62 THE FLORIST, 



greatest care be not taken not to allow the canvass to be over the 

 beds longer than absolutely necessary, a great injury may ensue to 

 the Roses themselves ; indeed, unless the sun be very hot, it should 

 not be used. 



My reasons for preferring good Autumnal Roses, when well- 

 grown, for bedding purposes, are 1. that they require little or no 

 protection during the winter months, when perhaps every house and 

 pit is full of other bedding plants ; and some, it may be, in spite of 

 all care, suffering from damp and mildew ; 2. that as the Rose is 

 confessedly the queen of flowers, and may with care and attention 

 be made to look as brilliant and beautiful as any other bed of flowers, 

 while, cceteris paribus, it is superior to them in many respects, it is 

 surpassed by none ; 3. that it requires no supporting sticks, no 

 tying, no pegging to the beds, or other unsightly methods, for the 

 preservation of a due appearance of neatness. I am well aware, 

 however, that unless these methods be pursued con amove, the beds 

 will fail to present that beautiful appearance so much to be desired ; 

 and unless it is determined to devote a little attention to them, they 

 had better not be tried, as a Rose-bed ill-cared for is a most scrubby 

 and unsightly object. 



In my next letter I will enumerate a few Autumnal Roses which 

 I think particularly adapted for the object of this letter. I will also 

 give the novice the benetit of my experience as to the proper compost 

 to be used in making the beds; and if any thing should have escaped 

 my recollection relating to this subject, I will mention it. 



R. P. 



LISIANTHUS RUSSELLIANUS. 



Having been requested to give your readers the result of my expe- 

 rience in growing this truly splendid plant, I shall now endeavour to 

 do so as briefly as possible. 



The seed should be put in about the first week in March, in 

 4 or 5 -inch pots, well drained, using a little finely-sifted soil on the 

 top, pressed flat, and well watered ; the seed should then be sown 

 thinly, and a little silver sand sprinkled over it : a pane of glass or 

 a bell-glass should be put over each pot. A cucumber-pit is as good 

 a place as any to place the seed-pots in until the plants come up, 

 which will be in about three weeks. As soon as they can be well 

 handled, they should be potted off" singly into small pots, and moved 

 into a pit with a nice w^arm moist heat ; in a few weeks' time they 

 will require to be shifted into a size larger pots, and placed again in 

 the pit, until about September or October, when they will be nice 

 stout plants, in 5 or 6-inch pots. A light shelf, near the glass, in a 

 house, where the temperature is not allowed to fall much below 50°, 

 is as good a place as any to winter them in ; keeping them rather 

 dry, never watering them over head, as they are very liable to damp- 

 off in the winter months. 



About the middle of February the strongest plants may be shifted 



