226 THE FLOWER-GARDEN. [CHAP. VIIL 



from V. altaica are of a very pale yellow, and 

 the petals have an undulated margin; those 

 from V. rothomagensis or V. hispida are of a 

 pale blue; and those from V. bicolor are white, 

 slightly veined with purple, and tinged with 

 yellow at the base. All these vary exceedingly 

 by continual crossings, but some of the 

 characteristics of the parents always remain. 



The culture of the heart's-ease requires much 

 attention. It is the habit of the plant to ripen 

 a succession of seed during; the whole of its 

 flowering season; thus it bears flowers and ripe 

 seeds at the same time during the whole 

 summer. The seeds should be sown in a bed 

 of rich garden mould, at least eighteen inches 

 deep, and highly manured, and the young 

 plants should be suffered to remain till they 

 have flowered, when all the plants should be 

 taken up, the best replanted eighteen inches 

 apart if in a bed, or a foot apart if in pots or 

 boxes, and the inferior ones thrown away. The 

 best soil for replanting the heart's-ease, parti- 

 cularly if the plants are in pots or boxes, is 

 rich loam, mixed with one-sixth of sand and 

 one-sixth of vegetable mould; and, in large 

 towns, all these soils may be purchased in 

 small quantities from the nurserymen. The 

 pots and boxes should also be well drained; for 

 it must be remembered, that, though the heart's- 

 ease is very liable to be scorched by the exces- 

 sive heat of the sun, and will require constant 

 watering in hot weather, it is also very liable to 

 be damped off by cold and wet in winter. The 

 best varieties are propagated by cuttings, taken 

 off in spring, which grow rapidly so as to 



