PETASITES. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



plant, P. japonica gigantea., has recently 

 come to us from the Far East, where the 



The Winter Heliotrope (Petasites fragrans). 



great rounded leaves, as large as a small 

 sunshade and used as such by Japanese 

 children, rise on stout fleshy stems as 

 high as a man. It makes a stately water- 

 side plant, and coming from the island of 

 Saghalien it should prove fully hardy in 

 this country. Its flowers come in early 

 sprmg, before the leaves. Division. 



PETROCALLIS {Rock Beauty).— P. 

 pyrejiaica is a beautiful little alpine plant, 





forming dense cushions 2 to 3 in. high, 

 resembling a mossy Saxifrage, with fra- 



grant pale-lilac flowers, faintly veined, 

 coming in April. Though hardy, it is 

 fragile, and happiest on the rock-garden, 

 in sandy fibry loam, in level sunny spots, 

 where it can root freely in moist soil 

 mingled with broken stones. It may also 

 be grown in pots plunged in sand in the 

 open air, and in frames in winter, but it 

 becomes " drawn " and delicate under 

 glass. Increase by seed or careful divi- 

 sion. Alps and Pyrenees. P. fenestrata 

 is a newer kind, of similar habit but with 

 white flowers. 



PETUNIA. — In certain positions, some 

 of these showy half-hardy plants of the Sol- 

 anum order produce a charming effect in 

 masses ; and all are well suited for large 

 vases, for baskets of mixed plants, for low 

 trellises, and for planting under windows 

 and walls. The spots chosen for Petunias 

 should be open and sunny, and the soil 

 deep and rich, for in low damp situations 

 they perish with the first cold nights of 

 autumn. There are many named kinds, 

 but as each grower has his own it is use- 

 less to particularise. They include single 

 and double kinds in self or mingled 

 shades of white, mauve, ci-imson, or 

 purple, variously veined and blotched, 

 and often with fringed or laced edges. A 

 pleasing variety may be quickly raised 

 from seeds of a good strain. The best 

 double kinds, as selected by one of our 

 first growers, are : — Juliette Lamber, 

 white ; Clarke, deep plum ; Charon, blue 

 purple ; Fleur de Rose, rose-pink ; and 

 Frau Stadt Schroder, rose and white with 

 finely fringed petals. Sown in heat in 

 February or March, good plants may be 

 had for putting out at the end of May, but 

 it is not safe to plant them out earlier. 

 Seedlings, too, are now so good that they 

 are frequently planted in mixed borders 

 for cutting. The named kinds must be 

 raised from cuttings. These should be in- 

 serted in August in a bed of leaves or 

 other fermenting material at a tempera- 

 ture of 70' to 75^ and with a top-heat of 

 65°, since they strike quickly under such 

 conditions. As soon as rooted they should 

 be taken out of the bottom-heat and 

 placed in cold frames till frosty nights 

 set in ; then removed to an intermediate 

 house and placed on shelves near the 

 glass, remaining there in store-pots till 

 spring, then potted off singly and grown 

 on till planting-out time. The roots are 

 so brittle that, however well they are 

 rooted, the soil does not adhere to them ; 

 and this is why it is necessary to pot 

 singly, for if the plants are put in pans 

 or boxes, and transplanted thence, they 

 suffer greatly. 



