172 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



ing or cultivating. Dig out and remove all 

 perennial weeds, such as dandelion, twitch 

 or spear grass, etc., when the bed is forked 

 over. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



All bush and climbing roses should h-i 

 finished pruning before the leaf buds are de- 

 veloped too far. Fork the soil over around 

 the bushes as soon as the ground is dry 

 enough. 



Seeds. — Sow sweet pea seed as early as 

 possible for early flowers. Sow for later 

 flowering the second or third week in May 

 if required, but early sowing gives the best 

 results. Mignonette seed should be sown 

 as soon as the soil is dry enough to work 

 nicely. Sow Annual Wallflower seed early. 

 This is one of the best late autumn flower- 

 ing annuals we have. Antirrhinum or Snap 

 Dragon seed should also be sown early to 

 secure early flowers. Aster, Stock, Zinnia, 

 Phlox Drummondii, Scabiosa, Candytuft, 

 Sweet Allysum, Gaillardia, Dianthus, Mari- 

 gold, Calliopsis seed, etc.. can be sown about 



the first or second week in May usually, ex- 

 cept perhaps in the more northerly parts of 

 the province, where later sowing may he 

 better. Nasturtium seed should not be 

 sown too early, not until nearly the end of 

 May, as these are more tender than many 

 annuals, and the young plants are liable to 

 be damaged by late frosts if out of the 

 ground too early. 



Perennials. — Peonies, Dielytra and 

 German Iris should be planted or 

 transplanted as early as possible in the 

 spring. I prefer early fall planting for 

 these plants rather than spring planting, as 

 they are early flowering perennials. 



Perennial Phlox, Gaillardia, Coreop- 

 sis, Campanula, and later flowering per- 

 ennials can be transplanted or divided 

 any time during May. A good general rule 

 is to commence planting about a week after 

 the plants show the first signs of growth. 

 Plant when the ground is fairly moist, but 

 not when it is wet and sticky, especially if 

 the ofround is of a stifif clavev nature. 



THE CINERARIA 



BY WM. HUNT, ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, GUELl'H. 



^^ HERE are about nine or ten species of 

 A the cineraria known to floriculturists, 

 most of them being classed as greenhouse 

 perennials. The varieties represented in 

 the accompanying cuts are known commer- 

 cially as Cineraria hybrida grandiflora and 

 Cineraria stellata (starlike). Both of these 

 are improved types of Cineraria cruenta 

 (purple leaved), a variety introduced from 

 the Canary Islands into England about the 

 year 1777. 



The large flowering type C- hybrida 

 grandiflora aflfords a striking illustration of 

 what can be effected in the improvement 

 and development of plant life by a careful 

 selection of the best types from which to 

 save seed, as well as by a judicious selection 



of plants for cross-fertilization purposes. 

 The flowers of the original type (C. cru- 

 enta) were of a reddish purple color only, 

 and about an mch in diameter, whilst now 

 from a packet of seeds of the improved type, 

 flowers upwards of three inches in diameter 

 are quite common, varying in many shades 

 of color from pure white to deep red, purple 

 or blue, a large percentage of the plants also 

 having flowers with a disc or centre of pure 

 white, varying in size from the smallest spot, 

 until in some flowers the markins of the 

 petals only are tinged with hues of the more 

 decided colors. 



In the collection as seen recently in the 

 intermediate greenhouse at the college, 

 manv of the flowers were close on four 



