348 MONTHLY CALENDAR OF WORK 



grinum, the Canary-bird iloAver ; Rhodocliiton volubile, sometimes called 

 Lophospermuni RhodocMtou ; Lophospermum scandens, and erubescens ; 

 Cobffi^a scandens ; and Maurandya Barclayana. Eccremocarpus or Calam- 

 pelis scabra may also be raised from seed, and will flower the first year, 

 i)ut it will liA^e two or three years, and sometimes longer. Most or all 

 of the others will also live more than one year, if protected from frost. 

 The gravel walks require the same attention as in January, the snails and 

 slugs should be killed, and the eggs of insects looked for and destroj-ed. 

 The deciduous Eoses may be pruned and manured ; and the old plants 

 may be taken up and replanted, to prevent them from producing too 

 much wood. Composts are also now prepared in the reserve ground. 

 The turf is swept, and the Avhole garden put in order for spring. 



MARCH. 



Dahlias are potted, and placed in a cold frame or pit. Stocks and 

 China Asters are sown on a slight hotbed. Lobelia gracilis and L. bicolor, 

 Phlox Drummondii, Gaillardia bicolor, Thunbdrgia alata, Anagallis 

 ^lonelli and Phillipsii, the Petunias, and other half-hardy annuals, 

 should also be sown on a slight hotbed at the beginning of this month, if 

 not sown with the climbing annuals in February ; and Balsams, Cock's- 

 combs, and other tender annuals, may be sown on a Avarm hotbed. The 

 gravel walks are now raked over, and fresh gravel added ; and the edges 

 are trimmed with a verge-cutter where the walls are bordered with grass. 

 The turf is mowed; and any places that may be burnt up or woi^n bare 

 are repaired by patches of fresh turf. Dahlia seeds are sown on hotbeds. 

 Pots of Hyacinths and Tulips, that Avere planted in October, are plunged 

 into the borders ; and the scarlet Lobelias are potted, and placed in a 

 gentle hotbed. The tree Pteony should be covered at night during this 

 month and the next, to protect it from spring frosts. 



APRIL. 



The gravel walks are rolled, and the box edgings trimmed. The 

 borders ai-e forked over and raked for sowing the seeds of annuals, wliicb 

 is best done in this month, though it is sometimes deferred till May. 

 The evergreen Honeysuckles and Jasmines, and the evergreen Roses, are 

 now pruned and trained. Cuttings of Verbenas, Salvias, Petunias, 

 ]\[imuluses. Fuchsias, Calceolarias, and Heartseases, may be planted on a 

 slight hotbed, to make handsome plants for turning out into the open 

 borders in June. The seeds of Hollyhocks, Brompton Stocks, Wall- 

 flowers, and other biennials, may be sown, and the Californian annuals 

 sown in autumn may be removed to beds to receive them. 



MAY. 



In this month a second sowing is made of the hardy annuals for 

 autumn flowering ; and the half-hardy annuals are transplanted into the 



