118 THE FLORIST AND POMOLOaiST. [ MAV, 



half a century, gardener at Grendon Hall, AVarwicksliire, the seat of Sir G. Chet- 

 wynd, Bart. ; and served as gardener not only the present Baronet, but his father 

 and grandfather. Ho was much esteemed by his employers, as well as by the 

 profession generally. 



GAEDEN WORK FOE MxVY. 



FLOWERS. 



f^^liE great business of the month is the planting of the flower-garden. The 

 time of doing so depends upon the weather. After the 20th is 

 generally considered safe, though wo occasionally have frosts up to 

 the end of the month, and indeed all through the summer, so if 

 we wait till the last sweep of the cold is surely past, we might not 

 at all. By beginning with the hardiest plants, such as Verbenas^ 

 Calceolarias, and well-seasoned Scarlet and other Pelargoniums, we maj' generally 

 proceed to plant with tolerable safety after the middle of May ; Variegated 

 Pelargoniuvis, Ageratums, Alternantheras, PeriUas, Fuchsias, Succulents, (fee, may 

 follow, winding up with Dahlias and Subtropical j^lants, as Solanums, <fec., 

 which latter are, as a rule, better under glass till June. All such things should, 

 moreovei', be strong before they are planted out ; and to succeed well, most of 

 them require a sheltered position. Cannas and India-Rubber plants bear rough 

 exposed treatment better than most others, and are among the most useful. 



The arranging of flower-garden plants has become a hackneyed subject, and 

 it can hardlj- be necessary to repeat the old canons about harmony and contrast 

 — orange and blue, red and white, yellow and purple ; on the contrary, I would 

 rather advise everyone to please himself, and the chances are he will also please 

 others ; and if not, ladies and gentlemen mostly have gardens for their own 

 gratification, and are quite as much entitled to fill them as they list, as to furnish 

 their houses or carpet their rooms to their own taste. Moreover, I plead for 

 gardens of all colours, and all modes of furnishing, assured of this, that the richest 

 effects are mostly the results of chance, or of the merest eccentricities of genius. 

 Careful planting is one of the best receipts for rapid covering. Settle the plants 

 in their warm genial beds with a soaking of water at a temperature of 80°, and 

 run a hoe over the surface in a few hours afterwards, to keep the heat in ; or, better 

 still, cover the surface immediately with a thin layer of cocoa-fibre refuse. Some 

 also give each plant a trowelful or more of compost or manure at planting, to 

 set it off in its new sphere — a capital plan. Finally, plant thickly, almost suffi- 

 ciently so to cover the ground at once, if it can be done ; it is pleasanter to prune 

 and thin, than to wait for the plants to cover. Keep the herbaceous border or 

 garden neat and clean. Plant out tender and hardy annuals and perennials ; 

 also rooted runners of Violets, young plants of Arahis, Aubrietias, Forget-me-nots, 

 Polyanthuses, Pansies, Daisies, P//rethrums, Pcntstemons, Phloxes, &c., and pro- 

 pagate Double Walljlowers and Stocks. 



In-Dooes. — Keep cool and shady in the conservatory, which will now be 

 a blaze of Azaleas and other choice plants. If Pelargoniums and Fuchsias must 

 be in the same house, they should be kept by themselves as much as possible, 

 receiving little or no shade till the blossoms open ; but when in bloom the 

 shading is needful to preserve them. The later batches may still be shifted, as 

 may late plants of Zonal and Variegated Pelargoniums. Train Fuchsiat, 

 Pelargoniums, and other plants; also climbers on the roof, and prevent the latter 

 from getting entangled ; pendent training, that is. long shoots hanging free of 

 each other, is generallv the most effective. Stove Plants and Orchids will soon 



