434 



DAHLIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



DAPHNE. 



larly valuable for garden beds and 

 borders where a big early display is 

 required. Plant these in April 4 to 6 

 inches deep. If the soil is not deep, 

 rich, and moist, manure-water should 

 be used. Watering is usually necessary 

 in early growth, afterwards it is not 

 so in moist districts where the plant is 

 well treated as regards depth and 

 quality of soil. In dry places water is 

 essential in most seasons. Staking and 

 tying out the shoots must be attended 

 to, as the stems break early under 

 little wind - pressure. Earwigs are 

 great enemies to Dahlias, but can be 

 trapped in small round troughs, which 

 may be got from any pottery. They 

 may also be caught on pieces of Hem- 

 lock stem, 6 inches long, by leaving a 

 joint at one end and sticking the pieces 

 here and there through the Dahlias. 

 Small pots, with a little bit of dry 

 Sphagnum Moss inside, inverted on the 

 tops of stakes, also form good traps. 



In increasing Dahlias the usual 

 practice is to take up the roots and 

 store them in a dry frost-proof cellar 

 in winter. Dahlias may be propa- 

 gated by cuttings, root-division, and 

 seed, the last way being used only 

 where new kinds are sought. Cuttings 

 are the means adopted by the special- 

 ists, though division of the roots is 

 also practised by the amateur. If 

 started in February or March in a 

 temperature of 60 to 70 F., each 

 crown will produce three or four 

 cuttings every two or three days. 

 These may be taken off close to the 

 crown when about 3 inches long. 

 When the crowns have supplied all 

 the cuttings that can be got from them 

 they may be divided, and therefore 

 nothing is lost. Cuttings may be 

 successfully struck during the summer 

 months ; but this is unusual except in 

 the case of choice varieties, or when pot 

 roots are desired for the following 

 year. Three-inch pots are best for 

 putting the cuttings into, one or two 

 in each pot. They should be plunged 

 in a brisk bottom-heat, covered with 

 hand-glasses, and shaded from bright 

 sunshine. In less than a fortnight 

 they will be all rooted, and may be 

 potted off singly into large 3-inch pots. 

 To raise seedlings, sow the seed in 

 heat in February, and treat the young 

 plants in the same way as cuttings. 



As long as the weather keeps mild 

 Dahlia roots are best in the soil, and 

 need not be taken up till the end of 

 November ; but should sharp frosts 

 be followed by heavy rain they should 



be promptly removed from the ground. 

 Lift the roots on a dry day and cut off 

 the stems to within 2 or 3 inches of 

 the crown. Remove the greater por- 

 tion of the soil from the tubers and 

 lay the latter out in the sun to dry 

 before storing. The floor of a green- 

 house where frost can be excluded, or 

 a dry cellar, is a good place to store 

 the roots in. A little ventilation is 

 necessary to keep them from getting 

 mouldy ; but a hot, dry atmosphere 

 must also be avoided, as the tubers 

 might shrivel in it. The roots may be 

 kept plump during the winter by 

 storing in soil in a cool place secure 

 from frost. 



The species of Dahlia are natives of 

 Mexico and adjacent regions i, arbor ea ; 

 2, astrantia 'flora ; 3, coccinea ; 4, excelsa ; 

 5, gracilis ; 6, imperialis ; 7, Maximi- 

 liana ; 8, Mercki , 9, platylepis ; 10, 

 pubescens ; n, scapigera ; 12, variabiHs ; 

 13, Juarezi. 



DAPHNE (Garland Flower}. Alpine 

 and mountain shrubs, beautiful, fra- 

 grant, and of high value for the garden. 

 They are chiefly natives of Europe, 

 and in cultivation do best when shaded 

 in summer from the mid-day sun, and 

 in winter screened from cold winds. 

 If nurtured by the fallen leaves of 

 trees, they will grow with a vigour 

 that we can scarcely hope to see in 

 ordinary soil. They have but few 

 roots, and are best transplanted when 

 young. The best soil is a mixture of 

 free loam and decayed leaf-mould, 

 with some old road-sand added. None 

 of them require a rich soil, and some 

 of them even prefer old road-sand to 

 any other. 



D. ALPINA (Mountain Mezereon). A 

 dwarf summer-leafing and distinct rock 

 shrub, about 2 feet high, the flowers 

 yellowish- white, silky outside, fragrant, 

 in clusters of five from the sides of the 

 branches. It is a low, branching shrub, 

 flowering from April to June, and bearing 

 red berries in September. C. and S. 

 Europe. 



D. ARBUSCULA. A native of Transyl- 

 vania, it bears a resemblance to the small- 

 growing D. petrcea from the same region, 

 differing mainly in its more robust habit. 

 It is also said to grow wild in Grass land, 

 whilst D. petrcea more frequently inhabits 

 rocky ground. The evergreen leaves are 

 linear and not more than i inch long, 

 whilst the fragrant, rosy-pink flowers are 

 borne in terminal heads of six flowers to 

 ten flowers each. It is essentially a plant 

 for the rock garden, and should be planted 

 in soil containing lime or amongst lime- 

 stone rocks. Seeds. 



