TO THE FLOWER GARDEN. lliO 



soras, prized chiefly for their perfume, which i.s compared to 

 that of " cherry pie." This species is, strictly speaking, a 

 greenhouse low shrub. The young shoots will strike freely 

 in light sandy soil during summer under a frame or hand- 

 glass, but more readily with slight warmth. When well 

 rooted they may be potted into small pots, and placed in a 

 frame or in the greenhouse, where they may grow till their 

 roots show through the bottom of the pots, and then be 

 changed into those of the next larger size. Top the leading 

 shoots to produce laterals. They must be wintered in a 

 dryish part of the greenhouse. If intended for beds and 

 borders they must be hardened in cold frames in the spring, 

 and planted out in June after danger from frost is over. It 

 is sometimes preferred to keep an old plant or two through 

 the winter, and to put them into a hotbed or warm housfe 

 about February, when they will produce plenty of young 

 shoots, the tops of which are quickly struck in a hotbed, and 

 if potted and gradually hardened make good plants for 

 turning out in June. Where there aie no such conveniences 

 the plants may be kept in a warm part of the greenhouse in 

 spring, and the young shoots taken off as soon as they gi'ow, 

 planted in sandy soil, and covered by a glass. When rootrd 

 they may be potted or at once planted out, according to th ■ 

 season. There are now several varieties of the Peruvian 

 Heliotrope, the principal variations consisting in the larger 

 size of the blossoms and the deepening of the colour, which, 

 in the variety Vohaireamwi, as well as in Salter's Gem, is of 

 a deep purple. H. corymhosiim is the only other kind worth 

 growing. Both for flower-beds and for bouquets the Helio- 

 trope may be considered indispensable. Seed of the annual 

 kinds may be sown in March in a frame or greenhouse : 

 the plants, when large enough, may be pricked out three or 

 four in a pot, and as they advance potted singly, or planted 

 out where they are to remain. There are now many garden 

 varieties. 



HELLEBORUS. Hellebore. [Ranunculaceae.] Showy 

 hardy perennials of easy culture, growing in good garden 

 soil and a rather shady situation, and increasing by dividing 

 the roots in the dormant season. It is a desirable family. 

 H. niger, called the Christmas Rose, is a favourite dwarf 



