BABIXGTOXIA. 



28 



EALCOXT GARDENS. 



tica, the only species found in 

 Turkey, are quite liardy ; Lut tlie 

 Chinese kinds require the protection 

 of a greenhouse. All the species 

 should be grown in peat- earth, or 

 spent tan, mixed with a very large 

 proportion of sand, or very sandy 

 loam ; and, provided the ground 

 they grow in is well drained, and 

 they are never allowed to become 

 too dry, they will thrive in almost 

 any situation, though they prefer 

 the shade. They may be trans- 

 planted at almost any age, or season, 

 even Avhen in flower, provided a 

 ball of earth be kept round their 

 roots ; and as they hybridise freel}-, 

 and ripen seed abundantly, innu- 

 merable varieties may be raised. 

 They also bear both forcing and 

 retarding extremely well. Several 

 attempts have been made to natu- 

 ralise them in this country ; parti- 

 cularly at High Clere, near New- 

 bury, the seat of Lord Caernarvon. 

 The kinds called the Ghent Azaleas 

 are hybrids and varieties raised in 

 Belgium, from the yellow Azalea 

 {A. jjoatica), and the American 

 species. 

 AzAROLE-TREE. — See Crat.e'- 



GUS. 



Azedara'ch.- 



-See Melia, 



T) ABIA^XA. — Iriddcece. — A 

 -"-^ genus of Cape plants, with 

 solid bulbs of corm , which are 

 eaten by the Hottentots ; and which, 

 when roasted, are said to resemble 

 Chestnuts. The species have all 

 showy flowers. For their culture 

 see Bulbs. 



B ABiNGTO^Ni A . — Myvtacece § Lep- 

 tospermecB. — A veiy curious little 

 greenhouse shrub from the Swan 

 River, which produces its long spike 

 of white flowers tinged with pink in 

 autumn and winter. The leaves 

 resemble those of a Heath. The 



genus was formerly included in 



B^'CKIA. 



Ba'ccharis. — Composifce. — 

 Ploughman' s Spikenard. — Shrubs, 

 generally with white flowers, and 

 natives of America, growing in any 

 common garden soil. 



Balcony Gardens. — The most 

 suitable plants for balconies are 

 those of low growth ; and as, from 

 their exposed situation, they are 

 liable to great and sudden changes, 

 with regard to temperature, winds, 

 and moisture, they ought to be 

 naturally tolerably hardy. To pre- 

 vent the soil in the pots from be- 

 coming over-di'ied, from the pot 

 being constantly exposed to the wind, 

 one pot ought to be placed within 

 another, with a little sand or moss 

 between, and this sand or moss 

 ought to be kept constantly moist. 

 The pots may be set in saucers, 

 provided a little gravel be placed in 

 the bottom of each saucer, so as to 

 allow the free escape of water from 

 the hole in the bottom of the pot ; 

 for if this water stagnates in the 

 pot, it soon swells the soil so as to 

 close up the hole in the bottom, and 

 to prevent the free escape of water ; 

 in which case the soil in the pot is 

 sure to become sodden. When there 

 is no gravel in the saucers, the 

 plants should be well and frequently 

 watered ; but the water that runs 

 through the earth in the pot into the 

 saucer, should be poured out imme- 

 diately and thrown away. A very 

 good mode of growing plants in bal- 

 conies is, to set the pots in wooden 

 or slate boxes or troughs, painted 

 stone-colour, with a little gravel at 

 the bottom for the pots to stand on, 

 and with the interstices filled in 

 with moss, which may also cover 

 the rims and surface of the pots, so 

 as to make the plants aj^pear to be 

 growing out of moss. ]\Iignonette 

 and trailing plants are best grown 



