244 THE FLOWER-GARDEN. [CHAP. VIII. 



some of which have been known to be upwards 

 of six inches in diameter. The tubers of these 

 anemones an sold in the seed-shops by the 

 hundred, and they resemble little bunches of 

 very small black potatoes. These little balls 

 may be separated from each other, and each 

 will produce a new plant, though some of them 

 will probably be too weak to flower the first 

 year. As A. coronaria is a native of Syria, 

 where the ground is parched and dry during a 

 considerable portion of the year, the tubers are 

 very ill- calculated to resist wet, and, conse- 

 quently, they should be taken up in autumn, 

 and kept dry till the season arrives for replant- 

 ing them the following year. This season is 

 February or March, the latter month, or even 

 the beginning of April, being preferred for the 

 Dutch anemones, which are apt to rot if planted 

 too early. Anemones should be planted three 

 inches deep, and five inches apart every way, 

 in a fresh, sound, yellow loam, without any 

 manure. Care should be taken to keep the 

 frost from them ; but they will not need any 

 other attention till the leaves turn brown, when 

 the tubers should be taken up, and treated like 

 those of the ranunculus and the tulip. Old 

 varieties are propagated by offsets, and new 

 kinds are raised from seed. The colours of 

 both anemones and ranunculuses are rendered 

 much more vivid by mixing charcoal with the 

 soil in which they are grown. The common 

 anemones (which are not florists" flowers) should 

 be planted in autumn, and they will require 

 taking up when they have done flowering. 



