THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



105 



it may be sown in March, April, or 

 May ; and thus the period of its 

 flowering may be considerably length- 

 ened by succession. When it is thus 

 grown, however, the situation must 

 be dry, the underground drainage 

 complete, and the loam in which the 

 seeds are immediately sown, light and 

 loose, or otherwise the plant will not 

 live. 



If intended for early flowering, in 

 the greenhouse or window, or even 

 out of doors, it must be sown in the 

 latter part of the season, and pro- 

 tected from the winter frost. For 

 this purpose it should be sown in 

 August or September, though it will 

 do with later sowing than this. When 

 thus grown in pots, these should be 

 placed as near the glass as possible 

 during the winter months ; for, 

 though frost destroys it, it prefers 

 rather a cool atmosphere with plenty 

 of air. The seed should be sown in 

 48-sized pots ; and the young plants 

 should be thinned out to four or five 

 in each pot, in order that they may 

 have room to spread, as that is the 

 state in which they make the finest 

 appearance. The reason why they 

 ought to have little heat or moisture 

 during the winter months, even while 

 in a state of young growth, is to 

 avoid over-stimulating the roots, 

 which would bring on an unhealthy 



growth, and destroy the whole of the 

 plants. 



If the directions we have given are 

 observed, the plant is well worthy of 

 culture, whether sown in the latter 

 part of the season, for a greenhouse 

 plant in winter and an early flowerer 

 in the spring ; or sown in the spring, 

 so as to flower late in the summer or 

 during the autumn. Both these pe- 

 riods may be considerably lengthened 

 by sowing successions ; and as the 

 pause between the autumnal sowings 

 and the early spring ones may be 

 lessened, if not obliterated, the plant 

 may be kept in continual flower, with 

 the exception of three or four months 

 in the winter. 



When skilfully grown in a proper 

 situation, this is a handsome plant- 

 much more so than Diverslfolia, which 

 is inferior in habit, with the petals 

 white ; and though it has been eighteen 

 years in Britain, it has never been held 

 in much estimation. The eye only of 

 Iberidifolia is white ; the petals, or 

 rather the marginal florets, being 

 purplish blue, of a delicate shape. 

 When the plants have room to spread, 

 they do not rise higher than from six 

 inches to a foot ; and then, as they 

 are free flowerers, they are delicately 

 handsome, and form a good contrast 

 with various other annuals, both up- 

 right and spreading. 



A SELECTION OF FEENS. 



Twenty-five most distinct 

 Stove Fekns. — Adiantum trapezi- 

 forme, Alsophila pruniata, Amphi- 

 cosmia capensis, Anemia collina, 

 Asplenium Veitchianum, Drynaria 

 morbillosa, Davallia tenuifolia, Glei- 

 chenia hecistophylla, G. pectinatum, 

 Gymnogramma chrysophylla, G. och- 

 racea, Hymenodium crinitum, Lo- 

 maria attenuata, Nephrolepis daval- 

 loides, Nothoclsena nivea, Onychium 

 auratum, Pteris cretiea albo lineata, 

 P. tricolor, P. aspericaulis, Stenoch- 

 lsena tenuifolia (climber), Thamno- 

 pteris Australasica, Pleopeltis mem- 

 branacea, P. longipes, Elaphoglossum 

 brevipes. 



Twenty-five choice Ferns foe 

 Wabdian Case. — (Those marked 

 thus * are for suspending.) — Adian- 

 tom assimile, A. cuneatum, A. setu- 

 losum,* A. formosum, A. capillus 

 veneris, Asplenium marinum, A. fa- 

 bianum, A. viviparum, Camptosorus 

 rhizophyllus,* Asplenium flabellifo- 

 lium,* Acrophorus hispidus, Hymeno- 

 lepis spicata, Asplenium attenuatum, 

 Asplenium pinnatifidum, Diplazium 

 radicans, Goniophlebium piloselloides, 

 Doodia caudata, JSfiphobolus lingua, 

 Nephrolepis pectinata, Onychium 

 Japonicum, Platyloma rotundifolia, 

 Polypodium plumula, Pleopeltis ter- 

 minalis, Polystichum triangularum. 



