ALTH^A. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ALYSSUM. 



335 



trenched to the depth of 2 feet. A wet 

 soil is good in summer, but injurious in 

 winter, and to prevent surface wet from 

 injuring old plants left in the open ground, 

 remove the mould round their necks, filling 

 up with about 6 inches of white sand. 

 This will preserve the crowns of the plants. 

 It is best, however, if fine flowers are 

 desired, to plant young plants every year, 

 as one would Dahlias, putting them 3 feet 

 apart in rows at least 4 feet apart ; or, if 

 grouped in beds, not less than 3 feet apart. 

 In May or June, when the spikes have 

 grown i foot high, thin them out accord- 

 ing to the strength of the plant ; if well 

 established and strong, leaving four spikes, 

 and if weak two or three. By topping we 

 increase the size of the flower, but shorten 

 its duration. Stake them before they get 

 too high, tying them securely, so as to 

 induce them to grow erect. The most 

 robust will not require a stake higher than 

 4 feet. Hollyhocks may be propagated 

 by single eyes, put in in July and August, 

 and also by cuttings put in in spring, on 

 a slight hot-bed. Plants raised in summer 

 are best preserved by putting them in 

 October into 4-inch or 5-inch pots in light, 

 rich, sandy earth, and then placing them 

 in a cold frame, giving them plenty of air. 

 Thus treated they will grow a little in 

 winter. In March or April turn them out 

 into the open ground, and they will bloom 

 as finely as if planted in autumn. Plants 

 put out even in May will flower the same 

 year. In October lift all it is desired to 

 save, and lay them close together in a 

 slanting direction, at an angle of about 

 45, in a warm, mellow soil at the foot 

 of a wall or hedge, where, in hard weather, 

 shelter can easily be given. Choice and 

 scarce varieties may be either potted up 

 or planted out in a frame. Some of the 

 stools will have numerous growths starting 

 from them, and unless the plants have a 

 little heat early in the year, many of the 

 cuttings cannot flower the same season. 

 Owing to the Hollyhock disease it is 

 often a better plan to abandon the named 

 kinds increased from cuttings and resort 

 to seedlings only. This way is all the 

 more sure, as seed growers of late years 

 have fixed and separated the colours so 

 that a fine variety of good ones may be 

 secured in this way, while the plants are 

 more vigorous, and in any case will often 

 start free from the disease. Red spider 

 and thrips are both very troublesome, but 

 the first does most injury. It appears on 

 the undersides of the leaves as soon as the 

 hot weather sets in, and is difficult to 

 dislodge. If -there is any trace of red 

 spider before planting out, the whole 

 plant, except the roots, should be dipped 

 in a pail of soft soapy water, to which a 

 pint or so of tobacco liquid has been added. 

 It will be well to syringe the undersides of 

 the leaves with the mixture if the plants 

 have been planted out before the pest is 



perceived. Thrips may be destroyed in 

 the same way, and it is well to syringe the 

 plants every day in hot weather. 



The Hollyhock Fungus is very destruc- 

 tive to it. When once it seizes a collec- 

 tion, the best way is to destroy all the 

 plants affected. Those that do not appear 

 to be attacked should be washed with 

 soapy water in which flowers of sulphur 

 has been dissolved. The sulphur will 

 settle at the bottom of the vessel, and 

 must be frequently stirred up when the 

 mixture is being used. Sulphur seems to 

 destroy almost any fungus, and may 

 destroy this in its very earliest stages, but 

 will not when established. 



ALYSSUM (Madwort}. Rock and 

 alpine plants. A. saxatile (the Rock 

 Madwort) is one of the best of yellow 

 spring flowers, hardy in all parts of 

 these islands. It is often grown in 

 half-shady places, but should be fully 

 exposed. It is well fitted for the 

 spring garden and the mixed border, 

 and for growing with evergreen Candy- 

 tufts and Aubrietias. In winter it 



A lyssutn niontanutn. 



perishes in heavy, rich clays when on 

 the level ground. A native of Southern 

 Russia, it flowers with us in April or 

 May. There is a dwarfer variety, which 

 differs little from the old plant. A. 

 Gemonense has the habit of A . saxatile, 

 but larger flowers. A. montanum is a 

 dwarf plant, spreading into compact 

 tufts, 3 inches high. A. podolicum is 

 a small hardy alpine from S. Russia. 

 It has in early summer a profusion of 

 small white blossoms, and is suited for 

 the rock garden or the margins of 

 borders. - A. pyrenaicum is a neat 



