TO THE FLOWER GAEDEN. S03 



fixing tbe rhizomes, or root-stocks, is to plant tliem in a 

 common wicker basket filled with mud, the basket beiiig 

 dropped into the water where the plant is required. The 

 tender kinds have to be planted into large pots or pans, 

 which are sunk into cisterns of water ; and, in order to secure 

 the blooming of the plants, there ought to be provision for 

 warming the water in the cisterns by some means or other. 

 They are increased by dividing the rhizomes. Both hardy 

 and tender species are worth growing. N. alha, hardy ; 

 N. nitida, hardy ; N. odorata, hardy ; N. jjytfmcea, half hard}-^ ; 

 N. renij'ormis, half hardy, all flower white. N. cccndea, stove, 

 flowers blue, and is very fragrant. 



OAK. See Quercus. 



OBELISCAPJA. [Compositae.] Showy hardy perennials. 

 They require the same treatment as Rudbeckia, to which they 

 are allied. 



OBESIA. See Stapelia. 



QliNOTHERA. Evening Prtmrose. [Onagmcefe.] Showy 

 hardy plants, mostly perennials and biennials, with a few 

 annuals. The annuals require to be sown in March or April 

 where they are to flower, and to be thinned when they come 

 up, or they may be sown in a patch and planted out. Com- 

 mon garden soil. The biennial and perennial kinds should 

 be sown in patches, and planted out, when they are large 

 enough, wherever they are to bloom. The latter grow best 

 in peaty soil, and especially in situations where they are not 

 subjected to drought. There is a large number of species. 

 ]\Iost of the old-fashioned annual CEnotheras are now called 

 Godetia. (E. macrocarpa, (E. taraxacifolia, and (E. viparia 

 are the best. 



OLE A. Ojjve. [Oleaceae.] Greenhouse evergreen shrubs 

 for the most part. The cultivated Olive is half hardy. Loam 

 and peat. Cuttings. 0. /mc/ra^/s, flowers white, very fragrant. 

 O. ilicifolia is nearly hardy, as well as 0. Europcea, the olive 

 of commerce. 



OLEANDER. See Xerium. 



OLEASTER. See El.eagkus. 



OMPHALODES. [Boraginaceae.] A genus containing 

 two favourite plants — the annual Venus's Navelwort, and the 

 early-blooming dwarf 0. verna, whose pretty little bright blue 



