THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



frequent watering. The large red jars in which oil is still conveyed 

 from Italy, covered with their delightful coarse wicker-work, are use- 

 ful ornaments in some gardens. They are glazed inside, and boring 

 a hole in the bottom of them is not very easy work. They have to 

 be more than half filled with drainage, and plants do not do well in 

 them for more than one season, as the surface of the earth exposed 

 at the top is so small. In old days the oil merchants in the suburbs 

 of London used to cut them in two vertically, and stick them against 

 their houses, above their shops, as an advertisement or ornament. The 

 enthusiastic amateurs will find that they get two very nice pots by 

 sawing them in half horizontally just below the sham handles. The 

 top part when reversed requires the same treatment as was recom- 

 mended for the Seakale pots." 



What to Grow. — The first rule, I think, is to grow in them those 

 plants which do not grow well in your own local soil. To put into a 

 pot what is flourishing much better in a bed a few yards off is, to my 

 mind, a mistake. I grow large old plants of Geraniums in the open 

 ground, and they are kept on in the greenhouse from year to year, 

 their roots tied up in Moss, and crowded into a pot or box with no 

 earth and very little water through the winter ; they can be kept in a 

 cellar or spare room. Early in April they are potted up and pro- 

 tected by mats in a pit, as I have no room for them in the greenhouse. 

 This causes them to be somewhat pot-bound, and they flower 

 splendidly during the latter part of the summer. Marguerites, the 

 yellow and the white with large leaves, are good pot plants early in 

 the year, far prettier than the narrow-leaved kinds. A double Pome- 

 granate I have had for many years in a pot, and if thinned out in the 

 summer it flowers well ; also two small Orange trees. The large old- 

 fashioned Oak leaved, sticky Cape Sweet Geranium, which has a 

 handsomer flower than the other kinds, makes a very good outdoor pot 

 plant. Fuchsias, especially the old-fashioned fulgens, are satisfactory. 

 Carnations Raby Castle, Countess of Paris, and Mrs. Reynolds Hole 

 I grow in pots, and they do well ; they must be layered early in 

 July, and answer best if potted up in September and just protected 

 from severe frosts. In fine summers, Myrtles and Oleanders flower 

 well with me in tubs, not in the open ground. I treat Oleanders as 

 they do in Germany — cut them back moderately in October and dry 

 them off, keep them in a coach-house, warm shed, or wherever severe 

 frosts will not reach them. When quite dry they stand a moderate 

 amount of frost. Then in March they are brought out, the surface is 

 stirred and mulched, they are taken into a greenhouse and brought on 

 a bit. In May they are thickly covered with good, strong horse 

 manure and copiously watered. At the end of the month they are 

 stood out in the open on a low wall. During May, June and July 



