iiiisii (iAi;j)i;.\'i.\(i 



The Month's Work, 



The Flower Garden. 



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L..i,l Caivw. Castl.- H..i-.. 



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.Many .spriiiL: plants will \>v pa.s.sinu; out t>l" lluwn-, 

 and cnri' slionhl Ik- lakt-ii 1u i-nsuii' (liat tlu-y an- 

 fan-fully li-aiisfi'ir«-tl fnmi tin- brds wIi.tc tlicy 

 liavr lIowmMl to tlirir .summci- (|iiait<-is ; a 

 portion of Ihr ki(tli.-n .u'anl<'n is usually s«-l ai)ail 

 lor this puiposr. 'Pin- I'riiiiids.-s and l*ol\autlius 

 ai<' important : tin- douM*- Piiimosi's an- usually 

 put in a place wliciv tlu-y can iciuain undist uilxd 

 for several veais. and do l>est that way. When 

 .lividin^' these, do not make the sets too small, 

 as the\ aie not strouic i,M-oweis. 'IMie l*ol\;;nthus 

 can he'divideil more (liast ically. One ^ood ciown 

 if well i^i'own duiinii the sumim-c makes tiu' hesl 

 ]»lant ; the bint^lc- Primroses also resj)ond to this 

 treatment. It should be borne in mind tliat the 

 spiinir-lloweiini; Primroses and Polyanthus make 

 thick white lleshy roots duriuM; -May and .June, 

 and that these roots are the life of the plants, 

 ("are should be taken to divide up the ])lauls 

 before the.se roots get tot) forward and ai'e not 

 more than 2 inches long. These roots are growing 

 till the end of August, after whicli auxiliary brown 

 libry roots grown from the sides of them to .support 

 them during the winter. The plants do not seem 

 to mind the loss of a few of these brown thin 

 roots, but those refeired to lir.st, which are white 

 dining the growing jjeriod. seem to be vital to tlie 

 life of the plant, and if damaged the plant rarely 

 makes progress that sea.son. 



Aiibrietias when passing out of flower at the 

 end of .May .should be cut back close to the heart 

 of the plant about a week before it is necessary 

 to lift them. I refer, of course, to those used on 

 the formal flower garden, and which will liave to 

 be emptied for the summer bedding plants by tlie 

 end of this month: these Aubiietias can then \h' 

 carefully lifted and planted with some shaip sand 

 around them for about a fortnight, after wliicli 

 they should be growing again, and can be divided 

 up, every piece with a few roots attached making 

 a good plant by next October. If necessary to 

 increase the stock, cuttings when one inch long 

 should be inserted under a hand-light in a shady 

 corner. They .should be put in very thickly in 

 sandy soil, and when the points show signs of 

 growing — say the middle of July — these tips 

 should be pinched out and the plants put out 

 3 inches apart in a corner of the garden, where they 

 will grow into nice little bunchy plants by the 

 autumn. 



Phlox anuena grows well under tlie same treat- 

 ment, and makes a nice carpet of bright rose ; 

 this, however, requires a freely drained soil in 

 winter. 



Among the best of the Aubiietias are Dr. Mules, 

 dark A-iolet : Moerhoeniii, bright rose : H. Marshall, 

 mauve ; Bridesnudd, light pink. These are all 

 the larger-flowered type, and are as easy to grow 

 as the older ones — JBLendersoni, Leichtlini, Fire 

 King, &c. 



All til.- l.ull.^. Tulip-, and .\arci.ssus especiallv. 

 -hould lie lilted witli as much .soil as ])ossili'l<- 

 atta.hed to the roots, an.i coveretl u|i witii soil 

 .IS .piickly as possible. This will enable them to 

 matm-e I heir foliage properl> , width means j>er- 

 lecting the eMdir\<» llowel' of uext vear at lli<- 

 base of the bidb.' llxaeinths do not' respond to 

 this tn-atmeid: and those who wish the best 

 r.sidts from be.lding ll\a(inths must of nece.ssit > 

 pm-chase a larue proportion of new bulbs eaeJi 

 \ear. .Ma\ -How ering Tulips, one of our mosi 

 (harming and most useful ilowers, espeiially the 

 harwin t > pe. should alwa>s be planted in a 

 portion of the gartlen where thev need not b.' 

 louchetl until .iuly : then, if lifted and ripened in 

 the sun and i»lant<-d every yeai-. tln-y ^ive. to 

 m\ mind, a wondeiful return. 



Sow Wallllowers of sorts, ('anh-rbuiv |{ell> of 

 sorts. Swe.'t Williams, especiallv Pink and Scarh-t 

 Ueauty. Coreopsis grandillora. and any other 

 biennials needed for 1 he (lower garden next 

 spring. .Ml the (lower boi-.lers and beds must be 

 ke|)t serupulousiN clean, and the best wa> is to 

 keep the top soil loo.senetl cont inuousi \ with t he 

 lio... Ilcibaceous plants sho.dd be staked as th.-v 

 i.a.li a h.'ight which need il. Plants of \er- 

 bast um Ivaidioe, Caledonia, and Wildenovii 

 should on no account be neglected. At t In- 

 passing of the spring llowei-s and before Ihe 

 summer flowers are at their best these lovely 

 N'eibascums are a blessing to those- who liki- to 

 have their gardens gay at all times. Carnations 

 will be needing stakes at the end of the month. 

 Roses, if showing signs of nnldt-w, should In- 

 sprayed with blue-water: a weak solution of 

 sulphate of coj)per. .Mignonette should be thin- 

 ned so that the jdanls ai-e 12 inches a])art : if 

 the spikes are then disbudded tlu-y will be 

 enormous. All animals sown in Ai)ril sliould be 

 severely thinnt-d as soon as tlu-y are laige en^wigh 

 to be safe from slugs. Swt-et Peas should be di.s- 

 budded to single stems, taking out all side shoots 

 until the plants are 3 feet above the ground ; 

 this will strengthen the plants and lengthen the 

 stalk, as well as increase the size of the flowei-. 

 A watering with weak litjuid maniu-e when the 

 weather is dry will greatly benefit them. As the 

 MIy of the \'alley goes out of flower, or tlu- 

 (loweis have been pulled, give a heavy soaking 

 with liijuid manure, and increase the size of your 

 dowel- s|)ikes foi' iK-xt vear. 



Kast Lothian Stocks" plaided the flr.st week in 

 .Mav will re((uire wateiiim if the weather be drv 

 until the plants be established and are growing 

 again. These plants will not endure a clu-ck in 

 their early days, but when well grown, and the 

 l)owers that govern their destiny send you a big 

 proportion of double flowers, they are well worth 

 all the trouble. The Antirrhinum raised from seed 

 can be planted out ])efore the general summer 

 bedding commences : thus in my case this is the 

 1st .June, and I cannot advise others to do what 

 1 find is not safe myself, although many wi-iters 

 tell \is to commence summer bedding by the 

 middle of .May. 



The most tender of the summer bedding plants 

 should be stood out of doors by the ndddle of 

 May. but in a position so that they can be 

 ((idckly covered should a late frost come along. 

 As it usually does, this includes the bedding 

 Begonias, and where thest; have been grown in 

 the full sun with plenty of air since they com- 

 menced to grow, they will be quite safe ; but 



