greenhouse for the winter. Of
all the dark foliage plants, perhaps none are more
beautiful or easy of culture than the Atriplex hortensis
rubra, or garden orach, with its beautiful crimson foliage.
A packet of seed may be bought for a few pence, and
the plants are reared without difficulty.

No less handsome and valuable for beauty of foliage
are the tricoloured horseshoe geraniums Mrs. Pollock
and Sunset, every leaf of which is a gay mixture of
green, bright bronze, red, crimson, and golden yellow.
Sunset has a compact dwarf bushy growth. The
variegated geraniums, with white and golden yellow
margins to the leaves, are showy and gay-looking.

The best and freest blooming scarlet, pink, salmon,
and white geraniums, are most useful for bedding.

The Lobelias are general favourites, from their thick
low growth, and the abundance and intense colour of
the bloom. They are especially good for outer rims to
beds of geraniums and other full warm-coloured flowers.
In the general flower garden they look pretty in clumps,
and will also grow on rockwork; and they have the
great merit of remaining all the summer months in
bloom. Lobelia speciosa is the finest, from the intense-
ness of its blue, with a clear white spot, arid the deep

BEDDING PLANTS. 99

green of its foliage. Lobelia gracilis, in its several
varieties, is best for rockwork, pots, or hanging baskets.
They require a light rich soil. Plants raised from seed
in autumn, and kept indoors for the winter, will be ready
for planting out when frost is over in the spring. The
seed is so minute that it must be very slightly covered
with earth.

The Nasturtiums, with their peculiarly elegant,
curious, and brilliant coloured abundant flowers, have
most deservedly grown into great favour. Allowed to
run on the ground, if of the tall kinds, and planted over
the heds if dwarfs, they are good bedding plants. Sow
the seed under glass in April, protect the young plants
from frost, and plant them out when the frosts are over.
Tropceolum lobbianum elegans, the Crystal Palace nas-
turtium, is of a good habit of growth for bedding. The
double-flowered kinds are curious and pretty. All plants
of the family delight in light rich earth, and flower from
early in summer till frost interferes with their gay beauty.

The Cuphea is admired as a bedding plant, remaining
in flower for several months. The Cuphea eminens is
especially good for the purpose, from its graceful
branching habit and immense number of long tubular
scarlet, and yellow flowers. The Cuphea platycentra,
the flowers of which are a mixture of scarlet, white, and
purple, is also a good plant for beds. The seed should
be sown in a hot-bed in the spring, and the young plants
hardened off by the end of May. They will do for planting
out the same season. They may also be grown from cut
tings taken in the spring. They require a dry rich soil,

The Ageratum, of which there are many varieties,
keeps many months in bloom, and the greyish blue of
its flowers contrasts very well with the more brilliant
hues of many others. They are annuals, and grow well
in any good garden soil. Cuttings may be taken in
autumn, and kept indoors through the winter, but it is
better to grow the plants from seed, which should be
sown on a hot-bed in February, pricked out, and planted
out in the beds in May. They begin to flower in June
or July, and flower for a long time.

n 2

100 FLOWEKS AND THE FLOWEH GAEDEN.

The Gazanea elegans, with its leaves of deep shining
green above, and cottony white beneath, and profusion
of large brilliant orange flowers, with yellow and dark
chocolate centre, studded with clear white, like pearls,
has but one fault — it shuts up close whenever the sun is
not shining on it. It grows quite close to the ground,
keeps long in flower, and will grow in any good garden
soil. It is propagated by cuttings, which may be taken
at the sides of the plant in August, more sparingly in
the spring, and raised under a hand glass, in sandy soil.
From its low growth and brilliant flowers, it would make
a gorgeous border for a centre of more sober colour.
The Gazanea splendens is, I believe, newer.

The Heliotrope, from its delicious fragrance, and the
sweet unobtrusive grey of its pretty flowers, should find
a place in every flower garden, and the plants may be
kept to the desired form by pegging down. It looks
nice when contrasted with gayer colours. It grows in a
Hch light soil, and the plants must be housed in winter,
and may be planted out in May, Those with the very
dark flowers are handsome. It is increased by cuttings
struck with a little heat in spring, or under a hand glass
in autumn.

The Salvias are quite first-rate, rather tall bedding
plants. Either Salvia splendens, or Salvia patens,
mingled with the rich green of the broad-leaved myrtle,
forms beds something very near perfection. Salvia xplen-
dens has fine large scarlet flowers. Salvia patens is
the brightest and purest of all blue-flowered plants.
Salvia splendens compacta is said to be the finest salvia
grown, and is literally covered with bloom, and grows
only a foot and a half high ; and Salvia cocdnea is an-
other universal favourite, also bearing scarlet flowers.
The salvias want a light, very rich soil, and are propa-
gated by cuttings inserted firmly in the ground in autumn
or spring. They bloom in summer, and keep in beauty
a long time.

African and French Marigolds, Tagetes erecta and T.
patula, also T. lucida and T. punrila, are all bright
coloured, and useful for beds where plants of their

BEDDING PLANTS. 101

colour and growth happen to be wanted. Seed should
be sown in a hot-bed in April, and planted out in the
middle of May.

Those half-hardy annuals, the Zinnias, are good for
beds, on account of their abundance of brilliant flowers
of all colours — carmine, crimson, orange, purple, rose,
scarlet, yellow, and white, and almost all the colours,
may be had in the double-flowering kind, which is very
handsome. Messrs. Carter and Co. sell sixpenny packets
of seed, single or double (including all the colours),
which should be sown in a hot-bed in April, afterwards
hardened, and planted out when there is no more danger
of cold. They require a good rich loamy soil. They
will often come fine if sown under a hand glass late in
April, and protected at night. They flower from Mid-
summer to Michaelmas.

The Saponaria has several varieties, none more than
half a foot high, remaining in flower from June almost
to November. Its masses of minute rose-coloured
blossoms are pretty, and there is one of a pure white
Most of them are hardy annuals ; the seed should be
sown in the open ground in April. They thrive in
sandy loam, with a little peat or decayed vegetable earth.
Saponaria ocymoides is a perennial, which may be pro-
pagated by division of the root, or cuttings of the points
of the shoots. It is of a trailing habit, and is good for
knolls or rock work.

The Cyclamen is a charming flower with which to fill
a bed ; its drooping delicate flowers, and low habit of
growth, are very pretty, but it does not remain very long
in bloom. The root, being a solid corm, will not divide,
so young plants must be grown from seed. Gather the
seed as soon as it is ripe, dry it slowly, and sow it in
February, in a mixture of peat, loam, and sand. Cover
the seed with scarcely a quarter of an inch of earth, and
sow it far apart, because the young plants should not be
disturbed for a long time. When they are a year old
they may be potted singly, re-potted in April, and kept
in a gentle heat, to increase the size of the bulbs.
Many of the cyclamens will grow out of doors in a warm

102 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

situation and good compost, but the bed or border should
be well drained, and a covering of tan or coal ashes
should be laid over the roots in autumn, and left until
the weather gets warm. The bulbs may be taken up
and replanted in October, or they may be left in for two
years. Slugs and wireworms are very destructive to
them. Most of them flower in the spring, but a few
early in autumn.

Cyclamens are very pretty in pots. They should be
planted in autumn, have little water until the flower is
formed, and after that plenty. They may be kept in a
frame until they flower, and then brought into the green-
house or room. The Persian cyclamen is a greenhouse
plant, and is sweet-scented.

Several of the Larkspurs are good for bedding, espe-
cially where tall groups are wanted. Delphinium for-
mosum and D. Hendersoni are hardy perennials, grow-
ing rather tall, producing fine blue and white flowers the
first year, provided the seed be sown early. Del-
phinium grandlflonun ccBlestinum is a handsome variety,
growing not more than two feet high, and produc-
ing flowers of a splendid blue. They may be sown
in sandy loam, in the open ground, and will keep in
bloom from June or July for several months.

"Where a mass of brilliant yellow is wanted, the Esc.h-
coltzia may come in conveniently, but in a tolerably
warm place, with light earth, care must be taken that it
does not become an encroaching weed. In any place
where it has grown, and which it likes, it is only neces-
sary to watch for the young plants to come up, when a
bed of it, or large clump is wanted, and remove them
with so large a ball of earth that the roots are not dis-
turbed. It grows near the ground, and keeps in full
flower from Midsummer to August. The white are
delicate, but poor compared with those of a full yellow
and orange.

The Lantanas are very nice bedding plants, growing
from one to two feet high, and producing their pretty
compact bunches of flower of various colours, from June
to September. Increase by taking cuttings when growth

BEDDING- PLANTS. 103

commences in the spring, about two inches long, close
to the old wood. They grow in fibry peat and loam,
flower in summer, and keep in flower many months. If
they are grown from seed, the plants must be raised in a
hot-bed.

The Leptosiphon is a very pretty hardy annual, easy of
cultivation, growing in any good garden soil. The
different sorts are from half a foot to a foot high, and
keep in flower from June to October. The seed maybe
sown out of doors in March. Leptosiphon demiflorus
albus is valuable from the purity of its white, producing
masses of bloom that are very telling in a bed. There
are other varieties with lilac, orange, purple, and yellow
flowers.

The pretty little Memophila is very nice for borders,
from its low bushy growth and abundance of bloom,
keeping in flower from June for many months. It will
grow very readily from seed, in any garden soil It is
in almost all colours.

Portulacas are beautiful, free-blooming, half-hardy
annuals of almost all bright colours, of a low habit of
growth, arid keeping in flower from Midsummer to
Michaelmas. The seed should be sown in a compost of
sandy peat, leaf-mould, and burnt earth. When the
plants are pricked out, which may be in June, an inch
or two of lirne rubbish, burnt earth, and sand should be
spread on the ground, to prevent the plants damping
off. They require scarcely any water.

Pentstemons are tolerably hardy, tall perennials, pro-
ducing handsome flowers of various colours in the
autumn. P. Murray anus is a brilliant scarlet. P. Hart*
ivegi and its varieties, and P. pulchellus and its varieties,
are very free blooming kinds. To get them to flower
early in autumn, sow seed early in March in a hot-bed,
and plant out in May. If sown out of doors in spring
they must have protection. They may be increased also
by division of the plants in spring, or by cuttings of the
young shoots in spring, summer, or autumn, under a
glass, in sandy loam and leaf-mouid. Gentianoides and
\ts varieties require a little protection in winter, unless

104

FLOWEHS AtfD THE FLOWEII

the position be warm, and for security it is best to take
cuttings of them, and keep them in a cold pit through
the winter.

Diagram No. 2.

A. Rose-bushes : Jules Margottin, Duchess of Sutherland, and Marquise Boecella.

B. Scarlet Geranium, border of blue Lobelia.

o. Purple King Verbena; border, Mrs. Pollock or Sunset Geranium.

D. Heliotrope pegged down ; border, Mrs. Pollock or Sunset Geranium.

E. \VhitePetunias; border, Goldenchain Geranium.

F. Yellow Calceolaria. G. Purple Petunia.

BEDDING PLANTS. 105

The (Enotliera and Godetia are large showy flowers,
some of which grow very tall. The CE acanlis bears
very delicate silvery-white flowers ; the (E grandiflom,
and many others, are a bright pure yellow. The Godetias
are hardy annuals, many of them purple, allied to the
cenotheras. Rosea alba is white, with a bright crimson
spot on each petal. They may be raised from seed sown
in the garden in March and April, or sown in September
and protected in the winter. The annual oenotheias
may be served in the same way. The perennials may
be increased by division of the plants in spring, and the
rarer kinds by cuttings of the young shoots under a
hand glass, early in summer. Seed of the perennials
should be sown on a slight hot-bed in the spring, and
planted out in May.

Saniitalia procumbens is a beautiful hardy annual,
growing close to the ground : a capital plant for cover-
ing a bed, or for borders. The flowers are a rich brown
and yellow, and large in proportion to the size of the
plant. Sow in March or April, in the open ground.

In arranging this list of plants for the garden of set
form, I have tried to introduce all heights and all varieties
of colour, so that whatever may be the situation, form,
or size of the bed to be planted, an appropriate sugges-
tion may be found. Masses of while may be obtained
in several verbenas, campanulas, geraniums, phloxes
cenotheras, sweet alyssum, white Clarkia, petunia^
and white Salvia patens. For scarlets, verbenas,
geraniums, and salvias are the grand resource. For
purples we may get supplied amongst verbenas, petunias,
lobelias, lantanas, and phloxes. Fine pinks may be
found in geraniums, verbenas, and salvias, besides many
plants more particularly described above. For Hues we
have lobelias, cinerarias, salvias, and several common
flowers. The yellows already named are sufficiently
numerous, and in addition, Coreopsis lanceotata and
many others might be given.

106 FLOWERS AKX» THE FLOWE& GAEDEIf,

CHAPTER XIV.

BULBS, TUBERS, ETC.

BULBS, and plants of similar character, are especially
valuable on account of the little room they take, in pro-
portion to the size and handsome appearance of their
flowers ; also because a great many of them bloom when
other flowers are scarce, and they can be cultivated with-
out difficulty. When bulbs are in a state of rest, the
approach of which is indicated by the leaves dying after
the flowering is over, they should be moved and kept
out of the ground a longer or shorter time, according
to the kind. With the summer flowering kinds this
happens in autumn ; 'and with those which flower in
autumn, in the spring. Some have to be taken up
annually, others will go on without for a number of years,
and none should be kept long out of the ground. Almost
all bulbs require a free, dry, and rather rich soil. They
are injured by being allowed to go to seed. As they
grow fast while in the growing stage, they generally
require plenty of water and depth of soil.

In the case of many, interesting new colours may be
obtained from seed, which should be sown far apart in
beds of light earth, where the young plants can remain
until they flower, wnich is often from three to five years,
sometimes much longer.

That magnificent tribe of flowers, the Lilies, are noble
ornaments in any flower garden. We have scarcely so
fine a white in any other flower as in the white lily,
Lilium candidum. The situation for these roots should
be well drained, and the soil for them is a good loam,
well manured. If left in a place they like, the clumps
will improve in size and beauty ; if, on the contrary,
they decline, take them up in September, change the
exhausted soil for good compost, place at the bottom of

BULBS, TUBERS, ETC. : LILIES. 107

each hole, where it is intended to replant, a shovelful of
rotten dung, and plant three strong roots in each clump.
They should not be kept any time out of ground ; they
will flower the year after, and much better the year after
that. The small offsets can be planted in a nursery bed
of the same rich earth, and in two years or so they too
will be fit for planting in the garden.

The Martagon Lily, or Turk's Cap, may be treated like
the white lily, only mix sand with the soil in which it is
planted.

Those well-known lilies, the Tiger Lily and Orange
Lily (Lilium tigrinum and Lilium aurantiwri), make
handsome showy clumps in the flower garden, producing
abundance of flowers respectively in August and Sep-
tember, and May and June. These may be planted in
the same way as the white lily, but when the flower
stems grow up they throw out rootlets round the bottom ;
to strengthen the flowering, these should be encouraged
by throwing a few little lumps of manure round the
stems for them to take hold of. These lilies increase
abundantly by the formation of tiny bulbs at the axils of
the leaves on the flower stems. When these fall with
a touch, plant them, six inches apart, in a bed of light
earth, richly manured. In two or three years plant
them out again, double the distance apart, and in two
years more they will be fine bulbs.

The magnificent Lilium lanci/olium in its few beautiful
varieties, should be a matter for investment, in the
necessary number of shillings for the purchase of the
roots, and in the necessary care for its not difficult culti-
vation, for every one who really loves splendid flowers —
and who does not ? There are the white, the red, and
the golden. The last is of comparatively recent intro-
duction ; in addition to the rich crimson spots on its
delicate white petals, it has a beautifully shaded, bright
gold band down each, and it is magnificent alike in the
size of the flower, and in the size of the spray, as the
bulb reaches maturity. These roots make beautiful
greenhouse plants, and they will do in the open ground
in the southern parts of England. For pot culture,

108 FLOW BBS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

plant the large-sized bulbs early in March in 1 1-inch
pots, three together, in rich sandy earth. Place them
safe from frost, give very little water, but plenty of air
in mild weather. They should grow slowly to give
strength to the roots, and when frost is over for the year
they may be plunged in a bed of old tan, until, from the
advancing season, the greenhouse gets thin of plants ;
then place them there with pans under the pots, mulch
the surface with well rotted dung, and give air and water
liberally. In the open ground they may be cultivated
like the white lily, but there must be a covering
of dry ashes, or some such protection, over the bulbs in.
winter. They throw out roots at the bottom of the
stems like the tiger lily, and are propagated, like the
white lily, by offsets.

Irises (although I include them in this chapter) are of
three kinds, the fibrous rooted, those which grow from
tubers, and those which grow from bulbs. The first like
a rich loamy soil, the others will thrive better in leaf-
mould and peat, with the addition of sand, as much
damp rots the roots. The fibrous rooted are increased
by division of the roots, and taking off the suckers; and
the tubers by division. The bulbs form new roots, and
as the new come under the old roots, they should be
taken up and replanted every second or third year
The handsome Chalcedonian iris requires a dry soil m
winter, and plenty of pure air. The Tigridia, or Jersey
iris, of which there are several varieties, is a showy
flower, with a gay mixture of scarlet, yellow, and choco*
late. It grows well in sandy loam and leaf-mould, and
the roots must be taken up for the winter. Each flower
lasts only one day, but every root produces several. The
irises are summer flowers.

The Agapanthus, or African Lily, is a half-hardy bulb
from the Cape of Good Hope : the large umbels of blue
flowers, and its free growth, keeping verdant all the
winter, are familiar to all. It flowers in summer, and
keeps in flower a very long time. The roots are generally
grown in pots, as they must be housed safe from frost
in the winter. Forming a portion of a group under a

AFRICA'S- AND BELLADONNA LILIES. 109

verandah, on a large stage, to flank steps to a house, on
a parapet, or in any similar position, provided it be shel-
tered, they look handsome, and retain their beauty a
long time. The roots should be re-potted the beginning
of spring, in rich loam, with leaf-mould, or rotted
manure. Place them in a greenhouse, when they begin
to grow freely give them plenty of water, and turn them
out of doors in May, in a sheltered spot, with pans of
water under the pots. If they are kept to flower in-
doors, let them have plenty of air. When the flowering
is over withhold the watering to a great extent, to get
the earth in the pots pretty dry, and take them in as
soon as there is danger of frost. They should be kept
very dry until they show signs of vegetating. The
African lily forces easily with bottom heat and plenty of
water, but the flowers will be pale in colour. For in-
crease separate the roots while they are in a dormant
state. In the Channel Islands they live out of doors. I
have never known them tried in the open ground in
England, but from their hardiness I do not see why
they should not do, in a warm situation, if protected
during the dormant stage from wet and frost.

The Belladonna Lily, Amaryllis belladonna, has the
fault of sending up its stem of beautiful, bright rose-
coloured, lily-like flowers, without leaves, like sunshine
without shade, and similar anomalies, sometimes, but
not often, found in nature. The situation for them must
be well drained and sheltered ; they will do out of doors
only in warm situations, and they must be taken in for
the winter. They are from the Cape of Good Hope,
and flower late in summer or in autumn. The rule to
be observed with all bulbs, to give them a season for
growth and a season of rest, must be especially kept to
with belladonnas : give them plenty of water, heat, and
all encouragement at command, when they are coming
into flower, and starve them in those items when the
flower is past, until they are in a state of rest, i.e. non-
growth ; then keep them in a temperature several degrees
above freezing, and give no water. The roots may be
planted in a warm border, six inches deep, not too soon

110 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

in spring, and taken up before frost can come. When
it is wished to make them flower early, take dormant
bulbs, pot them in sandy loam and leaf-mould, place
them in heat beginning at 50°, and increasing gradually
to 60° or 70°, and when the leaves grow, give plenty of
water. If it be considered desirable that seed should
ripen, the plants must be watered until the seeds are ripe,
but not so liberally as while the plants are in flower.
The seed should be sown directly it is ripe, in sandy
loam, and the pots should be placed in a moist house or
frame, near the glass. Pot off the little plants when they
are two inches high, shift them as often as they want
it, and they will reach a flowering size when about
a year and a half old : the pots should be well drained
with crocks. In the west of England, the Channel
Islands, and similar localities, the belladonna lily does
well in the open ground Planted near together, the
roots become a mass which need not be disturbed ;
and thus grown they look very well, as there are gene-
rally some roots with leaves in each clump, as well as
those in flower, and this takes off the bare look which
flowers without green always wear.

Anemones, ranunculuses, tulips, hyacinths, and many
other flowers, coming into the category of the fleshy
rooted plants proposed to be included in this chapter,
have been already discussed.

The Tritoma uvaria makes such fine showy clumps in
a garden that it should never be left out. Its tube-
shaped flowers, shaded from scarlet to pale yellow, are
produced in great abundance, and the roots may be
bought at one shilling or two shillings each. It came
to us from the Cape of Good Hope, flowers in summer,
remains in beauty a long time, delights in rich sandy
soil, and requires protection from wet and frost in winter.
It is increased by division, and by suckers from the
roots.

Tritoma grandis is of stronger growth, flowers when
T. uvaria leaves off, and continues in flower quite into
winter. The two will continue in beauty five months or
more.

TUBEROSE. GLADIOLUS. IXTA. Ill

The Tuberose is a bulb which is largely grown in
Italy for exportation. The roots may be bought for
about three shillings a dozen ; they may be brought for-
ward in a frame, and when they are coming into flower
they may be planted out or removed into the house or
greenhouse. The fragrance of their pretty white flowers
is more fitted for out of doors than for a house. For
soil they require rich sandy loam.

The Gladiolus is a bulb from the Cape of Good Hope,
which will stand our winters if it can be kept dry. For
planting the roots in the garden, dig out the earth a foot
deep, and put in a layer of good leaf-mould or well
rotted manure, arid for the surface mix well manured
garden earth with sand. Put in the roots six inches
deep, cover them with an inch in depth of sand, and
then fill in the earth. Bake the surface smooth, keep it
weeded and stirred from time to time, and in sharp
weather cover the roots with dry litter several inches
thick. When they throw up the spikes for flower let
them have plenty of water. The early flowering sorts
may be planted the end of October ; Ramosus, For-
nwsissimus, &c., in December; and Gandavensis, Flori-
liutdus, Psittacinus and Splendens in February and
j\lareh ; and they will bloom well in the autumn. The
gladioli make nice pot plants. They increase well by
offsets, which should be divided from the old roots when
they are taken up after flowering, and planted at once in
a bed of very rich earth, thoroughly well drained.

New varieties may be obtained from seed by hybridiz-
ing the finest formed flowers with pollen from flowers
of the most beautiful colours. Sow the seed in gentle
heat in the spring, and when the seedlings are up let
them have plenty of air and very little water. As the
weather gets mild put them out ; leave them to gentle
showers, but shelter them from heavy rain. When the
leaves die off pick out the little bulbs, and in Septem-
ber make beds for them, as for the offsets, and there
let them remain two years, when they will flower if
transplanted into a new well-made bed.

The Ixia, Tritonia, and Sparaxis are pretty flowers,

112 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

similar in character, and very varied in colour in the
different kinds. They grow in peat, mixed with sand,
and will grow out of doors in a warm border. They
must be protected from frost, and the roots should not
get too dry while they are growing. They may be
potted in October, kept from cold or heavy rain, and
placed in a greenhouse, or in a window when the roots
begin to grow. They have a slender growth, and are
from half a foot to two feet high, and they most of them
flower in the spring.

The Polyanthus Narcissus, Single Narcissus, Jon-
quil, Double Daffodil, and all the Narcissus tribe, are
most valuable in a garden, from producing their deli-
cately beautiful fragrant flowers early, and without
much trouble in the cultivation. They are all hardy,
and will grow in good garden soil, if sand be put round
the roots. The fine large bulbs produce the finest
flowers. They may be allowed to remain in the ground
year after year. When the flowering is over the leaves
must not be cut off, but left to die down. Most of the
kinds produce offsets from the bulbs freely, and they
may also be grown from seed. Boots wanted for forcing
should be taken out of the ground when the leaves have
died down, and be kept in a dry cool place until the
autumn. Almost all flower in spring, some very early.
Only Obsoletus, with white, and Veridiflorm with green
flowers, bloom respectively in August and September.

Crocuses are almost a necessary for making the flower
garden gay in early spring, for the ground is scarcely
clear of snow when the beds become enamelled with
their large sized, bright coloured, prettily varied flowers,
of brilliant gold, purple, lavender, and white, plain or
variously streaked. Any garden soil will do for them,
but they prefer rich sandy earth, They may be planted
from towards the end of summer to the end of
November ; and to make beds gay in spring which have
been filled with summer flowers, the crocus roots should
be put in as soon as they can be obtained To get a
succession of them flowering in pots, they may be
planted at intervals, from the earliest time at which they

CROCUSES. FIUTILLABIA IMPEHIALIS. 113

can be bought, five, seven, or more roots in each pot
If they have heat, it should be very slight, and they wil)
come forward nicely on the windows indoors. In
planting them out of doors they should be put abouJ
three inches deep, and two inches apart : a wet poor soil
does not do. Good roots are imported, and may be
bought at any good florist's, and depended on, at from
Is. Qd. per hundred to fid. per dozen. The roots should
be taken up every second year, the large roots replanted,
and the small offsets planted in a bed for two years.

To raise seedlings sow in October in an airy spot, in
light rich earth, cover the seed to the depth of a
quarter of an inch, and when the young plants grow up
in the spring, only keep them clean from weeds, clear
away the leaves when quite decayed, and spread a little
rich light earth over the roots. Treat them the same
for another year, and in September transplant them
into fresh light rich earth, three inches apart, and in
two years more they will flower, when good new soils
should be taken care of. The Autumn crocus, Crocus
sativus, from which saffron is made, is very pretty, and
worthy of a place in the garden : its flowers are violet.
Most of the autumn flowering kinds are violet or
purple, but some are white. The C. Cartwriyhtianus
cretlcus is a pretty pale yellow, with fine large flowers,
which come in October.

The Fritillaries are hardy bulbs, which are handsome
either in pots or in the borders. They do best in sandy
loam; the roots may be planted in autumn, taken up as
soon as the leaves decay, and kept in a rather moist
place until they are planted again.

Fritillaria imperialis, the stately Crown Imperial, is in
three colours, yellow, dark yellow, and red : it grows
very high, and is indeed a noble-looking flower. As it
flowers in April, it may be used for a bed in spring,
and the foliage will die off soon enough for the roots to
be taken up to give place to later flowers. It should
have a deep rich soil, well drained, and when the stems
send out young shoots above the bulbs a top dressing
of well rotted manure should be given, close round the

i

114 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

stem. When the bulbs grow large, they will produce two
stems, each of which will perfect a bulb, and at the time
when the roots may be taken up these may be planted
apart.

The Crown Imperial will not do for pot culture,
but the smaller fritillaries flower well in pots. Plant
them in October, in light rich earth, four in a pot.
Plunge the pots in ashes on a hot-bed, and protect them
from frost, until they show bloom, and then place them
in the greenhouse, or plant them in groups in the
borders. Offsets are produced round the old roots,- and
should be taken off and planted in light rich earth
every third year : there they may remain until they
flower.

The pretty gold besprinkled Guernsey Lily, Nerine
sarniensis, suffers from an undeserved bad character.
It often flowers without earth, and therefore, for the
curiosity, it has been allowed to do so ; it often, from
improper treatment, flowers but once, and then the bulb
is done for ; but with due care these bulbs will do well
for years. They require a strong rich loam with sand,
and when the root has produced flower late in summer
it must be encouraged, by good soil and water, to mature
leaves in abundance, otherwise the root will not be in
condition to produce flower again the following year.
Plant the roots in a rich, light, well drained bed, and
there let them keep their place year after year. Manure
the bed in spring, and in winter protect the roots from
frost with litter or dead leaves. Without a vigorous
growth of the leaves the bulbs will not prosper. They
must be deeply planted, and the situation of the bed
should be warm, and sheltered, and dry in winter. On
a sunny bank, against the front of a greenhouse, I have
known them do well, and flower for years. When they
are grown in pots they should be planted deep, in light
rich peat and sand, the bulb being well covered. They
are chiefly increased by offsets, but they may be grown
from seed sown in heat.

The Anomatheca cruenta is a sweet little bulb, pro-
ducing a great abundance of bright red flowers, with a

DIELYTRA CPECTABILIS. LEUCOJILM. 115

low growth of grasslike foliage. It is hardy, and very
suitable for vases, edges, or groups on flower borders.
It likes a mixture of loam and peat. It is also pretty,
gay, and lasting for pots in windows, or elsewhere. It
flowers in July, and the moment the seed is ripe it
should be sown, when it will produce bulbs, which will
flower the next year. It is said to require protection
from frost, but we have had pans of roots left out all
the winter, without injury.

The Dielytra spectabilis is a charming tuberous rooted
plant, fit for forcing in pots for early bloom, or for plant-
ing in good tufty groups, in any warm sheltered border.
Its delicate and peculiar shaped flowers and prettily cut
foliage, resemble those of the common fumitory. It
requires a rich light soil, and is easily increased by
division of the root, as in the dahlia, or by cuttings.
It flowers in spring.

The Leucojum, Snowflake, or St. Agnes' Flower, is a
sweet little white flower, of a pretty drooping habit, like
the snowdrop, only larger, and growing several on a
stalk. The roots increase abundantly, flower in spring,
and do well for planting an aquarium. Sow the seed
as it ripens.

The Ornitliogalum umlellatum, or Star of Bethlehem,
is a pretty flower, of a clear decided white, and quite
hardy. It will do for years on the same spot.

The Oxalis is a tuberous root, of which there are
many varieties, producing showy flowers of various
colours — red, rose-colour, purple, and yellow. The
culture is the same as for the ixia, and many of them
require protection in winter. Most of them may be
bought for 2s. per dozen or less.

The Scilla is a pretty bright-coloured spring flower,
which is quite hardy, and will grow in any good garden
soil.

The Winter Aconite is almost the earliest blooming of
bulbs. It likes a light soil, and a warm open dry
situation.

The Zephyranthes are Cape bulbs, which produce
elegant flowers, one on a stem. Some of them are

116 FLOWERS AKD THE FLOWER GARDEN.

quite hardy, and may be planted like crocuses on any
warm border, and, like them, they must be taken up
every two or three years. They like a somewhat sandy
soil.

The sweet delicate little Snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis,
will do what so few pretty flowers will do, thrive undei
the drip of trees. The double snowdrop is perhaps
more taking, and the Russian snowdrop, with smaller
flowers, is also pretty. Snowdrops like a light rich soil,
and increase by offsets. They flower very early, and
should be divided and replanted every four or five
years.

The sweet and lovely Lily of the Valley also grows
under the drip of trees, but it requires light. This pretty
plant is very touchy, but where once it takes it grows
luxuriantly. Only leave it alone, for nothing seems so
much to interfere with success as digging among
the roots. Where the roots take they will grow so
abundantly that clumps may be taken and never missed.
That rather favourite plant with many, the Solomon's
Seal, is of the same family.

CHAPTER XV.

ANNUALS.

IT is almost superfluous to mention that annuals are
plants which grow up from seed and die in one year.
Many of them can, however, be kept alive for a second
year, and encouraged to grow large, by preventing their
ripening seed the first.

Hardy annuals are those that bear our climate so
(veil that the seed may at once be sown in the open
border, from February to May, according to their capa-
city for withstanding the degree of frost which we often
get in spring. A succession, for flowering later, may be
sown even until the middle of June. Many kinds will

ANNUALS. 117

bear transplanting, but, as a general rule, it is best to
sow the seed where the flowers are to remain. When
seed is to be sown, the ground should be duly prepared
by forking, manuring, and adding any other soil or fer-
tilizer which the nature of the ground, and of the plants
to be grown in it, may require. The spot to be sown
may then be made firm and flattened by pressing it with
the bottom of a flowerpot saucer, or other flat surface ;
then spread the seed, taking especial care that it shall
not be thick enough for the young plants to come up
crowded, cover it with flue mould, and put in a label.
All kinds of tallies and labels are sold and used, but
bits of lath, in six or nine-inch lengths, smoothed,
painted, and written on with a pencil, do very well. If
the seedlings come up too thickly they must be thinned
to such a distance apart as their size when grown up
will require ; but as thinning, however carefully done,
can hardly fail to do mischief to the plants left, sowing
seeds thinly should be always attended to. To save the
seed from being eaten by birds, a garden pot may be
turned down over them until they are up.

Half-hardy annuals are those which must be raised
indoors, or with the aid of heat, and protected from
frost, but which will do in the open air with us in
summer. Most of these are sown in a gentle hot-bed in
March, April, or earlier. When they have a few leaves
they are pricked out into pots or seedling pans, still
kept in the frame, in a greenhouse, or indoors, and
planted out when all danger of frost is past. Many
flowers of this kind may be reared without difficulty
on the windows or flower stands in a sitting-room or
other rooms in a dwelling-house, safe from cold, frost,
and too great change of temperature. In frost, if they
are grown on a window seat or window ledge, it is
sometimes necessary to remove them to the table in
the middle of the room when the fires are put out,
until they are lighted again. It is often a good plan to
sow the seed so thinly in pots that each pot may make a
clump for planting out. When the roots are so grown
as to make a good ball of the earth in the pot, it may

118 TLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

be planted out without being broken, which will greatly
facilitate the after growth.

Tender or greenhouse annuals require shelter and
warmth at all times, but some of them will do in a warm
sheltered spot out of doors from June until the nights
get cold, and will even ripen their seed.

The same terms of hardy, half-hardy, and tender are
applied to all plants ; and in making selection from the
excellent and valuable lists of plants and seeds which
are sent out annually by Messrs. Carter and Co., of
Holborn, and other first-class dealers, it is necessary to
bear in mind that the plants, bulbs, seeds, &c , marked
"hardy" will do entirely in the open air, that those
marked "half-hardy" and "tender" must be raised with
the aid of heat, and protected from cold and frost. In
the protection given it is often necessary to guard
against too much wet, as well as too much cold. This
is especially the case with bulbs, and all of the car-
nation kind : many which are staunch against the cold
of our climate succumb to its damp.

There are many annuals which, from being especially
well adapted to bedding, have been spoken of in the
Chapter on bedding plants. As my little book is in-
tended to help the many in planting and cultivating their
gardens, its arrangement does not aim at science, but
rather at helping the amateur in his work, and its
chapters are made mainly with reference to this end.

Mignonette is of such constant utility in giving
fragrance to the garden, and in filling up very prettily
every corner that wants filling up, that it must come
first among annuals. I believe it is not an annual in
its own country, but with us it is generally treated as one,
and is sown in the open ground in light sandy loam, well
drained, and manured with leaf-mould, from the end
of April to the beginning of July, keeping the whole
garden fragrant until the frost cuts it off. If the seed
be allowed to shed, abundance of self-sown plants will
come up the following spring, and these should always
be carefully spared, as they will be finer, and flower
earlier than those from seed regularly sown. The soil

MIGNONETTE TREES. 119

for it should be sandy for the perfume to be in full per-
fection.

To get pots of mignonette in flower in the winter
sow seed in the open ground, or in pots placed where
they will have plenty of air and light, in July. In
September shift the young plants into the pots in
which they are to flower. One plant to a pot, if fine, or
three, if rather small, will be quite enough, and in
moving them care should be taken not to disturb the
earth from the roots- If the pots fill with root, re-potting
into larger pots will make the plants grow fine. Before
there is a chance of cold nights take the pots into the
house, and keep them in a room without a fire until
they have flower buds, and then they may be placed in
a sitting-room where there is a fire, and with good
watering every day, and preventing their seeding, they
will keep in flower for months. Seedlings from seed
sown a month later may be brought forward to succeed
these, only keeping them safe from frost until they are
brought forward to flower. By a similar process pots in
bloom may be kept for the house all the year round.

The mignonette, as I mentioned before, is a perennial
in its own country, and a little management in culture
will, without difficulty, make a tree of it here. Sow
seed the end of April in a compost of rich mellow loam,
mixed with one-third of thoroughly rotted cow-manure,
a little sand, and a little lime rubbish. Have as many
small pots as you wish to have plants, place at the
bottom of each some crocks, a little of the lime, and
fill the pots with the compost; place three seeds in the
centre of each, just cover them with earth, press them
down tight, and water them. Place the pots in a window,
or in a cool greenhouse, and do not force them, but let
them have plenty of air. Water every morning with a
fine rose, and when the days are fine enough put them
out of doors for a few hours. As the little plants grow
strong, pull up all but the finest, put a stick a foot long
or more against it, pressed down to the bottom of the
pot for steadiness, and train the plant to it, as it grows
tall, with slight ties of worsted. Stop all side shoots at

120 PLOWERS AtfD THE FLOWEIl GAKDEN.

the second joint, and nip off all the flower buds before
they bloom. The second year cut back the side shoots
closer, beginning at the bottom, and going up gradually
week by week, and continue to train the plant up tall.
As the pots get full of root, re-pot the plants, on as far
as August, not later. Of course they must be kept from
frost in winter. When they are one year old the stems
will get woody, and before they are three years old they
will be shrubs, and will bloom well for many years.

There is a larger flowered mignonette, which is, I
believe, only the result of cultivation.

For hardy annuals we have Venus's Looking-glass
(Specularia speculum], producing its purple flowers in
spring and early summer. It likes a rat?her sandy soil.

Convolvulus minor produces a good mass of blue in
spring, and the Nolanas are similar to it in character,
with purple, violet, blue, and white flowers. They will
grow in any good garden soil. Calandrinia umbellata
grows freely in any garden soil, and produces its crimson
Sowers, close to the ground, in June, and flowers for a
long time. The colour is brilliant, and there are other
pretty Calandrinia?, growing rather higher, of other
colours. The plants will flower earlier if raised in
gentle heat, or under a hand glass. Cacalia, scarlet and
yellow, are useful plants of free growth. Sow the seed
in the borders in April.

The Calliopsis, or Coreopsis, is a summer-flowering
showy annual, the several kinds of which are of various
gay colours, and are useful from remaining long in
flower, especially if the seed be nipped off as soon
as the flower drops. Sow the seed in March, and
protect by a turned down garden pot over each clump ;
or sow the seed on a hot-bed, and plant out the young
plants where they are wanted, when they are large
enough. The different kinds grow from one to three
feet high, and they do in a light sandy soil. The
seed may be sown in autumn, and will then flower
earlier. Some of them are perennials, and they may be
increased by division of the root.

The Callichroa platyglossa is hardy, with bright yellow

CLAKKIAS. CANDYTUFTS. 121

composite flowers, the seed of which may be sown in
March, in a slight hot-bed, or under a hand glass, or in
the open ground rather later. The Cladantlms Arabicus
produces its dark yellow flowers in July, and keeps long
in flower. Sow the seed in April. The Cladanthus
canescens is a greenhouse evergreen, producing its yellow
flowers in June, and is propagated from cuttings under
a glass.

The Clarkias are pretty pink and white flowers, of deli-
cate form, from one and a half to two feet high, flowering
abundantly from June to the end of summer. The seed
may be sown in March or in September, and protected
through the winter, to bloom early. The Rose of Heaven
(Viscaria cceli rosa\ with its pretty rose-coloured flowers,
and several of the same family, producing pink, white,
and scarlet flowers, are profuse bloomers, fit for beds,
edgings, or groups. Sow the seed in the border in April;
or in a warm dry sheltered spot in September, to stand
the winter and flower early. Scliizopetalon Walkeri is a
low growing, cruciform, white flower, very fragrant, and
thriving in sandy loam and leaf- mould. Eucharidium
continuum are low growing, free blooming, hardy annuals,
flowering from spring to autumn. Sow in September,
March, and May, to keep up a succession. The Eutocas,
of several kinds, are free blooming annuals of various
colours. The seed may be sown in April, and the
plants must be far apart to give plenty of air, or they
will not thrive.

The Hibiscus Africanm is an annual, growing two
feet high ; to bring it forward early it is best to give
the seed a little heat under a glass, and to put out the
young plants nearly a foot apart, in May.

The Candytufts are low growing annuals, biennials,
and evergreens, with cruciform flowers, most of which are
white. They may be sown in autumn, to stand the
winter, or in the spring. The semperrirens, and all of
its class, may be grown from seed or cuttings. The
Kaulfussias are low growing and pretty, the different
kinds having blue, dark violet, and rose-coloured flowers.
Seed may be sown in the borders in April, but it is

122 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

better to sow in March, and give a little heat. Tnt
pretty composite flower comes out in June or July, but
it does not last very long.

Lupines are of all colours and all heights. The
seed is sown in the ground in February or March.
Mutabilis and M. Cruickshanki are splendidly branching
plants, which, if sown early in autumn and kept in a
frame for the winter, make fine plants. The perennials
are good bushy plants for a large garden, and are in-
creased by seed, or division of the roots. Love in a
Mist (Nifjella) is hardy, compact, and pretty, some-
thing like larkspur in habit of growth ; the different
kinds producing flowers of various colours. The seed
may be sown in the open ground after the middle of
March. The Collinsias are pretty, and may be treated
like Coreopsis. The Pheasant's Eye (Flos Adonis), so
pretty from the way in which the bright crimson flowers
peep from amongst the feathery foliage, grows from seed
in common soil, and flowers from summer into autumn.
The Adonis has other sorts, several of which are peren-
nials, and are increased by division of the root or by
seed.

Ten- weeks Stocks fully deserve attention from their
beauty and fragrance. Such fine varieties and colours
are grown from the German and Russian seed supplied
by first-class seedsmen, that it is better to purchase
than to save seed. Use vegetable loam, with one-
sixth part of river sand ; sow from March to May for
summer flowering, and in August and September to
stand the winter and flower early. Sow the seed far
apart and only thinly covered, and place the pots near
the glass. When the young plants get several leaves
each, they may be potted singly, or planted out in groups
or beds. To get fine plants it is best to plant them out in
pots, and turn them out into the borders when the pots
have good balls of root in them. Stocks like a chalky
soil. It is said the strongest seed is most likely to pro-
duce double flowering plants ; therefore, leave very few
seed pods on a plant, give it high cultivation and plenty
of sunshine.

STOCKS, CHINA ASTERS. 123

The Brompton Stock is a splendid plant when it is
well grown. It is a biennial; the seed should he sown
far apart, in a rich light soil, early in May, not in too
hot a place. As the young plants grow, water them
every evening with a fine rose ; they should he as much
as six inches apart. When a month old some should be
removed with good balls of earth to the roots, and care-
fully planted, so that all may be quite a foot apart. If
the tap-root be disturbed in the removal the plants will
not do after. In the following March or April make in
the borders, where the stocks are to be planted, beds
two feet deep, and two feet every way, of rich sandy
loam, enriched with leaf-mould or the remains of an old
hot-bed, and transplant the stocks with large balls of
earth, undisturbed. They should be shaded for a little
time, and watered every night until they flower.

China Asters, which are increased to an almost endless
variety of Chinese, German, quilled, globe-flowered,
pyramidal, French bouquet, dwarf, &c., are valuable
from producing a gay abundance of rich-coloured bloom
when flowers begin to get scarce, in September and
October. You can hardly give them earth which is too
rich, and from the seed-pans onward they must have
plenty of air and room. The seed may be sown on a
hot-bed in February or March, the young plants pricked
out when they have a few leaves each, and planted out
in May. Seed maybe sown, not too thickly, in the open
ground in April. First-rate seed may be bought. Those
who save seed themselves should take it only from the
best flowers. Self coloured should be clear, distinct,
and bright, and the flower should be fine in shape, very
double, regular, and well quilled. The striped flowers
should have the colours well defined and sharply
marked.

I have made my list of hardy annuals (from a few
Inches to two feet high), rather encroaching on the space
allotted to the chapter on annuals, because it is they
which are needed in the greatest number and variety in
filling the flower garden ; and the tenderer kinds are of
much less general utility. For hardy annuals of tall

124 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN,

growth we have the Sunflower, one new variety of which,
Plellanthus macropliyllus giganteus, is mentioned as grow-
ing twenty feet high. The sunflower plants will be the
finer if they be grown in a slight hot-bed and planted
out. The perennial sunflower is a good shrubby plant
to place where a large yellow flower is wanted ; it is in-
creased by division of the root. The Jerusalem Arti-
choke is of the same family. The Convolvulus, our old
twining favourite, so splendid in its abundant though
short lived flowers, has many rare and showy kinds com-
paratively recently introduced. Most of them require
heat to raise the seed.

The Salpiglossis, of several varieties, are delicately
veined, rich coloured flowers of great beauty. They
require a light rich soil, and may be sown in autumn,
and protected through the winter or in spring They
are only half hardy ; if the seed be put in the open
ground it must not be till May. The different varie-
ties grow from one to two feet high, and produce
flowers of various colours, scarlet, purple, blue, sul-
phur, &c., from July to autumn. The Mesembryanthe-
mums are half-hardy annuals, which must be raised in
a greenhouse or on a hot-bed. Pricked out in May
in a sunny spot, with a sandy soil, their delicate bright
green foliage, covered with ice-like little globules,
looks refreshing and nice. Nemesia compacta, and othei
varieties of the same, are pretty, free blooming, half-
hardy annuals, with flowers of pure white, blue, violet,
or pale pink, according to the variety. They must be
raised on a hot-bed in spring, and planted out the end
of May or June. They flower in June, grow close to
the ground, and keep long in bloom. The Helichrysum,
with its various varieties, is an everlasting, which is very
useful for winter bouquets. They may be raised on a
hot-bed early, or later in the open border. Acroclinium
roseum and Eoseum album are also half-hardy annual
everlastings, which, raised on heat, will grow freely in
the garden. The Xeranthemuvn, is a pretty purple ever-
lasting, which is qufte hardy. There is also a white
one.

DATURAS. SNAKE CITCTJHBEH. BALSAMS, 125

The Daturas are showy half-hardy annuals, two
and three feet high, with flowers of very large size.
Wrightii has blue and white flowers, delicately shaded ;
the flower of Chlorantha is golden yellow, very large,
double, and richly scented. The young plants should be
raised on a good hot-bed, potted off into good loam and
leaf-mould, and planted out late in June.

The Snake Cucumber (Cucumis flexuosus) is curious
from the snake-like form of its fruit. It must be raised
in heat, and grows remarkably fast. The Snake Gourd
(Tricosanthes anguina) is similar to it ; they are only
curious. Of a like kind are the Caterpillar Plant
(Scorpiurus), with yellow pea-shaped flowers, and seed-
vessels resembling caterpillars, and another annual
flower, the seed-vessel of which is like a snail.

Honesty (for the beauty of its seed-vessel), Sweet
Peas (raised in pots and turned out when the pots are
full of root), Prince's Feather (Am,aranthus hypochondri-
acus), Love Lies Bleeding (A. caudatus], arid Amarantlius
melancholicus, with its deep red foliage, deserve a place.
Nor need the gay Poppy, the pretty pink Hawkweed, the
unobtrusive Virginian Stock, and many others, be for-
gotten.

We must not leave the annuals without a few words
about Balsams, those pretty delicate plants, the beauty
and luxuriance of which depend so very much on culture.
Those who wish to have fine balsams, unless they happen
to possess good seed, should buy the best which can be
obtained, in order to secure fine double flowers. Sow
the seed in a good hot-bed, and when the young plants
are ready to be pricked out prepare some light rich soil
for their use. The little plants being three inches high,
plant them out singly in small pots. Never let them
get pot-bound, but when the roots are sufficiently grown,
re-pot, using richer earth to fill up every time, and giving
free air in abundance, and water as required. Nip off
the buds, and carry on the shifting until the plants are
in eight, twelve, or sixteen-inch pots, according to the
size you wish to attain. If the plants grow fast, they
will want re-potting about once a week, and the pots may

126 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

be plunged in a hot-bed of 75° temperature. When the
plants are well grown, harden them by degrees, and
allow the flower buds to grow. The seed should be
chosen from the finest flowers, and should be from one
to three years old ; the older (in moderation) the better.
The plants like plenty of air, light, and water, and the
slightest wound will destroy them. The flower should
be large and double, and distinct in marking, like a
carnation.

That handsome rich-coloured flower, the Cockscomb,
may be treated in the same way ; and also the pretty
greenhouse annual, the Rhodanthe Manylesii.

CHAPTER XVI.

PERENNIALS AND BIENNIALS.

ANNUALS, with their absence one portion of the year and
untidiness at another season, we might do without ; and
even bulbs, with their temporary splendour, could, per-
haps, be dispensed with, although we should much miss
their brightness among flowers ; but the ever varying yet
ever constant beauty of our innumerable perennials,
handsome in foliage for so large a portion of the year,
even when their flowers are off, we should miss more
than any other class of plants. With them in abun-
dance we could manage to cultivate a flower garden
satisfactorily ; without them it would be difficult indeed
to maintain for it a home-like face.

The Hollyhock is useful from its towering noble
growth, and from the great diversity of its flowers,
including most colours, in all tints, from good white to
almost black. It delights in a rich strong soil ; so,
unless the earth of the garden be of this nature, it is
best to make a bed where a hollyhock is to be planted,
two feet every way, of strong loam, enriched with

HOLLYHOCKS. 127

thoroughly rotted manure, and in this to plant the roots,
singly, or in threes, after leaving the earth some clays to
settle. When the plants begin to grow well, mulch the roots
with light manure to protect them from drying winds
and to strengthen the flower stems. When the weather
is dry, water liberally once a week, train the stems to
stakes, tying them very loosely, and just top the flower
spikes. Cut down the stems as soon as the seed is ripe
and gathered, fork the ground, leaving the surface rough
to mellow, arid give a dressing of well rotted manure.
Before frost comes mulch with half decayed manure,
drawing it up to the roots to keep off frost, and manure
the surrounding ground. In a damp place, or if the
soil be too rich, the hollyhock will sometimes be struck
with sudden disease and die; in this case, renew the
earth before planting another, and make cuttings of any
healthy young shoots that can be saved.

For cuttings take young shoots at the base of the
flower stems, plant them round the edge of a pot filled
with moist sandy loam, press the eartv close to the
bottoms of the cuttings, and fill up the holes. Place a
frame on a gentle hot-bed, and within the frame a layer
of sawdust five inches thick; sink the pot in the sawdust
nearly up to the rim, and give no water, or the cuttings
will damp off. Keep the frame shaded, arid open it a
little at the back for an hour every morning. In six
weeks or so they will show if they will grow, and then
they may have a little water, given with care, not to wet
the leaves. When the roots are grown, pot them off,
keep them shaded in a cold frame for a fortnight, gradu-
ally harden them to bear sun, plenty of air, and constant
moderate watering, and they will then be ready to plant
out, which may be done in the spring or in August.

Large roots may be taken up after flowering, and
divided with a knife. Take care that each division has
plenty of root, and at least one good shoot, and plant
them in a place which is shady but not overhung, and
there let them remain until March.

Save seed from the most double and finest flowers,
and keep it in a dry place until March. Sow early in

128 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

March in gentle heat, in shallow seed pans, and when
the little plants are large enough to handle, prick them
out three inches apart, either in a bed of rich earth or
in large pans. When the weather is fine and settled,
remove them with plenty of earth to the roots, plant
them two feet apart in a bed prepared for them, where
they may remain and flower. When they flower discard
all that produce single bad-shaped flowers ; cut down,
name, and mark ail that are good, and plant them where
they are to flower the next year.

The Campanulas are fine showy hardy plants, which
are most useful in a garden from the abundance of
their handsome flowers. Some of them grow very tall,
and the Campanula pyramidalis (the chimney companion
of cockney gardeners) may be encouraged to an enor-
mous size by repeated re-potting, preventing its coming
into flower for two years, and very rich soil, It pro-
duces its immense quantity of fine blue flowers the
beginning of summer, and keeps in flower a long time.
It and all the perennial campanulas are increased
generally by division of the root, but they may be raised
from seed, and they like a rich garden soil.

C. cinesia and C. uniflora are beautiful little campa-
nulas, which grow quite close to the ground, and are
covered with their pretty blue flowers during June and
July. C. carpatica, C~ rotundifolia, C. garganica, and
many besides, are also of rather low growth, and summer
flowering. All these make pretty bedding plants, from
their good-looking foliage and most abundant flowers.
Campanula medium, the Canterbury Bell, is one of our
freest blooming biennials, giving to the gardens splendid
blues of all degrees of intensity, pure masses of white,
and double flowers, both white and blue. C. speculum,
Venus's Looking-glass, has been already mentioned as
an annual : several other names have been given to this
pretty flower.

The campanulas are so pretty that many of them are
quite worthy of culture in pots, and the roots of all are
said to be good to eat.

Tha Columbine (Aquilegia), from the peculiar form,

SXAPDIUGOX. FOXGLOVE. WALLFLOWERS, 129

abundance, and graceful set of the flowers, the variety of
its colours, and for its pretty foliage, deserves to be
much more generally cultivated than it is. The seed
keeps long, should be sown in March, in sandy soil,
under glass, and the young plants will often flower the
same year. The Columbines are quite hardy, grow
from one to two feet high, come into flower in May,
and flower for a long time. The roots may be divided
in autumn or spring.

The Snapdragons (Antirrhinum) are hardy, easy to
cultivate, and have an almost endless variety and
mixture of colour. They will do in any garden soil if
not wet, grow about two feet high, or a little more,
flower in June, and keep in flower all through the
summer. Good sorts should be propagated by cuttings,
as seedlings generally vary from the parent plant. Great
variety in colour may be got from seed, which should be
sown in spring : the young plants have the advantage
that they flower the same year.

The Foxglove is a handsome growing flower, which
makes a good mass of colour wherever it happens to
be wanted, and offers a fine pure white. The seed
should be sown in the autumn, that the plants may
flower the next year. Digitalis Canariensis is a handsome
plant from Teneriffe, producing yellow flowers ; it is a
greenhouse plant.

The Veronicas are fine showy, hardy plants, producing
blue, purple, and white flowers in summer. They will
grow well in any garden soil which is tolerably light
and moist. They are increased by seed and by division
of the roots.

The Wallflower, Cheiranthus cheiri, is gay and very
hardy, and especially valuable from producing its deli-
ciously fragrant flowers early, and retaining them long.
A light, rich, sandy soil suits them best. The fine
double sorts must be propagated by cuttings, under a
hand-glass, in May or June. The double yellow, double
blood-red, double purple, and several others, are hand-
some, but they have not the fragrance of the common
single sorts. Cheiranthus Alpinus is a pretty little hardy

K

130 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

plant, fit to grow in pots, or on rockwork. Cheiranthus
mutabitis requires a hot-house. Wallflowers grow very
readily irom seed.

The Cistus, or Rock Rose, is very pretty, grows freely
in a mixture of loam and peat, and is easy to increase
by cuttings, under a hand glass, by layers, or from seed.
Many kinds, of low growth, do nicely for rockwork, but
these are only half hardy, and will require a little pro-
tection during severe winters. In case some may die it
is a good plan to take some cuttings of these, and keep
them in a cold pit. The Gum Cistus grows four feet
high, and produces its pretty white or spotted flowers
in June. The purple flowered is another pretty kind,
of medium height.

The Hydrangea is a handsome plant, from its bold
foliage, bushy growth, and large balls of delicate coloured
flowers of the palest tint of pink or blue. The blue
flowers are a sport, and when a plant bearing them is
moved to a new locality it will often fly back to pink.
Hydrangeas are very handsome and ornamental in pots,
and out of doors they will stand our winters in very
warm sheltered spots ; but when less favourably placed
they must be protected. They like moist sheltered
places, and do not mind the drip of trees if the situation
be warm. If the roots be protected with manure, the
plants may be cut back to them, and will shoot out
again and bloom late. They may be propagated al
almost any time by cuttings of the young side shoots
two or three inches long, in sandy earth with a little
heat. The old stems strike anywhere, but take more
time. It is said the loam of Kenwood, Hampstead
Heath, Stanmore Heath, the peat of Wimbledon, and
from some of the bogs near Edinburgh, produce the
beautiful tender blue flowers, and I have known them
do well in earth almost entirely composed of leaf-mould.
Watering with water impregnated with alum, steel-
filings, sheep-manure, wood-ashes, peat-ashes, nitre, car-
bonate of soda, common salt, and tan, have all been tried
with more or less success. The plants should be cut
back when they have done flowering.

MIMULT7S, HEATHS ; OSWEGO TEA. 131

The Mirnulus, or Monkey Plant, is a gay flower, either
for pots, or for planting out in the borders. There are
many hardy varieties which are perennials, and which
flower abundantly throughout the summer. Any soil
will do, but a light, rich, moist soil suits them best.
Koseus, and a very few others, are half hardy, and require
to be- removed into a pit in winter ; but if their seed be
sown in March they may be used as annuals, and will
flower well in summer and autumn. A few are annuals.
The Musk Plant is a Mimulus, which dies down in winter,
and comes up again year after year ; its pleasant scent,
bright tender green foliage, and pretty yellow flowers,
render it attractive. This, and all the tribe, want
abundance of water. The name of Monkey Plant is
from the form of the seed. The Diplacus is a Mimulus
of a shrubby growth. D. ghttinosus has orange,
V. puniceus, scarlet flowers. All are natives of Cali-
fornia, and it must be remembered, with regard to all
plants of that country, that they are easily killed if the
sun strike on the collar of the root. Propagate by
cuttings taken when they are getting firm at the base,
in April. Plant them in sand under a bell glass.
These plants must have a little protection from frost in
winter.

The Heaths are not useful in the garden, but they are
nice greenhouse or window plants, though often disap-
pointing. In potting, the collar of the root is sometimes
put too low, which makes it rot. Water regularly, never
letting the plants be either sodden or too dry, and never
subject them to a cold position nor a hot sun. Heaths
grow well in three parts peat well pulverized, and one
part silver sand, and the pots should be well drained.
The pots should have no saucers, and should be watered
twice a day, over head, in summer, and have plenty of
air ; in winter, once a day for watering is enough, and
less air, but a little even in slight frost.

The Monarda didyma, or Osvvego Tea, and Monardas
of other varieties, are rather tall-growing plants, pro-
ducing showy flowers throughout the summer. They
thrive in a rich light soil, and are increased by division

K 2

132 FLOWEES AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

of the root. I have seen somewhere that the Monarda
didyma produces the scent called bergamot.

The pretty little Hepaticses deserve a place in the
flower garden, on account of their showing their gay-
coloured flowers early, while flowers are yet scarce.
They require a light sandy soil and a shady situation.
They should be taken up, divided, and replanted every
second or third autumn, for if the roots rise above ground
the plants are very likely to die.

The Garden Rocket, Hesperis metronalis, is a tall-grow-
ing plant which requires good cultivation to make it
grow fine. When the plant has done flowering, it should
be taken up and transplanted into fresh, very rich, light
friable soil ; the earth from an old celery trench is good
for this purpose, and under this treatment the double
white and double purple rockets grow to be very fine
flowers.

The St. John's Worts, Hypericum, are especially valu-
able from growing well under the drip of trees ; in fact,
they prefer moisture and shade, where their rich green
foliage and bright yellow flowers show very well. They
grow from seed, and may be propagated also by division
of the roots.

The Gentiana Acaulis, or Gentianella, a low-growing
plant, with blue flowers of intense brilliancy, is beautiful
for a border. It, and all the gentians, require abundance
of free air ; they will not do in the neighbourhood of Lon-
don, or any similar locality. They like a light rich soil,
and do well in a mixture of loam and peat, enriched
with vegetable mould ; acaulis may be planted in peat
alone. Some of the gentians are perennials, and may
be propagated by division of the roots ; arid some are
annuals, which, as well as the perennials, may be raised
from seed, which must be sown directly it is ripe. The
root of Gentiana lutea is an intense bitter ; the gentian
^f the druggists. When grown in pots a little heat does
good.

The Solidago, or Golden Rod, is quite hardy, with yel-
low feathery flowers. There are many varieties, which
are showy tall plants for the back of a border, flowering

VARIOUS PERENNIALS. 133

from summer to late in the autumn. They may be
increased by division of the roots in spring, and where
they once grow there is danger of their becoming too
plentiful.

The Sweet Scabious, or Widow's Flower, is valuable as
one of the darkest coloured flowers we have, and it is
sweet in scent. It is quite hardy, and grows freely
from seed. There are also some with white and pink
flowers.

Saxifrages of different varieties are hardy, of the
easiest possible culture, and will grow in the neighbour-
hood of London or almost anywhere else, and in any
light garden earth, although they prefer a deep sandy
soil. Saxifraga umbrosa, the pretty delicate London
Pride, and 8. yranulata, the mountain saxifrage, are
especially useful for the front of beds.

The Calla, once called an Arum, will do in the open
air only in very warm situations, but where it will do it
makes handsome clumps, being ornamental alike in
foliage and flower. It likes rich light sandy earth, and
when in pots frequent watering, and it is increased by
offsets from the fleshy root.

The Black Helebore, or Christmas Hose, is pretty, and
valuable from flowering in winter. It is hardy, will
grow in a shady place in common soil, and is propa-
gated by seed, or by division of the plant in spring.
There are several varieties of the helebore, with flowers
of different colours.

Some of the Genistas are hardy enough to do well
out of doors, and others are pretty in pots for the green-
house or window. The half-hardy kinds are easily struck
in sand under a bell glass, and the hardier may be grown
from seed. Common loamy soil suits them. Their
bright pea-shaped flowers make them very gay.

The Everlasting Pea, Lathy rus latifoliiis, that vigorous
growing climber, with its large bunches of gay pink
flowers, is useful for covering, year after year, an un-
sightly paling or similar object, and will grow to six or
eight feet high. Lord Anson's pea, L. Magellanicus,
another perennial sort, is pretty in foliage and in its

184 FLOWERS AM THE FLOWER GARDEtf.

bright blue flowers. The Tangier Pea, L. Tingitanus, is
a tall-growing annual with purple flowers ; and L. grandi-
florus, or large -flowered, is also handsome. L. odoratns
the well-known Sweet Pea, one of our sweetest annuals.
The annuals are grown from seed sown in spring, in
common soil, and the perennials are increased by divi-
sion in spring, or by cuttings of the young shoots, struck
under a bell glass.

The Peony and the Moutan, or tree peony, are orna-
mental both in foliage and in their large brilliant flowers.
They are of various colours, and interesting varieties
may be got by crossing. For obtaining new sorts, the
seed should be sown in September ; some may come up
the following spring, others the spring after. Common
peonies may be increased by division of the root ; the
tree peony by division, by grafting on the roots of the
other, or by cuttings of young shoots taken in spring,
and struck under a hand glass, with a little heat. It is
also grown from suckers and layers. The tree peony
must be protected in winter and spring ; it does well for
forcing. They flower in the spring.

The Obelliscaria pulcherrima is such a gay flower that
it should have a place in every flower garden, especially
as a few pennyworth of seed may be bought ; it is hardy,
and will grow in any garden soil. It grows about two
feet high, with rich crimson flowers, edged with yellow.
It flowers in August, and lasts in flower a long time.

The large and small Periwinkle, Vinca major, and
V. minor, are especially useful and valuable for covering
shaded banks, which they greatly ornament with their
rich green foliage and bright blue flowers. It is well
that we may use so pretty a plant under the drip of
trees, where so few things will prosper. The variegated
foliaged periwinkle is pretty, and it, too, produces
bright blue flowers in great abundance. These trailing
plants like a soft moist situation, and increase plenti-
fully by runners, which strike root at the joints, like
strawberries. To make the plant produce seed, it must
be grown in a pot, and not allowed to throw out runners.
It is an evergreen. In Vinca rosea, the flower is rose

DAISIES. VIOLETS. PENTSTEMOJSS. 135

coloured, in V. rosea alba it is white, and in V. ocellata
it is white, with a red eye.

Was there ever a child who did not think it the glory of
his or her life to get a root of double daisy, whether to be
planted in the juvenile garden, or placed in the nursery
window, over the crowded thoroughfares of England's
great metropolis ? Let us, therefore, in memory of our
early favourites, make room for double daisies — white,
pink, red, quilled, and hen and chicken. These pretty
flowers are more cultivated in other countries than in
ours, and M. Van Houtte, of Ghent, has more than
twenty varieties in his catalogue. The daisy makes
better edging than almost any other plant except box.
To make the roots grow strong, and improve the flower,
the plants should be taken up and divided every year.
They thrive in loam, richly manured, and when they
are replanted the ground should be dug and manured.
They make good beds in an emergency, and can be re-
moved to make room for later bloomers when they go
out of flower. Wireworms are so fond of them, that
they are said to leave carnations and pinks and other
choice flowers to go to them. New sorts are raised
from seed.

Violets can scarcely be too abundant in the flower
garden. The common sweet-scented violet is one of
the most delightful wild flowers of our country. White
violets generally grow in chalky land. The Neapolitan
violets flower in winter, and are very sweet. The Eus-
sian violets also flower in winter ; in a warm sheltered
spot, these will be in bloom and fragrance from autumn
to spring. Violets out of doors want to be planted
on a bank (they will not bear stagnant damp), in a
shady place, in a rich light peaty soil, where they will
have moisture. Ashes from the bonfire, or any charred
articles, make good manure for them.

CEnotheras of different varieties, and many other fine
perennials, took their place as bedding plants before it
came to the turn of perennials to have their chapter.

The Pentstemons are nice showy flowers for bed or
border. Seedlings will flower the year they are raised.

136 FLOWERS AND TIIE FLOWER GARDEN.

Several of them require in winter the protection of fir
boughs or moss among the plants, from London north-
Jvard, and with such it is best to make sure of saving
the kind, by making cuttings to keep over the winter, in
51 frame. To propagate, divide the plants in the spring,
when the growth commences, or take cuttings of the
young shoots any time in spring, summer, or autumn,
and strike them under a hand glass, in a mixture of
sandy loam and leaf-mould.

There are many other useful perennials well deserving
attention. The Spidervvort (Tradescantia), with its rich
purple flowers, golden yellow anthers, and sweet scent,
the Michaelmas Daisy (that intruder so difficult to keep
within bounds), the Eose Campion, Feather Grass (Strtpa
pmnata), Balm of Gilead, the common Ribbon Grass,
showy in garden and nosegay, all come in well in help-
ing to keep up a good variety as to heights of various
plants for different positions on the borders, time and
habit of flowering, and colour of the flowers.

CHAPTER XVII.

GARDEN ADJUNCTS — THE GREENHOUSE AND THE WINDOW,

To keep a garden well supplied with plants, and to
furnish a succession when needed, some facility for
providing plants to be ready for planting out as they are
wanted is almost a necessary to the amateur florist.
Without such convenience it will be late in the season
before we can have the flower garden in full vigour of
vegetation and gay with flowers, because our springs are
often chilly, and our seasons backward, and plants, even
of the hardy kinds raised in the open borders, will
necessarily be many weeks behind those which can be
reared in a greenhouse, in a pit, under a frame on a
hot-bed, or inside a window of the dwelling-house. In
most parts of England, too, fuchsias and geraniums, and

HOUSING PLANTS. GliEENHOTJSES. 137

all the vast catalogue of half hardy plants so necessary
to fill the garden in summer, must be taken up in
tvinter, often requiring scarcely any care beyond mere
housing until the settled warmth of spring renders it
Safe to adorn the beds and borders \vith them again.

Making young plants from cuttings creates anothei
urgent need for indoor storing places, if we want to
keep the flower garden supplied without great outlay in
buying fresh plants every season.

A greenhouse without artificial heat is sufficient for
most useful purposes, to aid the flower garden by raising
seedlings and cuttings of all common, and of most half-
hardy plants, and by keeping a sufficient number of
plants alive through the winter. Now that glass is so
much cheaper than it used to be, a little greenhouse
may be made for very small cost, and agricultural papers
teem with advertisements, highly illustrated, to set forth
plans and prices to suit all purchasers. If the green-
house be so placed as to be entirely for utility, it may
have a pit in which to make a hot-bed for seed and
cuttings, or sinking pots requiring heat, or it may be
fitted only with shelves and stages. The frost should
be kept out ; the thermometer should never go below
35°, which it is often difficult to prevent in severe winter
nights. It would be a superfluous reminder to say 32°
is freezing point. Many plants for which we especially
want a greenhouse to help the flower garden will bear
several degrees below that, but any simple contrivance
of covering the glass, linings of manure, or burning a
lamp (with the glass shaded), to keep the warmth up to
35°, will render the aid of the work to be done by the
greenhouse all the more valuable. It must have good
light, means of giving plenty of air, and the aspect
should be south, south-east, or south-west. For keeping
plants growing the temperature should not get below
45°. Between the cold of night and the warmth of day,
sometimes, of course, aided by sunshine, there may be
a rise from 10° to 15°. In summer give plenty of air.

Watering should be done seldom in winter, and early
in the day, but not too early in the morning. Let the

138 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

temperature of the water be from 5° to 10° higher than
the minimum temperature of the house, and give it in
such a way that it may reach every fibre of the plant's
root. As to time of watering, do not let the plants die,
for want is, perhaps, the only rule that can be given ;
they may not want it above twice a month, and they
may want it much oftener.

In the chapter on tools I spoke of frames and hand
glasses. Hot-beds for using in conjunction with them
may be heated by means of hot water, but any heating
medium of this kind, requiring periodical attention at
all times and in all weather, will be found too trouble-
some to those who do not keep a regular gardener ; to
them heat arising from fermentation will be much better.
The medium may be dung, decaying leaves, or tan in a
state of fermentation. As the manure is removed from
the stable it should be thrown into the pit or in a heap ;
in a week it will have heated, and must be turned over,
and the lumps broken and mixed in with the rest.
Water the mass until it is all equally moist, and in four
days water again. After a few more days turn it over
and water it again, and after lying a week more it will
fie about fit for use, but another turn over would do
good — mixing in leaves, refuse straw, and any garden
refuse there may be. When the manure is sweet for
use a handful from the centre should have a mushroomy
smell. The bed may then be made on a spot open to
plenty of sunshine, and sheltered from strong drying
winds. In small gardens, where a hot-bed much raised
would be unsightly, a pit may be dug for the manure,
and this has the advantage of not letting the bed get so
dry as it does when entirely raised above ground. The
dung should be from two to four feet high before it
settles, according to the bed wanted and the quantity of
manure at command. The bed for raising tender annuals
and striking cuttings must be level on the surface, or
slightly sloping to the south, and six inches of light rich
earth should be evenly spread over the surface, in which
the seeds may be sown and the cuttings planted, or the
seed and cuttings may be in pots plunged in the bed.

SOT-BEDS AND PITS. 139

For some little time after the bed is made, its heat will
be too great for vegetation ; four days after making, it
should be watered, closed up for another heating, and
watered again before spreading the mould on the sur-
face. When the bed has been in use some little time,
and the heat declines, it may be renewed by what gar-
deners call lining. This lining, by somewhat contrary
rule, is some heating material packed round outside the
bed. Fresh manure may be used, and gardeners often
use for the purpose the cuttings of the lawn : it should
be laid round the bed eighteen to twenty-four inches
thick. If the manure of the hot-bed be sunk, a trench
must be made to sink the lining to equal depth, that the
heat may be renewed throughout the whole mass. If a
second renewal of heat be required, this lining may be
removed, and a new one put.

Tan or tanner's bark, as a source of heat, requires
frequent stirring and renewing. When the bark is
brought fresh from the lanyard it may be lightly thrown
together under cover, gently moistened, and turned over
twice a week. About four weeks in warm weather, or
five in colder, will suffice to make the fermentation
general and regular. It will keep its heat for several
months, and when the heat declines (it will do so some-
times without apparent cause) the tan must be sifted,
the dust removed, and fresh tan added. Sometimes
turning over and wetting the old tan will do. It is well
to mix old and new tan together to make a new tan bed,
the quantity of new must depend on its goodness, and
on the heat required. Two-thirds new and the rest old,
almost decayed to mould, should produce a bottom heat
of about 85°. If the old tan used have heat left in it, a
smaller quantity of new may be added to make a new
bed, and the heat may be renewed afterwards with much
less. Forking up will answer the purpose between
whiles. Five-sevenths of the pit may be filled up with
the new and old tan in a state of fermentation, and the
remaining two-sevenths with old tan, without heat, in
which to sink the pots.

Some facility for using artificial heat is almost a

140 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GAEDEK.

necessity to avoid the alternative of being very late with
flowers for the beds and borders, or buying largely,
which, of course, comes expensive ; but very humble
appliances in the way of hot-beds may be made to go a
long way. I have even known a hot-bed, made in a box
or large pot, do a great deal in raising seedlings ancl
striking cuttings.

A warm south border of rich light earth, to be used as
a nursery, will be found a most useful accessory to the
flower garden. This may be used for raising seedlings,
for pricking out young plants until they are large enough
to take their place in the beds or borders, and for
undeveloped flowers to have a place wherein to remain
until they show the worth or worthlessness of their bloom,
A border in this nursery with cooler aspect will also be
found valuable, in which to strike cuttings in the shade.
A little reserve ground of this kind is often useful to
resort to for the supply of plants for the flower garden,
to take the place of any to which accidents may happen,
and to fill up vacancies.

Another little reserve ground for collecting, mixing,
and keeping composts, in any out of the way dry corner
will amply repay the cultivator. Of course it must be
screened from view, which may easily be managed by a
hedge of some quick growing plant : it should not be
too much shaded from sun, and if there can be a tank
for receiving the draining, that will hold a valuable
supply of liquid manure. A little bit of ground around
or by the side of the tool-house will do best, as it will
keep all the garden appliances handy and together,
particularly as guano and other fertilizers that wet would
injure, must be kept under shelter. It will be very
useful to have reserve stores of composts and manures
of different strengths and kinds, for valuable plants are
often sacrificed for want of the proper earth at hand at
the time of potting or planting. Where the arrange-
ments are on an extensive scale it has been recom-
mended to keep all the earths and manures under sheds,
and dung in watertight tanks, for the purpose of pre-
serving the liquid portion with it. Where luxuriant

COMPOSTS. WINDOWS. 141

development of foliage is desired the compost can
scarcely be too rich in manure, but if flowers and fruit
be the object, excessively rich earth will defeat that end,
and the flower buds will pass into leaf buds. Composts
are made from strong tenacious loam, half-rotten leaf-
mould, heath soil, horse-manure, cow-manure, charcoal,
wood-ashes, bone-dust, sand, turf, scalded moss, and
other items, and some of them are the better for being
years old before they are used, as I have mentioned in
former chapters, especially in that on florists' flowers.
When the bit of ground is appointed the sooner it can
be made available and put in commission the better.
Capital composts, fit for plants of various kinds, have
been described, and the sooner preparation for mixing
them can be made by laying up turf and other com-
ponents to rot and mellow, the better the garden work
will henceforth proceed. So many good composts have
been described when the flowers for which they are fitted
were spoken of, that it would be superfluous here to say
more than to recommend the amateur florist to begin
at once to make reserve heaps of some of the most
generally useful mixtures.

If greenhouse, hot-bed, frame, and all appliances of
the kind be quite beyond reach, although 1 do not see
why any one who can, in propria persona or by deputy,
hold a hammer and saw and use nails, should be without
a frame, or any one with four feet square of earth to
spare do without a hot-bed (I would rather with a femi-
nine inefficient hand knock together a frame than do
without one); garden-pots on window ledges may be
made to do something towards rearing young plants
from seed to be ready to plant out earlier than they
would be if raised in the open ground. To remind us
what may be done in windows, we need only remember
that Spitalfields weavers, with the smoke of the heart of
London against them, have been auricula and polyanthus
fanciers. We once took a house in the suburbs of
London, the half-quarter before Midsummer, the garden
of which was a bit of virgin land, from a pasture of
centuries standing. We had no greenhouse, no hot-bed,

142 FLOWEBS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

no appliances of the kind of any sort, and we wanted
to see the garden gay and tidy, as soon as it could be
dug and laid with paths. Our only appliance for rear-
ing plants from seed was a table for garden pots, placed
against a window of tolerable aspect, and there we
reared plants enough to fill the garden (with the aid of
a few purchases) by the time it was ready to be planted.
Elaborate directions on window gardening have been
written in the Cottage Gardener (now the Journal of
Horticulture), arid elsewhere, and are fully deserving of
attention ; but for making the inside of the window
available for raising seedlings, striking cuttings, and
any simple work of the kind, a very few concise hints
will be sufficient.

In the first place, if the pots are not new, let them
be made very clean ; before filling them with mould put
crocks at the bottom to insure good drainage, and take
care that the mould for filling them is not sour, clung,
and poor, but rich, good, and of the quality best suited
to the plant or seed to be grown. Take care to get first-
rate seed, and to sow it thinly. It is a great mistake to
sow seed too thickly, for if plants are ever fine after
coming up thickly it is quite in spite of circumstances.
Thinning out can never be done without almost as
much injury and disturbance of the roots to those which
are left, as to those which are removed, so that if the
seed be so sown that the plants will come up an inch
apart, and be left so until they grow large enough to
require transplanting, much time will be saved. Plenty
of air is indispensable, but the pots must not be allowed
to stand in a draught. If a plant covered with buds be
left between an open window and an open door the buds
will fall : this shows how injurious draught is, but by all
means give the plants abundance of air — the best and
purest at command. With regard to watering and clean-
liness, which appertain the one to the other, the water
used should always be a few degrees warmer than the
temperature in which the plants live ; the rule for water-
ing should be to water only when the plants want it, and
then to water well, and, to cleanse the leaves, set the pots

GARDEN DECORATIONS. ' 143

out in gentle showers, from time to time, water with a
fine rose, and syringe over the leaves sometimes.

Cuttings may often be struck in a less favourable place
than is required for plants to grow ; many will do well
if planted in a saucer of silver sand, and placed on the
mantelpiece in a room with a fire in it, or in any other
place where they can stand without interference, warm,
but not exposed to the sun.

CHAPTER XVIII.

GARDEN DECORATIONS.

ROCKWORK is a very favourite decoration for gardens and
pleasure grounds. Some people may call it a Cockney
fancy to pretend to bring wild nature into trim gardens,
by building up stones, and planting ferns, trees, sedums,
and appropriate vegetation among them, but what matter
if the owner like it, he may do what he likes with his
own ; and it might be better for us if we would be con-
tented to admire all that is good and admirable in our
neighbour's garden, aye ! and in his character too, with-
out ultra criticism. Let us admire our choice roses and
all their gay companions in the border, and let the
owner of rockwork hold to his stones, with their ferns,
mosses, and other varied coverings, and each in each
other's fancies may find many, although different,
beauties.

A rock with flat unbroken surface has not a pic*
turesque appearance ; rockwork should, therefore, be
broken and uneven on the surface. A good mound of
earth, rubbish, and brickbats is the best nucleus ; this
will support the rockwork, and give support to the plants
grown amongst it. Over this build up rough stones,
pieces of rock, clinkers, and other substances, according
to taste, with as varied a surface as possible. If the

144 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

rockwork be on a large scale deep chasms should be
managed, for the reception of larger vegetation and
small trees, and to give repose in masses of shadow.
When the arrangement of the stones pleases, fill up
between with rough mortar, except in the case of the
interstices or pockets, which are wanted for planting,
mix Roman cement to the consistence of thick paint,
taking care to mix only a little at a time that it may not
set more quickly than it can he used, and, by means of
a large painter's brush, cover the surface of the rock-
work with it. This will join all into one mass.

In planting the rockwork care must be taken to put
in with each root the earth in which it is most likely
to do well, and be liberal with moss on every bit of
surface that can be covered with it, as it is valuable in
retaining moisture. Plants especially adapted for rock-
work may be bought in almost endless variety, and seed
of many kinds can be had. The greater variety there
can be in the plants, in the colours of the flowers and
the character of the green the better, and there are many
wild plants that tell well. Our English ferns in endless
variation, and the hardy exotic ferns, form host enough,
almost unaided, for a whole garden of rockwork. In
dry summer weather ferns require frequent watering ;
and if the moss on the surface round the roots die, it
may be covered with fresh without removing the old.
When the fronds become dry do not remove them until
the spring, when the young ones begin to shoot. The
great variety which there is in the situations that different
ferns occupy naturally, must be considered when they are
planted. Some grow on high and exposed rocks, some
in moist boggy ground, others in banks, under hedges,
or in woods, while some thrive within the influence of
the spray of a waterfall. Where trees and water are
mingled with the rockwork, the habits of all kinds may
be humoured by a little contrivance.

Nothing tends more to the varied beauty of a scene
than water. To make the most of the limpid element
in pond, rivulet, waterfall fountain, basin, and every
other form in which it is pressed into the service of man

UTILIZING WATEE. 145

to beautify the pleasure ground, needs much aid from
the hand of nature, for unless we have high ground and
low ground, and command of water from the higher
level, we cannot do much. In large towns the water
companies do for us what nature, or expensive hydraulic
apparatus, must do in remote country localities ; but if
there chance to be a force pump to the house, an up-
stairs cistern may be made to help the water service in
the garden; and an intelligent working plumber can
easily fix the necessary pipes. A basin or tank for water
must be properly puddled or cemented by workmen who
are thorough adepts at the kind of work, for employing
any one who is not so will only lead to disappointment
and endless delay. Fountains are turned on or off at
pleasure, as few reservoirs are so abundantly supplied as
to admit of their being left always playing. The pipes
used must be strong and good, or they will not resist the
pressure ; they should be so fixed as to be safe from frost,
and placed on a slope, to avoid accumulations of sediment.
The water of the Emperor fountain at Chatsworth rises
to a height of 267 feet. The fountain will not rise so
high as the water in the reservoir by a great deal, on
account of the resistance of the air at the place where
it discharges, and of the friction of the pipe.

Where there is a natural sheet of water at command,
its pretty effect may be increased by making the planting
round it appropriate. Weeping Willows always look
graceful and pretty, and of course do well on the verge
of a pond or stream : they grow readily from cuttings of
ripened shoots, planted in a moist soil in autumn.
Napoleon's Willow, from the willow which grows on the
grave of the ex- emperor is different from our common
willow, and of slower growth, The flowering rush,
Butomus unibellatus, is a handsome aquatic plant with
fine heads of pink flowers ; it should be planted or
sown in the water. If the piece of water, or basin, be
artificial, it is advisable, after it is made thoroughly
watertight by puddling with clay, or by cement, to
spread a layer of loam five inches thick over the bottom
for the nourishment of the roots which are to grow in

146 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWEB GAKDEN.

it. Most plants which grow positively in the water are
best to be planted in wicker baskets of earth ; cover
the surface of the earth with haybands twisted back-
wards and forwards, and round the plant, and lace it
down securely with strong twine ; this is to keep in the
earth and the plant. With the aid of a plank laid across
the water, lower the plant and its hamper into its
place.

The Calla Ethiopica, that pretty large white flower
which we used years back to call an Arum, is a hardy
bulb, which will do well in the plain ground in the
flower garden, if it be well protected from frost in
winter. Both it and the marsh Calla, Calla palustris,
are water plants, and will bear our winters with the
roots under water. They thrive when planted in water,
from their power of discharging superabundant mois-
ture from the tips of the leaves. Plant the roots in
wicker baskets, and sink them where the water is not
more than three feet deep, as the plants will not flower
until the leaves are above water, and they would grow
weak if too tall.

The Calla is a handsome plant for pot culture, and
produces its fine white flowers in spring. It is increased
by offsets from the roots in August or September. Plant
the offsets singly in little pots well drained, in sandy
loam mixed with one-fourth leaf-mould, or well rotted
manure. Water well while they are growing, and
scantily after the leaves begin to wither, and afterwards
give only enough to keep the plants alive. Leave the
Cala plants in the light while the leaves die off, and
then place them in some shed, in complete repose,
for about a month. In October or November repot,
and give plenty of water, especially if they stand in a
sitting room with a fire. They may stand in saucers
of water, but the saucers must be emptied every day.

The beautiful white Water Lily, Nymphaa alba, grows
best in a muddy bottom, in deep water ; its large milk
white flowers are very fine.

The Water Violet floats, root and all. It only needs
to be laid upon the water. The Aponogeton distacliyon

AQUATIC PLANTS. OENAMENTAL BUILDINGS. 147

is a pretty white-flowered floating aquatic, and although
it comes 'from the Cape it is hardy.

The broad leaved Cat's-tail, Typlia latifolia, produces its
large flowers abundantly in shallow water. The three-
leaved Buckbean, Menyanthes trifoliata, has white flowers,
and also does in shallow water. Other good water plants
are Nuphar lutea, the yellow Water Lily, and Nuphar
advena, from North America, with yellow and red flowers,
Hottonia palustris, flesh-coloured flowers, and the Alls-
mas. That flower of splendid blue, the Water Forget-
me-not, Myosotis palustris, grows on the margin of the
water ; where it will gro^ it should never be left out, on
account of its brilliant colour. The handsome Spiraa,
of which there are several sorts of great beauty and
various colours, does well in a moist situation near
water.

Buildings of various kinds are used for garden decora-
tion. Most apropos among them to the subject of the
last few paragraphs is the bridge, which may look pretty
and in character if it be useful, but in poor taste if it
lead nowhere but where any one could go as well without
its aid. A bridge seems out of place on any piece of
water which one can easily walk round, but not so if it
be to cross a rivulet. A mere footbridge of planks, with
a hand-rail on one side, or on both, is the simplest bridge,
and if a weeping willow, or other graceful growing trees
be planted near, it makes a pretty feature in the land-
scape. The more simple such a bridge is left the
better, for appearance it does not even need painting.
If the character of the site be more artificial from high
cultivation, a more set erection, either of wood, brick, or
stone, may be more in character, and the approaches may
be raised so as to lift the bridge higher above the water.
If the immediate locality have a romantic character, make
the bridge of unhewn slabs of stone or rock on strong
supports ; but everything in the shape of a bridge should
not only be safe, but should look so in breadth, strength,
and stability.

A grotto is appropriate near water, and if the situa-
tion be warm and sunny, it is useful as well as orna-

L g

148 FLOWEES AKD THE PLOWEE GAEDEN.

mental, for a cool retreat in hot weather. The ruder
the rockwork for the grotto, and the larger in character,
the better, and the outside should he so concealed as to
give the idea of an excavation, not of an erection. The
sides of grottos are generally made of rough stone or
brick covered with spa, shells, madrepores, corals, £c.,
with a pebble pavement, in a pattern for the floor. Beyond
everything the roof must be weather tight. Earth
thrown on the top, if its weight can be borne, and
planted with periwinkle, ivy, or low evergreens, rather
hanging forward, looks well, or if the grotto be against
higher ground the top can be turfed over, so as to give
the appearance of a grass knoll from behind. For a
grotto to be of any use it must be in so dry a situation
as to be quite fit to sit in, and in that case the refresh-
ing coolness of its shade is welcome in hot weather.

Moss-houses are simple wooden erections, the insides
of which are covered with mosses and lichens so as to
form variations and patterns of different colours. A
framework for the house may be made with young
pines or larches, the thinnings of plantations, and
covered with laths nailed over pretty near together.
Between these laths the mosses and lichens are thrust
in firmly with a flat bit of wood, or with a turnscrew,
the root end lowest. The moss should be so arranged
as to form a varied pattern ; and should quite hide the
laths. The following kinds offer good variety of colour:
for a glaucous green, Dicranum glaucum ; yellowish
green, Bryum hornum ; a pink tinge, Sphagnum acuti-
folium ; yellow white, Sphagnum obtusifolium. There
are also the tree lichens and the reindeer moss.

Root-houses, made with pieces of roots of trees of
fantastic shape, and wood houses, made of branches of
trees with the bark on, and often ornamented with pines
of different sizes, are pretty and appropriate. For all
of these roofs of thatch harmonize well with the style of
the buildings, and they may be made simply arbour
shape, or more elaborately finished up with doors and
windows.

Similar in character may be made baskets on lawns,

STJMMERHOTJSES. SEATS. 149

either to enclose beds of gay flowers, or to be filled with
plants in pots. This looks very pretty, if the pots are
sunk in wet moss, and covered over the tops with the
same. A canary creeper, or some such pretty delicate
foliaged climbing plant, should be led over the handle.

Summerhouses, of all shapes and sizes, arches,
arcades, covered ways, garden seats, pretty bits of fence,
and vases for holding plants in pots, may all be made of
rough bits of wood or root, and come in useful in
various positions, especially to avoid monotony in a
large garden.

If a garden be large it should have plenty of seats,
and they should be of such a kind as to be convenient,
and to avoid being at any rate an eyesore. For the con-
venience part of the question they should be on a dry
spot, sheltered from sun at the time of day when shelter
is most needed, and they should have a board for the
feet, or an appropriate footrest of some kind. In our
climate there are not many days when delicate persons
can with impunity sit with the feet on the bare ground.
For this reason, too, seats and footrests should not be
of stone. Turf seats in sunny spots are good for some
seasons, and very pretty. Seats of tasteful form are
made of cast, wrought, and corrugated iron, \vood
sprinkled with silver sand while the paint is wet, to
imitate stone, wooden and iron seats with the backs to
fold down upon the seats to keep them clean and dry
when not in use, seats of wood and iron moving easily
on wheels, and in fact seats of every shape, make,
and material, that fancy can invent, and money purchase.
When seats are placed along a path a gravelled recess
should be made to receive them, that they may not stand
in the way of persons walking in the garden. Wooden
folding chairs are light and convenient, as are also
those made of straw, like beehives, and those of cane — -
all these must of course not be exposed to wet.

Stumps of old trees, partially covered with ivy, and
with flats and interstices for flowering plants in pots, and
sprays of creeping plants hanging about them, form
picturesque ornaments in suitable places,

150 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

Aviaries, too, where they are good in form, and not too
prominent, may furnish great amusement, but live stock
of any kind must be well kept, and thoroughly tended,
to be satisfactory. The same may be said of water fowl
and of gold or other fish,

Labyrinths or mazes appertain to bygone times, and
few gardens are of such ample dimensions that space
for them could be spared. The pleasure they afford, too,
is of a somewhat romping nature to suit modern taste.
If a labyrinth be already made, and have to be kept in
order, constant care, cutting, and trimming must effect
that object.

A fernery under a roof of glass, provided always its
situation be appropriate, furnishes garden amusement
under shelter, always valuable in *our English climate.
If its position be warm and sheltered stands of orna-
mental foliage plants may enhance its beauty and give
variety. An entry like this to some portion of a house,
with a handsome mosaic pavement, may be in good
taste.

Now that my list of decorations for the garden is
surely long enough, I can only conclude with the advice
that they shall not be introduced too freely. The noble
bearing of trees, the softening repose of evergreens, the
gay luxuriance of flowers, these are the best ornaments
of the flower garden, and temples, pagodas, bridges,
towering rocks, low piles of stones, grottos and summer
houses of elaborate construction, should be used
sparingly, and in the good taste of reservation, or they
will only make a stiff display of building material,
more costly than pleasing, and give to a gentleman's
garden too much the character of a public tea garden.
The decorations, of whatever kind they may be, to look
well, should be in character with the house and ground ;
and above all, to be pleasing, they should not only look
useful, but be useful, for if a path leading nowhere, a
bridge to be crossed when we could rather more con-
veniently walk on the plain ground, and similar intro-
ductions, bring the laugh of our friends against us, we
have no business to complain-

GARDEN OPERATIONS IN JANUARY. 151

CHAPTER XIX.

GARDEN OPERATIONS IN JANUARY.

WHEN we think of January and the garden together
we are apt to fly to the conclusion that very little can be
done then; but when we come to consider all that
may be done, in connection with all that wants doing,
to prepare for the superabundance of spring work, which
will become urgent with the first break in the weather,
we remember that the first month in the year will not
be a bit too long to prepare for the eleven which are to
follow it.

One job which may most usefully occupy the leisure
of winter is to set the tool-house in order, putting up
new shelves, hooks, and nails wherever they are wanted,
and finding a good and appropriate place for every tool
and garden appliance. It is a good time too for getting
all the tools set in order, while those which want mend-
ing can best be spared. Stores of stakes, shreds, sticks,
and all appliances of that kind can be cut, and put aside
for future use.

Dahlia roots and all roots of the kind which are put
by, should be occasionally looked over, to see that they
are safe from damp, mice, and other enemies. If the
weather be at all mild for the season snails and slugs
may be hunted for and destroyed. A few of these
destroyers killed early will save much killing later, and
killing is not pleasant work.

Preparing composts, and setting them ready for future
use, is one good employment for January leisure. It is
well at this early season to settle in our own minds the
flowers which we wish to make our specialities in the
coming year, and to prepare for them by considering the
composts which they will require, and laying them up
ready. It is the more advisable to attend to this thus early
because cartage now, whenever there is not frost enough

152 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWEE GAUDEN.

to make it difficult, will come cheaper, and be more
easily attainable than it will be when spring shall set
every cart at work.

Manure too, for laying up to mellow for future use,
can often be bought in January cheaper than a month
later, when almost every owner of a garden gets anxious
to make a hot-bed. Some of the most valuable com-
posts are two years in mellowing or more, and no time
should be lost in setting them to work. A little of the
winter leisure may be very valuably occupied in turning
over, and thoroughly mixing the different composts, not
forgetting in doing so to pick out wireworms, and all
mischievous grubs most carefully.

Gravel walks should be rolled, after slight rains and
after gentle thaws, but in a quick thaw using them
should be altogether as much avoided as possible, and
(a word to the wise) before thaw comes completely on
all drains should be cleared of dead leaves, and placed
in good working order. Snow should be swept from the
paths pretty constantly, to prevent its softening them
completely when thaw comes ; but it may be laid up in
masses on any spare bit where it can do no harm, as it
is a valuable fertilizer. To some plants a covering of
snow is as good a protection as any.

When thaw after frost makes the earth moderately
soft, not sappy, it is a good time for levelling inequalities
on lawns, which should always be cleared away if
possible, because they are not only detrimental to its
general appearance, but they are also terribly in the
way in mowing, whether with a machine or with the
scythe. The grass may be swept and rolled from time
to time.

All the seeds may be looked over, arranging, packing
up, and writing on those that are good, and throwing
away those which have been proved to be bad, or which
are too old. N.B. — Use mouse-traps whenever they are
wanted : the killing trap, a row of four to be bought for
sixpence, I have always found the best.

As long as winter's utmost rigour kindly holds aloof
lose no time in planting any trees, shrubs, or plants that

JANUARY. 153

are needed, and in finishing all the transplanting, choos-
ing for the purpose nice mild days.

If the tree to be planted is from a distance do not
unpack it, and if it is at hand do not dig it up until the
hole is ready to receive it, and it will be a good thing if
the ground be sufficiently moist not to require much
watering. The best plan is to move trees with great
balls of earth round the roots, by which means they are
little disturbed. Another is to trace the roots, and spread
them out well in the new soil, press them in well, and
cover carefully. If the tree look badly afterwards, water
it over the head, weather permitting, but avoid much
water to the root as too chilling. A little mulching may
do good in the night in cold weather, throwing the
manure aside in sunny days, that the earth may get
warm. When planting out from pots, shake the earth
a little from the roots, spread them, and give a little
water, but put dry earth on the surface of the ground.
If stakes are wanted, put them far enough off not to
touch the roots, and the protection of branches of ever-
greens set round may be of service. If some shrub of
a choice kind appear to do but badly, search carefully
with a fork for the extremities of the roots, and dig out-
side of them a trench one foot and a half wide, and fill it
up with fresh, rich soil, for the roots to spread into when
growth recommences.

All bulbs which are showing above ground must be
protected, according to their kind, as mentioned in their
respective chapters. Half-hardy trees or shrubs may
generally be protected by having some light covering
thrown over the tops, as frost falls from above. This,
with a little mulching of dead leaves at the roots, and a
hay band twisted round the trunk, will generally be
enough. Sawdust, leaf-mould, or old tan, makes a good
protection for anemones, tulips, hyacinths, and scillas.
Wherever the beds require a dressing of fresh soil they
should have it, and this is often more beneficial than
manure, which, if too abundant, is apt to produce leaves
rather than flowers. On poor soils, however, give ma-
nure, but let it be well incorporated with the earth, deep

154 FLOWEKS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

down. Pinks, pansies, polyanthuses, and all plants of a
like nature, should be looked over, and the loosened
roots well set in the earth. Before severe frost takes us
by surprise it will be well to be prepared with good
simple protection for everything which is likely to be
killed or injured by it, and we must be especially on our
guard against sharp frost, which comes unprepared for
by the protective mantling of snow.

Plants in pots, put by in windows, unused rooms,
frames, pits, or any indoor corners, must have all the
air and light possible : as long as the weather holds
off from becoming very severe do not stint giving air in
abundance, but water with caution.

Use the mild time industriously in deeply working the
flower beds wherever there is space enough at liberty to
do so with safety to the plants, &c., which are growing
in or near them, for depth of soil is most valuable, and
many flowers will overcome the difficulties of bad
seasons if they can have the power of choice in pushing
their roots deep in dry weather.

To commence preparations for potting, which at most
times gives plenty of work, get all the pots thoroughly
well washed, and ranged in sizes, indoors. Pots should
never be used dirty, but should be clean and smooth
inside, that the future necessary shifting of the plants
may be easy. They should be kept dry too, as from
their porous nature they absorb wet, which freezing, will
crack them during the first intense frost, and they should
be used dry, that the earth may not adhere to them too
much. Get the earth for potting moderately dry. In
re-potting it is a good plan to warm the potting earth by
a stove or a kitchen fire, that it may be a few degrees
warmer than the ball of earth to the re-potted plant.
This will encourage the points of the rootlets to spread
into the added new soil. Avoid doing the re-potting in
a cold place, for plants should have no check at this
season. When ladies pot their plants they require a
potting stick to press in the new earth which is given
outside the old ball. It is a flat stick, smoothed and
shaped like a stout-made paper-knife. When potting

JANUABYo 155

or shifting is required in winter, avoid giving more
water than is necessary, as doing so would cause a
chilling evaporation which would be injurious to the
plant, and water as much as needed before shifting,
not after.

To ascertain if the mould is of the right degree of
moisture for potting, squeeze up a ball of it in the hand,
and if it just holds together slightly it will do ; if it
forms a lump which can be laid down without its falling
to pieces it is too wet.

In potting always place crocks at the bottom of the
pot one inch docp or more, and generally a little fibry
loam, moss, or rooty peat over them, then a little earth
and the plant, and afterwards fill up. Be careful to use
for each plant the kind of earth best suited to it.

The foliage of plants in the house should be kept
clean, as well as the or.tsides of the pots and the saucers.
The best way to clean the leaves is to wash them very
gently and carefully with a soft sponge, and water of a
temperature of 65° or 70°. With small plants, which
have small foliage, put a paper tight down over the
mould, hold it firm with the hand, turn the pot upside
down, and give the plant a gentle washing in a pan of
tepid water. Large plants, with minute foliage, must be
syringed.

Study the requirements of the flowers which are to be
specialities, and make the hot-beds which will be wanted.
Above all things avoid coddling favourite plants, until
really severe weather renders it necessary to shut out
frost and give protection.

These hints, given for January, will many of them
come into play during all the spring months, especially
those relating to doing indoor work in bad weather, and
earth stirring and other outdoor work whenever there
is neither frost nor wet. Planting, transplanting, potting,
and re-potting too, must be done whenever the weather
and other circumstances render it most advisable all
through the spring.

SUMMARY. — Set tool-house, tools, and all other garden
appliances thoroughly to rights. Look over bulbs, <fec.

156 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

Prepare and lay up composts. Attend to gravel walks
and lawns. Look over and arrange the seeds. Plant
and transplant. Protect when necessary. Clean garden-
pots, set them in order, and carefully perform the potting
required. Keep plants in pots clean in the foliage.
Make hot-beds in good time. Avoid unnecessary
coddling.

CHAPTER XX.

GARDEN OPERATIONS IN FEBRUARY.

As this month and the following should see the con-
clusion of necessary spring attention to the grass of the
lawns, that subject had better be considered now. Some
persons like the soft elasticity of a moss-grown lawn,
and this vegetation has the advantage of growing under
trees, where grass will not. Some persons, on the con-
trary, think it quite out of place there, and now is the
time to eradicate it. Draw up the moss with a rake,
and clear it away : about two rakings will probably be
necessary. At the time of doing this, all bare places on
the lawns, under trees, and in shaded corners, should
have the surface scratched, and a little good manure
spread, or manure water given, according to circum-
stances. In March, the places where the moss and the
bare spots have been, may be sown with grass seed, and
have a top dressing of fresh soil, mixed with lime or
bone dust, and some well rotted manure. Pretty fre-
quent rolling throughout the year, cutting out daisies,
and dandelion and other weeds as they make their ap-
pearance, frequent mowing after the grass takes to grow-
ing, and clipping the edges from time to time, will
complete this branch of garden work for the year.

There are a few more jobs to occupy days when no
out-of-door work can be done throughout the spring

FEBRUARY. 157

months. Set in order the garden account book, arrange
all the lists of roses and other choice flowers and plants,
settle what must be sought for and bought to complete
the stocks of particular kinds of plants, and make out
lists of seeds to be purchased, or otherwise obtained.
Make plans of the beds of the flower garden, and settle
how they are to be filled, preparatory to arranging the
stock of cuttings, bedding plants, and annuals : head
work now will save lots of hard work hereafter, and work
for the pocket also. Cut, shape, and smooth plenty of
tallies, and put them by in a safe and usual place, for
little will be gained if they are either put away where
they cannot afterwards be found, or left about to get
lost. Let some be of a sort to set in the ground, and
others furnished with a hole and twine or wire, for
fastening them to trees and plants. It is a good plan
for security against loss of names to have numbers cut
in the tallies, and to keep the lists of plants agreeing
thereto in a book Any covers for protection (see p. 18)
that can be made on wet days, are pretty sure to come
into use very soon. Eustic stands, seats and baskets,
can be repaired, and any carpentry job wanted, attended
to. Prepare a lot of crocks for potting.

Carry on potting to the full extent of the space at
command for keeping the plants where they will be safe
from frost, and not too much crowded to do well. Any
plants from which early cuttings will be wanted should
be forwarded now as much as opportunity and their
healthy development admit, remembering not to force
too much, as run shoots for cuttings will not make
strong plants.

If many annuals are wanted, the hot-bed or hot-beds
made last month will now be found useful in rearing
hardy and half-hardy varieties. For hardy annuals,
plain loam will produce sturdier and better blooming
plants than a more manured soil ; and if they are
raised on bottom heat, they should be removed from
it as soon as they are above an inch high. Hard/
annuals may be sown in the open borders towards the
end of the month, if the weather be free from intense

158 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

frost, and, even if it continue a little sharp, seed may be
sown on a warm sheltered border, and protected, giving
air whenever it is feasible. The object to be kept in
view is, to get a very sufficient supply of strong plants
to put out a little later in the year, and to flower early.
Autumn sown annuals, which have stood the winter so
far, may have a dressing of soot and ashes for the good
of the slugs, and protection, if necessary.

A small frame, with sashes, merely placed on a raised
bed, not on a hot-bed, and half-filled with cinder ash, will
be found most useful in giving just enough protection
to plants which are coming forward for turning out.
Before placing the pots in it water the cinder ashes
well with thoroughly boiling water, to destroy the
insects.

Cuttings for bedding plants may be put in whenever
they can be got, and safe room can be spared for them,
for if a set flower garden is contemplated, a great many
will be wanted. Cuttings which are growing well may,
perhaps, be removed from the place where they have
grown to a cooler, to make room for fresh set cuttings.
Give choice Dahlias heat, to start the shoots for making
cuttings.

Prepare for slugs and snails with a top dressing of
soot and ashes wherever plants grow which are their
especial favourites, and try to catch the mice in traps
before the crocus roots and other bulbs fall a sacrifice.

Look well through your lists of plants to see what
seeds should be sown, indoors or out, this month,
especially remembering Stocks, Larkspurs, and all use-
fully showy plants.

Consider the requirements of Hyacinths, Tulips,
Carnations, Eoses, Auriculas, and all choice flowers,
and give them the protection, dressing, fumigation,
pruning, and other treatment they stand in need of.
The exact time for all this depends so much on the
weather, that the work of two seasons, the same month,
can scarcely ever be alike ; so the best plan, with
regard to favourite flowers, is not to depend on the
month's instructions as to their treatment, but to look

MARCH. 159

back to their chapter. This has especial reference to
florists' flowers.

SUMMARY. — Clean lawns, and get them into per-
fect order. Find indoor jobs for bad weather. Con-
tinue the potting. Prepare for early cuttings. Raise
annuals. Provide a cool frame for them. Make cuttings.
Catch vermin. See after choice flowers, and give requi-
site care.

CHAPTER XXI.

GARDEN OPERATIONS IN MARCH.

Now, in the garden, the " mirth and fun grow fast and
furious." Not an hour of fine weather and daylight
must be lost. The borders under screens and shrub-
beries must be thoroughly set to rights, forking the
ground and putting in manure about all trees and
shrubs that love rich earth, as deep as it can be put with
certainty of not interfering with any roots. Trees and
shrubs should be thinned out, so as to leave room for a
free handsome growth for all which remain, taking, of
course, the poorest in kind and handsome growth, and
leaving the best. Any which seem dead must on no
account be interfered with thus early. There must be
no delay now in completing all the planting and trans-
planting which has accidentally or carelessly been left
thus late. The sooner in the month the shrubberies
can be set thoroughly in order the better.

I intended to have done with the lawns last month,
but I must return to them to give a short extract from
that useful periodical the Journal of Horticulture, on the
6ind and weight of grass seed for sowing lawns. The
quantity named is for an acre, but any one remembering
that one acre contains 4,840 square yards can divide the
quantity to suit his own lawn. "For light soil the mix-

160 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

ture should be Festuca tenuifolia, two pecks ; Poa pra-
tensis, two pecks ; Anthoxanthum odoratum, three pecks ;
Lolium perenne tenue, two pecks ; Agrostis stolonifera,
two pecks; white Dutch clover, one peck. For strong
heavy soils the mixture should be, Poa trividlis, two
pecks ; Festuca durimcula, two pecks ; Fescula ovina, two
pecks; Anthoxanthum odoratum, two pecks; Oynosurus
cristatus, two pecks; Alopecurus pratensis, two pecks;
white Dutch clover, one peck. Roll the lawn regularly;
sometimes with a very heavy roller."

AH the flower beds and borders should be forked and
regularly set in order. Wherever there is space for it
to be done without mischief to growing plants, shrubs,
or trees, let it be deeply worked, putting in leaf-mould
deep down, for a deep soil in a garden is always good.
Where beds stocked with perennials and roots of all kinds
render deep working dangerous, fork the surface, finely
pulverizing the mould, and taking care not to destroy.
Gardeners' careless forking and digging often destroy
plants which less careless owners find it very difficult to
replace ; and when a valued plant, or group of bulbs,
has disappeared, the only explanation to be got, " I dug
over the place, and I am sure I never saw it," gives very
poor satisfaction. As the flower beds are forked over, have
a mental eye to their future planting, and a bodily one to
their present requirements, and as you progress put in
the compost and the manure most likely to produce
a good result for the coming floral season.

March winds are strong ; none will deny that. After
gusty days and nights it will be advisable to look over
trained climbers and beds of choice flowers, and put in
order whatever has been disarranged, especially taking
care to fix and steady half-uprooted plants. Where
winter wet has rotted stakes and ties they should be
renewed.

Box and other edgings should be replanted and set in
order, all the garden reduced to perfect neatness, and
if any alterations in the planting be desired let it be
done at once, for we may now expect the growing season
to come upon us without loss of time, and when growth

MAKCH. 161

commences removals will be much less advantageous.
This has reference to many miles round London, and
similar localities. In Dorsetshire, beautiful Devonshire,
west of that, and in the mild Channel Islands, work in
the gardens will be more forward.

Continue to make cuttings, and to pot off growing
cuttings, removing the well-established plants to cooler
places, to make room for the new ones. Geraniums, Cal-
ceolarias, and Verbenas will strike readily now on a nicely
made hot-bed. Those who wish to use many bedding
plants in their garden ought at this time to have a large
supply on hand, from fine cuttings made in the autumn,
to be continually reinforced, this month, by fresh-made
cuttings.

Hardy annuals, which were sown in February, should
be hardened off for planting out. Some Sweet Peas may
be sown very thinly in pots, and raised in a gentle hot-
bed. Some may also be sown in the open borders, and
if, when those which are a little forced come forward, one
pot of the forced peas is planted close against a clump
of those grown in the natural ground, the two will make
a fine clump which will come forward etrly, and last in
flower a long time. Prick out the plants of ten week
Stocks, and any similar seedlings in hand, and sow more
seed for a succession.

This month there may be a general sowing of hardy
annuals in the borders, and also seeds of good peren-
nials and biennials without stint. In fact, abundant
provision of plants of all kinds must be made, and all
our lists looked over and books consulted, to see that
we forget nothing which we shall have reason to wish
for when we come to plant out finally, for every fine
week lost now will be doubly missed later in the
year.

Half-hardy annuals may be sown in a hot bed, and
when the seedlings are an inch or two tall they may be
transplanted into another hot-bed, or planted out in pots
to remain until May, when they may be planted out in
the borders. Tender or greenhouse annuals may also
be sown in a hot-bed, pricked out into another, and

M

162 FLOWERS AND THE SLOWER GARDEN.

afterwards placed in a greenhouse. There are, how-
ever, many which, if planted out in warm borders in
June, will flower freely, and even ripen seed.

Make another hot-bed, early in March, to be ready for
next month.

SUMMARY, — Set the shrubberies fully in order.
Sow grass seed. Set all the flower beds in order.
Make climbers and flower roots firm after rough weather.
Attend to box and other edgings. Continue to make
cuttings. Prick out annuals and sow more. Sow seed
of perennials and biennials. Sow also half-hardy and
hardy annuals. Make another hot-bed.

CHAPTER XXII.

GAKDEN OPERATIONS IN APRIL

THE important work of making cuttings requires a few
more detailed remarks, which will apply more or less
to all the period during which they are made. Cuttings
have the advantage of perpetuating the old plant,
whereas seedlings may vary from it in appearance or
character.

In quick-growing soft-wooded plants, take as cuttings
young shoots or tops of the plants. Such are Anagallis,
Antirrhinums, Calceolarias, Carnations, Chrysanthe-
mums, Dahlias, Pinks, Wallflowers (only the double ones
are worth growing from cuttings), Gorterias, Gaillardias,
the low-growing Lobelias, Fuchsias, Geraniums, Petu-
nias, Pentstemoris, Salvias and Verbenas. Pots of all
these will do in a frame, on a very gentle hot-bed, made
of dead leaves, manure, or tan, or in a more artistically
heated house : Geraniums and Fuchsias almost any-
where.

The cuttings of some plants should be the partially
ripened wood. Such are Camelias, Cape Pelargoniums,
Conifera, Erythrina, Echites, Gardenias, Gordonias
(something like Camelias), Magnolias, Oleanders, and
many others.

APEIL. 163'

Many plants may be propagated by cuttings of leaves
with a bud at the base. Cinerarias, the tall Lobelias,
Statices, and most herbaceous plants, are increased by
offshoots from the base of the parent plants. Some
plants do best from cuttings of the roots, and the
Rockets, Lychnis, and such like, by cuttings of the
flower stems. Cuttings of hollow-stemmed plants should
be cut at a joint.

The leaves should be removed from the part of the
cutting which is to go in the earth, and generally some
at the top removed and cut, to reduce evaporatk-n. For
the same reason, to reduce evaporation, they are covered
with a bell glass, and shaded. Shade is, however, a
necessary evil, tending to weaken and enervate, and to
make them shoot upwards instead of root downwards.
Give as little shade as possible.

If pots and pans are at all scarce, as they are in most
establishments at this season, cuttings will do in just
anything that will hold earth. The children picked up
on the sands one day a worn-out tin baking dish, with
holes in it, and begged that it might not be thrown
away as they were u sure it would come in handy." Now
it, and other things about as incongruous, are full. For
striking the cutting's use light sandy soil, with good
drainage. A little heath-soil or leaf-mould may be
added, great care being taken that the last is thorough
mould ; for if any rotten leaves remain in it they will
cause damp and mouldiness. Do not take cuttings until
the parent plants have begun to make their spring
growth, and then try to make the cuttings continue that
growth without interruption. To effect this do not wet
the cuttings, nor let them flag. As soon as they are
planted take them at once to the place prepared for
them, where they may have a little more heat than they
had before they were cut, moist atmosphere, a little air
at night (weather permitting), and as much light as they
will bear without flagging. If they flag at all they must
have shade, or a taste from the syringe.

Eecently planted or transplanted trees should have
their welfare cared for. If the weather turn warm and-

M 2

1G4 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

dry, a little sprinkling over head with the water engine
will do good, with less danger of giving a chill than
watering the roots. A hayband wound round the
stems, and a little hay scattered about the roots will
prevent injuriously chilling evaporation. Wherever the
roots seem shaken by the wind make the earth firm
round them, and look to the stakes.

Continue to sow plenty of hardy annuals if the re-
quirements of the garden will need them, and if the
weather should become mild a good many may now be
sown out of doors. If the season be late look over the
chapters on past months, and finish up work which may
have been rendered impracticable then by severe frost
or other hindrances. In forking over the flower beds
and borders take especial care not to destroy any fine
little self-sown plants ; for nature, which has led them
on so far, will often produce in them finer plants and
better bloom than we can get in those which we rear
with greater pains.

The hot-bed made last month may, when ready, be
brought into use, by being filled with tender annuals, such
as French and African Marigolds, Asters, Zinnias Nolanas,
Canary Creepers, Morandyas, Lophospermums, &c.

Much planting out, and pricking out into the open
borders can scarcely be depended on in our climate
with safety yet, so if the indoor accommodation get over
crowded, and turning out become necessary, protection
must be provided. We need scarcely fear worse weather
in April than a simple pit or frame will provide for, if
it have a cover of calico, stretched on a wooden frame, to
put on at night. Frigi domo has been much used and
recommended, but white calico has the advantage of
letting through more light.

The early flowering bulbs will now be getting into-
full beauty, and the garden will be gay with all the
early flowers, which in planting should never be left out,
for when do we feel so greedy after flowers as we do
when we have lost sight of them for months ?

As the weather gets mild take care that indoor
plants do not get too much warmth, watch for green flies

MAY 165

and other insects, and destroy as they appear with
fumigation, washing, and hand picking. Too much
warmth and plenty of insects go hand in hand. Watch
for aphides on indoor roses.

SUMMARY. — Continue to make cuttings. See to the
roots of planted and transplanted trees, and water ii
necessary. Sow plenty of hardy annuals, and the more
tender sorts in a hot-bed. Plant out and prick out,
where protection can be given. As the weather gets
mild keep too much warmth from plants indoors, and
look after insects.

CHAPTER XXIII

GARDEN OPERATIONS IN MAY.

IN May planting out may go on with spirit, for even in
our late springs, frost scarcely ventures into the " flowery
month." Mignonette should be sown in full tufts,
which will come in nicely, as those raised indoors and
planted out, and the self-sown plants, sure to come fine
and early, get a little passe.

All the showery or damp weather must be made the
most of for planting out the hardier kinds of choice
bedding plants, such as Calceolarias, Verbenas, Scarlet
Geraniums and such like, leaving Heliotropes, Petunias,
Anagallis, Nierembergia, and all that may be hurt by
very slight night frosts, until the end of the month. It
is better to be rather late in planting out, than to run
risk from late frosts, provided the plants, when they are
put out, are moved with care to take a large undisturbed
ball of earth with each root.

It is very well worth while to make and have ready in
May a slight hot-bed for the cuttings to have all to them-
selves, and it can be done with very little trouble.
Place a foot and a half thickness of stable litter, lay on
nine inches of decaying leaves, and tread them down
well; then add two inches thickness of well decayed
leaves, and after that two or three inches of sandy loam
and leaf-mould mixed. Beat the surface smooth, water
it with warm water, and finish it with a layer of silver

166 TLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

sand. Cuttings will strike quickly in this, and it will be
found very useful.

Dahlias and many other tender roots and plants may
be turned out this month, when once there is safety
from more frost. Look through the chapters about
favourite florists' flowers, as they will want plenty of
work bestowed upon them throughout the spring
months. Shrubbery walks, and the beds under the
shrubs may be finished off with final neat arrangement
and planting, and sowing seed of hardy, quick growing
annuals, wherever gay patches of bright colour are
wanted.

As groups of annuals grow, care must be taken that
they are not so thick as to crowd each other or they will
never be fine, either in the plants or in the flower.
Plants which are growing tall enough to need it, should
have good stakes.

All the litter that has been used about the garden for
giving early protection will scarcely be wanted longer,
and it may as well be turned to account for helping to
make yet one more gentle hot-bed, which will be sure to
come in handy for some purpose or other.

Plants which are in luxuriant growth, and are bloom-
ing very abundantly, may have a little manure water if
they are of kinds which require rich nourishment.

SUMMARY. — Follow up planting out throughout the
month. Plant cuttings in a gentle hot-bed made on
purpose. Plant Dahlias, sow annuals, finish up all
arrangements in the shrubbery, &c., and look after the
requirements of the florists' flowers. Thin groups of
annuals. Use spare litter. Give a little liquid manure
to plants in very full growth.

CHAPTER XXIV.

GARDEN OPERATIONS IN JUNE.

As early this month as possible all the planting out
should be completed, and all the planted out will for

JUNE 167

some little time after require constant watching and
careful attention. Of course some failures will occur,
even under the most favourable circumstances. It is
well, therefore, to make provision by having a few plants
in reserve in the nursery. A garden of even very
moderate size should have a small piece set aside as a
nursery, to be kept stocked with a few fine plants, to
be always ready to fill up vacancies, wherever they may
occur. Trained plants, on walls and trellises, should be
gone over carefully, training and tying whenever neces-
sary.

The early flowering bulbs will be very much in the
way, as we want to arrange and plant the garden finally
for the year, but we must on no account sacrifice the
roots by cutting off the leaves too soon of those which
tvould be injured by such precipitance. Many may,
however, be taken up carefully with large unbroken
masses of earth, and planted in any out-of-the-way
corner to die off at their leisure. Other roots which
have lost their beauty for the season, may many of
them be transplanted, with great care, in damp weather.

In clearing off stocks of cuttings, seedlings, and
young plants of all kinds by planting out, it is a good
way to pot a few fine ones of each kind, and to range
them on beds of ashes (to keep off insects) in the
nursery, or any place where they will be ornamental
rather than the contrary. They will require little
attention beyond watering in dry weather, and they are
pretty sure to come in handy at a future time. If they
should happen not to be wanted for filling up vacancies
in the garden, the greenhouse, in boxes or vases, or
anywhere else where deaths or failures may make
vacancies, how very few people there are in flower-
loving England to whom a pretty flower in a pot is not
an acceptable present; and how many persons there are
owning small gardens to whom a nice plant is at any
time most welcome !

Where the present gaiety of the garden will admit of
losing some flowers, a great many plants may be en-
couraged to grow very fine by nipping off the flower

168 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARBEK.

buds. Some groups may be induced to remain longer
in bloom, by serving some of the plants only in this
way.

Unless we get very nice showery weather all the time
the planting out is going forward, watering is a laborious
item of the garden work, for until the young plants
take to the ground they would die without this necessary
evil. The water should be taken from an open tank,
where from exposure to the air it will not be below its
temperature. For delicate plants in chilly weather it
should be a few degrees above it. The collars of plants
should not be wetted, but the water so bestowed as to
be taken up by the extremities of the roots ; a little
sprinkling overhead with a fine rose refreshes them.
When liquid manure is given take care that it is not too
strong, and give it to no plants but such as are in active
growth. When they are in full vigour of growth, and
in danger of exhausting themselves with abundant
flowering, the manure water may be given, good and
without stint. Put it in at a little distance from the
roots, so that the rootlets may take it up. Hydrangeas,
Balsams, Cockscombs, Chrysanthemums, and such like
plants of a vigorous growth will benefit by manure
water. Do not give it to Heaths and similar hair-rooted
plants. Never humour plants with constantly repeated
drops of water: if they get into the habit of wanting
constant watering they will never do without it. On
the contrary, do not water unless it is necessary, and
then give a good soaking twice a-week, and do not
forget the advantage of mulching the roots. As soon
as plants approach the season of rest, which varies in
different kinds, of course the watering must be reduced
— almost discontinued — as many times already stated.

Mulching, it may not be superfluous to state, is laying
straw, litter, or manure round the stem of a plant or
tree, and over its roots. In winter it is valuable as a
protection to Magnolias, Camelias, and all tender trees
and plants, and in summer it may be used sometimes to
prevent deaths from excessive drought, by keeping in
the moisture. It also gives nourishment to the roots

JULY. 169

below by gradual percolation. When it is no longer
needed on the surface of the ground it is generally
forked in as manure. Being rather untidy in appear >
ance it is not much used in the flower garden, although
its benefit is often great.

Let any digging that yet remains be done on warm,
sunny days, as turning in the hot surface does the earth
great good : this is the opinion of a first-rate judge in
horticulture.

Cinerarias which have bloomed in pots may be
placed out on a north border, worked and raked fine
and smooth, and the self-sown seed will produce fine
young plants. Some seed of fine kinds may be sown
in pans, to produce plants to bloom early. Some plants
may be planted out on a north border, and if a few of
them are cut down and well watered they will throw
up suckers, which can afterwards be separated from
them. In these chapters on the work of each month
I have tried to avoid repeating the instructions already
given in treating of the choicer flowers in former
chapters — to those chapters I must, therefore, refer the
reader for much monthly work to be done among them
as regards their treatment arid propagation.

Young Conifers planted out on lawns should be
watered most abundantly, to encourage them to make
their growth.

Gross shoots on choice free-growing roses may be
pinched off at about the third eye, to stop their
keeping all the growth to themselves to the detriment
of the general growth of the plant.

An excellent writer in the Journal of Horticulture
recommends the following treatment of leafy plants
when first planted out, and I have no doubt of its
goodness. On the first day he waters just enough to
moisten the roots twice during the day, and syringes
over the whole plants, scattering the drops like dew, or
like a very gentle misty shower. The second day he
syringes three or four times, if the sun is bright; he
prevents evaporation from the leaves by giving moisture
vn them to evaporate, and by the third day they hold up

170 FLOWEES AKD THE FLOWEE GAEDEN.

their heads and want little more. This answers, too, on
large beds, as a few strokes of an engine scatter water
enough far and near, and the moisture which falls on
the ground rises again in refreshing mist.

As the flowers planted put begin to grow freely, if
you wish to cover a surface attend regularly to pegging
down, while the young shoots are yet pliant and tender.
But in the old English flower garden, where flowers of
all colours and all heights cover the beds and borders
in gay variety, the kind of garden in which I most
delight, so fit for the culture of stable, good perennials,
choice roses, fine shrubs and trees, and all the lasting
things that make our garden like our older and most
valued friends, always the same in solid goodness
though varying in surface from year to year, pegging
down also comes most convenient in giving us good
masses of one colour or one flower wherever we most
want it.

As the rampant growth of summer begins, keeping
order among flowers and weeds will want constant
watchfulness and give pretty constant work. Box-edgings
should be clipped in showery weather.

All the tender annuals may be planted out this month,
and plenty of Cupheas and other plants which will
come out nice and showy in- the autumn.

SUMMARY. — Finish the planting out, making up a
reserve for filling up the place of any that may fail.
Where practicable, remove bulbs, &c., to make more
room. Jn clearing off stocks of plants, reserve some in
pots, in case of needing them. Where convenient, nip
off flower buds to make plants grow large. Study the
best way of giving water and manure water. Mulching.
Dig and stir the earth in warm weather. Attend to
Cineraries, and all other choice flowers. Water young
Conifers abundantly. Attend to Eos.e trees. Syringe
leafy plants when they are planted out. Peg down, and
attend to neatness in growth and weed constantly.
Plant out tender annuals and plenty of plants to be
showy in autumn.

JULY. 171

CHAPTEE XXV,

GARDEN OPERATIONS IN JULY.

GARDEN work is a rotation which scarcely ceases the
year round. As we begin to reckon that getting through
all the planting out, and full arrangement of the beds
and borders will give a little leisure, the growing season
brings on weeds apace, and rampant growth in vege-
tation makes constant watchfulness, pegging, training,
clipping, staking and tying necessary. Insects, too}
increase apace as soon as the restraining hand of winter
is removed, and all these things give work in abun-
dance, and will do until frost shall again put .vegetation,
and its devourers, in the dormant stage.

Flowers in vases, and such like decorations, should
have the earth stirred, manured on the surface, and
covered with moss, to prevent evaporation, and the
necessity for constant watering ; vacancies in them, and
spare corners may yet be filled up to make the general
effect good, and pretty trailing plants should be led
over the edges, to do away with the stiff look which
stucco so often wears. Good foliage, and plenty of
flowers, are both necessary to keep up their good looks
throughout the summer.

Trees cut to fantastic shapes should be cut this
month. The fittest for the purpose are, yews, cypresses,
bays, arbor vitces, box trees, and Portugal laurels. They
must be clipped in again from time to time. In-
dustriously remove suckers from roses, and clear off all
the wild shoots from the stems of standards. Many
florists' flowers will require especial attention in culture
and propagation.

Roses are now showing pretty plainly whether they
have the soil they like. No watering will keep those
on light and poorish earth in fine order, whereas a
little sand and plenty of manure will, to a great extent,
overcome the difficulties on stronger land.

If the beds are likely to suffer from drought, the
surface may with advantage be mulched with a mixture

172 FLOWERS AKD THE FLOWER GARDEN

of leaf-mould, and the manure of an old mushroom
bed passed through a coarse riddle. A sprinkling of
soot and lime will trouble injurious insects. Moss and
cocoa-nut fibre also make good materials for mulching.
The especial benefit of this mulching the surface of the
borders is, that it tends to produce roots near the
surface, and bloom, whereas manure deeper down makes
the plants run to luxuriant foliage at the expense of
flower. Cocoa-nut fibre arid moss both make a nice
looking surface.

Liquid manure may be given to free-growing Roses,
to bedding plants, and other flowers, on the beds in
which it is advisable to promote freer growth. Where
mildew shows itself water the spot where it appears,
and sprinkle sulphur over it.

Cuttings of herbaceous plants may be struck under a
glass on a north border. Choose the small shoots
which are without bloom.

As the season gets on, general tidying in the garden
gives plenty of work, and all the climbing trees must
have regular attention in necessary pruning and train-
ing, keeping under the too rampant growth of the most
luxuriant among them. The garden should be gone
over regularly at least once a week, to place stakes and
sticks wherever they are needed, prune back rampant
growth wherever it appears, cut off dead flowers and
withered sprays, stir the earth and keep it light and
neat, and weed incessantly everywhere. The weeds on
the paths alone want constant attention, especially after
every little spell of wet weather. Weeds on the lawn,
too, require constant cutting up, with care not to make,
in doing it, unsightly bare places in the grass. The
flower beds, too, the shrubberies, and all parts of the
garden, require regular careful hand-weeding, or chop-
ping over with the hoe, according to how they are
planted. Pay especial attention to any weeds which
seem likely to go to seed. Weeds should not be
allowed to show themselves in a garden, much more
their progeny.

In making dwarf Chrysanthemum plants, as men-
tioned in Chapter X., if there seems a difficulty in getting

AUGUST. 173

them to root run a sharp knife along the middle of the
stem to be layered for about two inches, and set the cut
open with a small splinter of wood. Tongueing with
a Chrysanthemum does not do , but this plan of laying
the stem open often makes it root.

As a too crowded growth interferes with beauty, sub-
due the rampant growth of large things by cutting them
away, thinning them out, or removing some where they
grow too close together. This refers to this and the
following months.

SUMMARY. — Attend to flowers in vases. "Where de-
sired, clip trees to set form. Take off Rose suckers, and
attend to Roses and other choice flowers. Mulch, give
liquid manure. Make cuttings. Attend to climbers,
Attend to general tidying. Weed regularly. Dwarf
Chrysanthemum plants. Set crowded beds in order.

CHAPTER XXVI.

GAEDEN OPERATIONS IN AUGUST.

INSECTS are of all months of the year, but they are espe-
cially destructive in warm weather. With the very first
warmth Aphides, in shoals and nations, show their un-
welcome presence on our roses, geraniums, and almost
all choice plants. A drying east wind makes them
abound, and rain clears them away. Lacking the
genial rains to do this work, we must take it in hand
ourselves, with careful hand-picking or washing them
off, which can best be done by taking hold of each
spray and washing off the green fly with a small soft
painter's brush and clean water, or weak quassia water.
The next best remedy is fumigating with tobacco
smoke. Let the plants be dry when you use the
fumigator, and, if it be practicable, cover the head of
each with a paper bag before it is operated on. Every
florist should own Brown's fumigator. Take care that
the tobacco does not break into a flame ; examine the
plants the next morning, and repeat the dose if ne-
cessary. Plants in a frame or pit can easily be placed

174 TLOWEES AND THE FLOWEE GABDEtf.

near together and fumigated en masse. Afterwards
syringe freely.

The Rose Tortrix, Tortrix Berymanniana, is a destruc-
tive grub, the butterfly of which is as small as a house
fly, and very dark. Hand-picking is the best remedy, and
this must be done with the greatest care, for, on the
least warning, the grub will drop with a fine thread
and escape.

The bright and beautiful Rose Beetle is mischievous
in both stages, and luckily it can easily be caught,
being large, and not very active.

The Coccus, or scale insect, chiefly infests greenhouses
and indoor plants. The females are inert, adhering to
leaves or stems ; and the males are winged, resembling
gnats, but exceedingly minute. Clearing them off with
a brush is most effectual, and fumigating with turpen-
tine gets rid of them.

Similar in character, and amenable to the same treat-
ment, are the Oleander Scale, Aspidiolus nerii, which
attacks oleanders, acacias, palms, aloes, and such like ;
the Rose Scale, A. roses ; the Cactus Scale, A. ecliino-
cactus ; and the Sweet Bay Scale, A. lauri.

The caterpillars of many butterflies and moths are
destructive in the flower garden, and when the perfect
insects can be caught before they lay their eggs one
death will save much killing. Whenever one is found
resting quietly on a branch, stem or leaf, with the wings
folded, it is most likely a female about to lay her eggs,
and it had better be killed. If a butterfly or moth is
found so placed, dead, she will have laid the eggs, which
should be searched for and destroyed. As the season
advances destroy chrysalises, if you can find them.

The grubs of many beetles are also destructive in
flower gardens.

The Earwig, Forficula auricularis, is very mischievous
among dahlias, pinks, carnations, and many other
flowers and their seeds. Earwigs eat at night, and in the
day hide away in dark recesses, so that they may be
caught by giving them dark hiding places, in which
they may be looked for and destroyed every morning.
Small garden pots, crab and lobster claws, pointed bags

A.TTOTST. 175

of thick dark paper, or any similar contrivance, turned
upside down on sticks, will catch a great many.

Slugs, snails, centipedes and wood lice, are all very
injurious.

After naming so many things which must be destroyed
for the preservation of our flowers, a few words may be
said on the more agreeable subject of those denizens of
the garden, the lives of which should be spared, because
innocent themselves, they kill destroyers. First among
these are frogs and toads; I ought to say toads and
frogs, for the toads I believe are the more active in
eating injurious creatures in the garden — slugs, snails,
caterpillars, grubs, moths, and millipedes. By all means
spare the lives of the toads and frogs, and let them be
defended from injury. Catch one and put him wherever
the destructive wood lice abound, and you will find out
his merits.

Moles are valuable in eating noxious grubs, so they
should be treated with mercy, although they must be
banished from under the lawn. Hedgehogs do good in
the garden, eating beetles, snails and slugs, and some-
times mice, which are very mischievous in eating any
seeds that eat nice — bulbs, and some other roots. Young
chickens must be kept safe from them. The shrew
mouse is an insect eater, and not a root and seed eater,
like the destructive field mouse. Bats also eat cock-
chafers (one of the most destructive among insects),
moths, and such like winged things.

Snakes, slow worms, and lizards, are all industrious
destroyers of slugs, and do no harm to counterbalance
this great good. So by all means let them live.

The pretty little lady bird should be respected and
cherished as the great enemy to, and devourer of, the.
aphides. I believe the perfect insects, as well as
their larvce eat these pests of the flower garden. The
larva are flattish, fleshy grubs, tapering to the tail ; they
have no legs, but are very active.

Mole crickets disturb the earth a little, but they de-
vour grubs. Glowworms eat snails, and their relative,
Drilus flavescens, does the same. All beetles are not to
be condemned, as some of them are enemies to the

176 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

flower garden's worst enemies — rose beetles, cockchafers,
wire worms, slugs and snails (skipjacks are wireworms in
another stage). These useful creatures are some of the
ground beetles, the tiger beetle, rove beetles (popularly
known as cocktails and devil's coach-horses), and two
kinds of silpha. One of the weevil family, Anihribus
albinus, feeds on the scale insect.

Bees of various kinds, so useful in spreading pollen,
do no harm in the garden that I am aware of. The
ichneumons and the sand wasp destroy caterpillars in
great numbers. Even some caterpillars feed only on
noxious weeds, but Mr. Wood says : "It maybe assumed
that every subterranean larva in a garden is obnoxious,
and may safely be destroyed." The grubs of the lace
wing fly, and the hawk fly, feed entirely on spiders.
Spiders also may be spared.

These few remarks on insects, and other garden
"friends and foes," extend over all the months between
the first gleams of warmth and the time when insect
depredations are curbed by winter frosts

August work in the garden embraces minute attention
to order in all departments — pruning, tying, restraining,
taking cuttings as good ones present themselves, weed-
ing beds, lawns and paths, and watering with judgment
when it is necessary.

SUMMARY. — Keep everything in perfect order.

CHAPTEE XXVII.

GARDEN OPERATIONS IN SEPTEMBER.

To retain the flower beds in continued beauty it is
most important to cut all withered flowers, and to cut in
stems of too rampant a growth whenever it can be done
without giving a check. Also be careful to gather seed
pods before they swell, wherever neglect in gathering
dead flowers has allowed them to form. Constant little
attention of this kind to the flower bed will keep them
gay until quite late in the year.

The plants which are intended to produce seed should

SEPTEMBER. 177

not be allowed to go on until the best bloom is past ;
but the finest flower on the finest plant should be
marked while in its full prime, at whatever season that
may occur. The plant should then have plenty of room
given it, a mulching of manure rf it be considered ad-
visable, and all the flowers not wanted for seed should
be plucked to give full strength to the few. A dry day
should be carefully chosen for gathering seed. As soon
as the seed is taken some Clarldas, Nemophilas, Collin-
sias and Candytufts may be sown now, and the plants
kept through the winter, as their seed never produces
such fine plants as when it is sown as soon as it is ripe.
Also sow Godetias, Lupinus Nanus, Gilia tricolor, Lep-
tosiphon androsaceus and Densiflora, and Viscaria ocu-
lata. Seed of Ranunculuses and the Cruciferse will
keep four years. Capsicum seed will keep good for
several years if kept in the pod, but will seldom grow
the second year if taken from it. Mignonette seed will
do several years old ; wallflower may be two years old ;
sweet peas and lupines should be used at one year old.
Larkspur will not do well after the second year. Princes
feather and poppies will keep several years. As a rule,
however, it is better not to depend on old seed.

As the old hot-beds of the year are done with, and
done away with, put up good reserve heaps of com-
posts of different kinds, fit for all choice plants, for
potting, and for making cuttings, taking care to mix
them well, to turn them over to mellow, to pick out
grubs and wire-worms, and to shelter them from wet.
Much of the success of next year's flowers will depend
on having good stores of composts of various kinds, to
go to for their use. Do not forget a store of good
turfy loam. The making of cuttings for good stores of
plants must be actively carried on. Commence with
white, scarlet, and purple verbenas, taking nice stubby
side shoots. Lots of such cuttings may be taken with-
out materially interfering with the flowering plants.
Fill three-inch pots quite full of the cuttings, place them
on ashes or sand with a frame over them, and they
can be shifted into larger pots in January or February ;

178 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

top them for cuttings, if more are wanted then.
After these may follow the heliotropes, and plants of
that kind, later scarlet geraniums, and, in October,
calceolarias.

This month and the following, beds will have to be
made for different choice flowers which are planted in
autumn, and many bulbs may be put in. At the end
of the month frost must be watched for with care. The
dahlias had better be earthed up over their crowns, that
they may not be caught and spoiled by sudden frost.

The choicer geraniums had better be taken up and
potted at the first threatening of frost, and put in a dry
place, where they will be safe from frost. If they can
be placed on gentle bottom heat in a pit, they will soon
be established, and can then be stored away in winter
quarters. Where it is necessary to take up showy,
tender plants rather early, their place can be supplied
with chrysanthemums coming forward, and any spare
winter blooming plants there may be in reserve.

Anne Boleyn pinks, cloves, and carnations, will
flower nicely in autumn and winter under glass, almost,
if not quite, without heat, if they are prevented bloom-
ing in summer by nipping off the flower stems as they
appear.

Purchases of bulbs should be made in good time to
prevent disappointment from indifferent supply from a
well picked over stock, of which we have no right to
complain, if it arises from our own remissness in send-
ing our orders.

Transplant evergreens this month, that the trees or
shrubs may make fresh roots before the check of
winter. If moved in September they will be much less
likely to suffer in the spring than if the work is de-
layed. Deciduous trees and shrubs must, of course,
not be removed until they have lost their leaves. Many
plants should be shifted now, that they may make root
before winter. All the autumn flowering plants will
require constant attention in putting stakes, sticks, and
ties, as not a flower now must be lost for want of care.

SUMMARY.— -Cut off dead flowers, and attend to the

OCTOBER. 179

neatness of the beds and borders. Gather ripe seeds,
and sow some kinds. Make collections of composts for
choice plants. Plant cuttings ; make beds for bulbs
and choice flowers. Earth over the crowns of dahlias.
Watch for early frost to save tender plants. Pinks and
carnations to flower late and in winter. Purchase
bulbs. Transplant evergreens. Re-pot.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

GARDEN OPERATIONS IN OCTOBER.

TRY by some means or other to get a nice stack of fibry
turf to mingle and mellow for future use, and pack over
it a thatch of good square cut turf, it will prove a store
worth anything at from one year old onwards. Cow
manure, too, should be laid up in store, to come into
use when two years old. These are only two of many
items to be needed for making valuable composts.

When October begins, frost in real earnest must be
expected at any time and prepared for. After the
foliage of the dahlias is cut down, they may remain
a short time still in the ground, and then the roots
must be taken up. Preparation must be made for
protecting tender plants and climbers, as it may become
necessary to defend them any night, with very short
notice. Preparation of protective materials may em-
ploy bad days ; look over and arrange mats of all kinds,
and make any covers of reed, straw, &c., that may be
useful. Hardy creepers may be made snug by neat,
close training, and have rampant straggling sprays
removed. Do the pruning of tender sorts at twice or
thrice. Taking up and potting all choice plants which
frost would hurt, must be systematically proceeded with.
The newly potted geraniums and other plants should,
if possible, be placed on mild bottom heat, to start the
roots before being put by in winter quarters. If chrys-
anthemums, and some other plants in flower, are
.protected from the first frosts, they may yet go on and

N 2

180 FLOWEES AND THE FLOWER GARDEN.

bloom, and look gay for a long time. Cut down holly,
hocks, and daub tar on the cut stems to keep out wet.

Take up all the old scarlet geraniums there can
possibly be found winter room for, because old plants
will flower earlier and more abundantly than the plants
from cuttings. If they are taken up early, and potted
in pots just large enough to hold the roots, cuttings
may afterwards be taken from them.

Set in order all the flower beds and borders. Cut
down abundantly, and pull up all dead and dying
annuals, thin the shrubberies and screens, and clear
away dead and untidy looking matter of all kinds.
Carefully collect all this mass of foliage, chopping up
with a bill-hook such tough stuff as hollyhock stems,
and collecting dead leaves, as many as can be got
together, daily. This, even in a garden of medium size,
will soon be a large quantity. Throw it all in a heap,
pack it together, and turn it about, so that it will heat ;
for slight hot-beds, with inexpensive frames over them,
will cost very little, and the more you can have the
better will be your show of fine flowers next year, for
all the year round, with only a little management and
forethought.

All herbaceous plants that have grown too large, and
straggling in growth, should be taken up, have the roots
divided, and be planted about, where they will produce
the best effect. Double rockets, purple and white,
should be so lifted, and put in a new spot once a year.
On no account put off transplanting evergreens ;
common rhododendrons will move well.

When the beds are cleared make provision for gaiety
in spring by planting narcissus, hyacinths, turban
ranunculus and tulips. Beds of these edged with
crocuses of different colours look very nice. Abundance
of spring flowers, too, may be planted — primroses,
polyanthus roots, alyssum, candytuft, arabis, and
aubrietia, will be done with in time to make room for
bedding plants next year. Plant also early tulips,
hardy cyclamens, hepaticae, red, white, and blue, snow-
drops, winter aconites, and dog's-tooth violets. Do not

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER. 181

forget to make the borders gay with plenty of free
blooming common roots, such as wallflowers, Canter-
bury bells, sweet Williams, foxgloves, fine Veronicas,
and all kinds of showy, handsome perennials.

As many simply-made hot-beds as there can be found
room, material, and frames for, will be quite sure to get
filled with advantage. Make the bottom of the beds
below the level of the ground, and, to drain it, lay in
nine inches thickness of dry litter, such as the straw
with the manure shaken out. Over this spread a little
older litter, and tread it down well ; then a few inches
thickness of half-decayed leaf-mould, and collected
stuff of that kind, with a little earth, and a wheel-
barrowful of lime, all well mixed together, to get rid of
worms, &c., this also trodden down well. Over all
place a sufficient thickness of light earth, if it is for
cuttings, and if for keeping potted plants tan, cinder,
ashes, or any medium in which to plunge them, or a
thin layer for them to stand upon. A bed can be made
out of sight whenever the requisite material presents
itself.

SUMMARY. — Lay up material for composts. Prepare
for winter by protecting, taking up, potting, and pruning
in climbers. Set the flower beds in order, collect
material for hot-beds, divide roots, move evergreens
(if not done), and plant the garden with a view to gay
flowers in the spring. Make hot-beds when the neces-
sary material is ready.

CHAPTER XXIX.

GARDEN OPERATIONS IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER.

LITTLE remains to be done before the end of the year
but to look to the last month's work and see that nothing
is left undone ; no choice plant intended to stay out the
winter left without the protection necessary to keep off
winter frost and wet ; and no cherished flower, which

182 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GADREN.

should be lifted, forgotten and left to perish in the
beds.

Take up the roots of tigridias, dry them, and put
them away where they will be safe from mice. Except in
very favourable localities serve Gladioli the same. Salvia
patens, French and African marigolds, fuchsias, and
such like, may be kept alive by coverings of finely sifted
coal-ashes. To bedding plants, cuttings, and most
plants in pots, future prosperity mainly depends on the
invigorating supply of air they can get, as long as any
spirit of growth remains in them ; so give air freely to
all, as long as the absence of biting frost renders it
practicable. Sometimes we get little such before
Christmas. Water must be given sparingly, only the
plants must not be allowed positively to suffer for the
want of it, and take great care not to spill, as the damp
arising from water on the floors and stages is injurious
at 'this season. Give water enough to wet the soil
(taking care that the drainage is good), and then do not
give any again until it is wanted.

All alterations should be finished in November.

When the last month in the year dawns upon us
more careful protection may be wanted, or very severe
weather may keep off a month longer. Whenever it
comes it must be rnet as if expected. All tender roots
may be protected with coverings of half-decayed leaves,
and hardy annuals dusted over with soot, quick-lime,
and wood-ashes to destroy slugs. Trench vacant ground,
and leave it rough, to mellow in the frost.

SUMMARY. — See that the work is all well finished up.
Take up roots of tigridias, &c. Protect, where necessary,
but give plants in pots as much air as can be. Water
with care and caution. When very sharp weather comes,
give more protection. Attend to slugs. Bough dig
spare ground.

INDEX.

Page

ACACIA • . . . o . . 21
Aconite ....... 115

African marigold . . . .100

lily 108

Ageratum 09

Almonds 22

Alocasia metallica ... . 50

Altheafrutex 28

Amaranthus 125

Amaryllis 109

American plants . . . . 92

Andromeda 30

Anemone Japonica ... 67

Anemones 65

Annuals . 116, 117, 118, 161,
164, 166, 170

Annual chrysanthemums . 73
Anomatheca cruenta . .114

Antirrhinum 129

Aquilegia 128

Araucaria 26

Arbutus 27

Arranging . . 159, 160, 170,
172, 176, 178, 180

Arum 133

Aucuba 25

Auriculas 85

Autumn crocus . . . .113

Aviaries 150

Azaleas . , .... 93

Page
Balm of Gilead .... 136

Balsams 125

Barrows 19

Bay 28

Beaton's concrete paths . . 11
Bedding plants .... 94
Beds of flowers .... 95

Begonias 46

Belladonnas 109

to flower early . . . 109

• in the open air . . . 110

Berberry 29

Bignonia 33

Birch 23

Bladder senna 31

Box edging ... 10, 160, 170

Box thorn 31

Bridges 147

Brompton stocks .... 123
Broom ....... 22

Budding roses 57

Buddlea 32

Bulbs, tubers, &c. 106, 167, 178

Cacalia 120

Caladiums 45

Calandrinia umbellata . .120
Calathea zebrina, orMaranta

zebrina 44

Calceolarias 67

184

INDEX.

Page
Calceolarias, exhibiting . . 67

Calla 133, 146

Callichroa 120

Calliopsis, or Coreopsis . .120

Campanula 128

Canary creeper .... 36

Candytuft 121

Canterbury bell . . . .128

Catalpa 21

Caterpillar plant .... 125
Cedar of Lebanon . . . . 26
Cedrus deodora . . . . 26

China asters 123

Christmas rose . . . .133
Chrysanthemum . . . 71-73
Cineraria . . . . 74, 169

maritima . . . . 41

Cissus 49

Cistus 130

Cladanthus 121

Clarkia 121

Clematis 37

Cobaea scandens .... 33

variegata ... 34

Cockscomb 126

Collinsia 122

Columbine 128

Coloured foliage for bedding 97

Colours for bedding plants . 105

Compost ground . . . .140

Composts . 55, 60, 67, 68, 70,

73,^74, 80, 81, 85, 89, 93,

177, 179

Convolvulus major . . .124

minor 120

Copper beech 24

Cotoneaster 30

Crocuses .... 112, 113

Crotons ...... 47, 48

Crown imperial . . . .113

Page

Cupheas 99

Cuttings . 143, 158, 161, 162
Cyanophyllum magnificum . 49

Cyclamens 101

in pots 102

Daffodils 112

Dahlias , 74

stakes for ... 75, 179

Daisies 135

Dark foliage plants ... 98

Daturas 125

Deciduous hedges . . . . 10
Destroying, avoid. ... 8
Dielytra spectabilis . . .115
Digging in sunshine . . .169

Double cherry 23

furze 31

peach 23

Dracaena 47

Eccremocarpus .... 35

Eschscholzia 102

Eucharidium 121

Eutocas 121

Evergreen berberry or Mahonia 29

hedges G>

Everlasting peas . . . .133
Everlastings 124

Farfugiurn grande . . . .41

Feather grass 136

Fernery 150

Florists' flowers . . . 65, 166
Flowering currant ... 29
Flowers for bedding . . 95, 96
Forms of rose-trees ... 52

Fountains 145

Foxglove 129

Frames .... 17, 18, 158
French marigolds .... 100

INDEX.

185

Page

Fritillaries 113

Fuchsias 77, 78

Fumigator 17, 173

Funkia Sieboldiana ... 41
Furze walls 9

Garden accounts . . . .157

friends . . . 175, 176

operations for the months

151-182

rocket 132

Gaultheria 30

Gazanea elegans . . . .100

Genista 133

Gentianella 132

Geometric gardens ... 5
Geraniums . . . . . 81, 98
Gladiolus .... Ill, 182

Godetia 105

Golden rod 132

Golden thorn 40

Gravel walks . . . . 10, 152

Greenhouse 137

Grottos 147

Guernsey lily 114

Halesia, or Snowdrop-tree . 30

Hand glasses 19

Hawkweed 125

Hawthorn 22

Heaths 131

Heliotrope 100

Henbane 43

Hepaticas 132

Heracleum asperum ... 43

giganteum .... 43

Hibiscus Africanus . . .121

Holly 24

seed 24

Holly, removing large . . 25

Page
Hollyhocks .... 126-128

Honesty 125

Honeysuckle 37

Hop 37

Horse chestnut . . . . 20
Horseshoe geraniums . . 98
Hot-beds 138, 165, 166, 177, 181

lining . 0 .... 139

Hyacinths 78-80

Hydropult 16

Hydrangeas . _ .... 130
variegated .... 50

Insects . . 171, 173, 174, 175
Iresine herbstii . . . . 98

Iris 108

Italian gardens .... 4

Ivy 33

size of 39

• variegated . ... 38

Ixias, Tritonias and Sparaxis 111

Japan spindle-tree ... 40
Jonquil 112

Kaltnia 28

Kaulfusia 121

Labels 117

Laburnum 22

Labyrinth 150

Landscape gardening ... 2

Lantanas 102

Larch 23

Larkspur 102

Laurel 24

Laurustinus 27

Lawn baskets and rases 148, 171

Lawns 11, 156

Leptosiphon 103

186

I3TDEX.

Page
115
22
106
107
107

Leucojum ....
Lilac .....

Lilies

orange

tiger ....

white 107

Lilium lancifolium . . .107
Lily of the valley . .. . .116

- variegated . . . . 39

Liquidamber 23

Liquid manure . . 168, 172

for roses ... 61

Lobelias 98

Lophospermum . . . . 35

Loquat 23

Love in a mist 122

Love lies bleeding . . . .125
Lupines 122

Magnolia ... . . 21
Manure for roses . . . . 61

Marantas 44

Maurandia Barclayana . . 34

Menispermum 35

Mesembryanthem'um . . .124
Michaelmas daisy . . . .136

Mignonette 118

in pots 119

in winter .... 119

large flowered . . .120

tree 119

Mildew 172

Mimulus 131

Moderation in decoration . 150
Monarda didyma . . . .131

Moonseed 35

Moss-house 148

Mountain ash 23

Moutan .134

Mowing machine .... 19

Mulching
Myrtle .

Page

168, 171

, 27

Nasturtiums .... 36, 99

Nemophila 103

Nitraria 31

Nursery . 140

Obelliscaria 134

(Enothera . . . . 105, 135
Old-fashioned gardens . . 6

Osage orange 24

Oswego tea 131

Pampas grass 26

Pansies 80

• dying off 81

Passion flower 35

Pavetta Bordonica . . . 48

Peas 134

Pegging down ... 97, 170
Pegs for carnations ... 70

Pelargoniums 81

Pentstemons . . . 103, 135
Perilla Nankinensis . . s 41

Periwinkle 134

Petunias 84

Pheasant's eye 122

Phloxes 85

Pinks 71

Plans for flower gardens 96, 104
Planting . . . 152, 165, 169

rockwork . . . .144

Pleasures of horticulture 1, 7

Poeouy 134

Poinsettia ....... 50

Points of anemones . . . 66

auriculas » * . . 86

carnations » % . . 70

dahlias . . . , 76

IKDEX.

187

Page
. 81
. 82
71

. 88
64
91

Points of pansies . .

- pelargoniums .

- pinks

. polyanthus . .

- - rose

- tulip

Polyanthus ..... . 88

- Narcissus . . . .112

Pomegranate ..... 32

Poppy ....... 125

Portugal laurel . . . . 24

Portulacas ...... 103

Pots ...... 142, 154

Potting . . 154, 155, 179
Primroses ..... .88

- Chinese ..... 88

Primulas ...... 85

Prince's feather .... 125

Protection . . . . 164, 179

Protectors ...... 18

Pruning roses ..... 62

— Austrian briars . . 63

- Banksian .... 64
— Cloth of Gold ... 64

- - French, Moss, Alba,

Provence, Damask,
and Austrian . . .63

- Hybrid China and Hy-

brid Bourbon . . .63

- Hy. Per., Dam. Per.,

Per.Mossand, Bourbon 63

- Tea, Noisette, and China 63
Ptelea ....... 32

Ranunculus 89

for the garden ... 90

• to flower in winter . 90
Reserve plants . . . .167
Rhodanthe Manglesii . . 126
Rhododendrons .... 94

Page

Rhododendron cuttings . . 94
Rhodora Canadensis . . . 94
Ribbon borders .... 95

Ribbon grass 136

Rockwork 143

Rollers 19

Root-house 148

Rose campion . . . .136
Rose of heaven . . . .121
Roses .... 51, 169, 171

bespeak them early . 60

budding 57

for town gardens . . 51

from cuttings . . . 54

from seed .... 58

hybridizing .... 58

layering 53

Rose-growers' lists ... 64

124

Salvias 100

Sanvitalia 105

Saponaria .101

Saving water 20

Saxifrage 133

Schizopetalon 121

Scilla f . 115

Scythe 19

Seats 149

Seed 176

sowin- . . . 142, 177

Seedling bulbs .... 106

Shaping beds 5

Shears, &c 19

Silvery foliage plants . . 97
Single Narcissus . . . .112

Snail plant 125

Snake cucumber . . . .125

Snapdragon 129

Snow 152

188

INDEX.

Page

Snowball-tree, or Guelder rose 27
Snowflake, or St. Agnes' flower 115

Snowberry 30

Snowdrops 116

Soils 13

Solomon's seal . . . .116
Sonorila Margaritacea . . 49
Spergula pilifera . . .13
Spider wort . . . . . 136
Spring planting . . . .180
Star of Bethlehem . . .115
St. John's wort . . . . 132

Stumps 149

Sumach 31

Summer-houses . . . .149
Sundries for the garden . . 19

Sunflower 124

• perennial . . . .124

Sweet peas 125

Sweet scabious . 0 . .133
Sweet William .... 71
Symmetrical garden . . 5
Syringa 28

Tallies 14, 157

Tan. . . 139

Tecoma 33

Tender handsome foliage plants 43
Ten-weeks stock . • . .122

Tigridias 182

Tool-house 151

Tools 15

Tree mallow 43

Trees cut to shape . . .171
Tritoma grandis . . . .110

• uvaria . ." . . . 110

Tuberose Ill

Tulips 90-92

Page
Tulip-tree 23

Variegated coltsfoot
ivy . . .

39
38
39
40
42

lily of the valley .

mezereon . . .

trees and plants

yucca 40

Venus' looking-glass . . .120

Verbenas ...... 92

Veronica 129

Violets 135

Virginian creeper . . . . 86
stock 126

Wallflower 129

Walls 9

Washing foliage . . . .155

Water 144

engines 16

Watering . . . 137, 168, 182

Watering-pots 16

Water plants . . . 146, 147
Weather for budding roses . 57

Weigela 32

Wellingtonia gigantea . . 26
Windows .... 141, 154
Winter aconite . . . .115

cherry 27

Wire fencing 9

Wistaria 34

Xeranthemum . . . . t 124
Yucca : . 26

Zephyranthus . . < . .115

Zinnea

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