350 FLORA HISTORICA. 



as Ave wish to embellish by cany particular hue, or 

 to sites where we intend to display the art of group- 

 ing colours. These plants should be allowed suffi- 

 cient room to extend their branches, but at the same 

 time be planted so near to each other as to hide the 

 earthy and form but one mass of flowers ; and they 

 may generally be planted on 



The spot where spring its earliest visit paid : 



for by the time these annuals require transplanting, 

 most of the early flowering bulbs will have been 

 taken out of the ground. 



It is recommended to preserve the seeds from 

 the flowers of the centre or principal stem only, as 

 the flowers on the lateral branches are never so 

 large or so double, and consequently produce in- 

 ferior plants. This seed should be sown in the 

 spring, en a warm border, or upon a gentle hotbed ; 

 and when the plants are about three inches high, 

 they should be removed to a bed of rich earth, 

 where they may be transplanted at six inches' dis- 

 tance from each other every way, and kept shaded 

 from the sun and properly watered until they have 

 taken root. In about five weeks they may be again 

 removed to the parterre where they are to flower : 

 but in this last removal, it is necessary to take them 

 up with a good ball of earth about their roots ; and 

 it is desirable that this last removal should be per- 



