THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 167 



for competition — and their blooming season will be on the decline, 

 put them out of doors, but not crowded together, and allow them to 

 have a partial rest; and, after an interval, they will commence, 

 with renewed vigour, to bloom abundantly during the autumn 

 months. 



THE LADIES' GARDEN.— jNo. VI. 



BY J. C. CLAKKE, 



Head Gardener at Cothelston House, Taunton. 



;LL seeds sown in the open borders will require early 

 attention this month. The first work in connection 

 with them is to thin out those that are sufficiently 

 advanced in growth, say to the height of a couple of 

 inches, and if they have come up thickly, this must be 

 done with no sparing hand. It is best to pull up the weakest first, 

 by going over them carefully, and leaving the strongest aud those 

 that are the most distant apart, and then in another fortnight give 

 them a final thinning. For such as mignonette, larkspurs, candytuft, 

 and others of strong growth, six plants to a clump will be enough, 

 while the weaker growing ones may be eight or nine to a clump. 

 When all the plants are pulled out, those left should have some 

 water, if the weather is dry, to settle the soil again round their 

 roots, and in an hour or two afterwards, or the next day at the latest, 

 a sprinkle half an inch thick of fine soil, and the plants will thrive 

 amazingly. I cannot lay too much stress upon the importance of 

 the timely thinning of all such subjects, for if neglected only a week 

 or two thus early in the season, they get so weak and spindly for 

 the want of room, that they never recover themselves afterwards. 

 Many people fail with the annuals simply for the want of this 

 timely attention. Some, too, will require neat little sticks as they 

 advance in growth, if the spot is any way exposed to wind. 

 Amongst such are the Clark ias, Schizanthus, Malope, Love lies 

 bleediug, Prince's feather, etc. The last two are really useful old- 

 fashioned annuals, deserving of much more notice than they now 

 receive. 



There is very much more to be done with the annuals than is 

 accomplished in the present day, for with a little care and attention, 

 even only so much as is given the ordinary bedding plants, they will 

 last a long while in bloom. For instance, the Larkspurs, the Mari- 

 golds, and Balsams, and, indeed, all the kinds that are in the habit 

 of seeding freely, will last throughout the summer, if their seed 

 vessels are removed as soon as they are formed. It is a golden rule 

 in the management of such plants never to allow a single seed to 

 attain maturity. When the first flowers are faded, give the bed or 

 the spot in the border which they occupy, a good soaking of water 

 if the weather is dry, and immediately cover the ground an inch in 

 thickness with some rich earth. Repeat this application of water 



