VIOLA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



VISCARIA. 



775 



delicate rootlets even above the ground, 

 so that they are easily increased ; 

 hence when older Pansies die after 

 flowering, those crossed with the alpine 

 species remain, like true perennials, 

 and are easily increased. The term 

 Pansies is a good one in all ways. 

 Without an English name, we shall 

 always have confusion with the Latin 

 name for wild species. To all of these 

 belongs the old Latin name of the 

 genus Viola. It is now agreed by 

 botanists that all cross-bred garden 

 plants including tufted Pansies 

 should have popular English and not 

 Latin names. 



These are the flowers hitherto gener- 

 ally known as Violas and bedding 

 Pansies, and Dr Stuart, who has raised 

 some of the best of them, says : 

 " Botanically, Violets, Pansies, and 

 Heart 's-ease are all the same. Tufted 

 Pansies are crosses from the garden 

 Pansy and Viola cornuta, the latter 

 being the seed - bearer. Pollen from 

 V. cornuta applied to the Pansy 

 produces a common enough form of 

 bedding Pansy never the tufty root- 

 growth obtained when the cross is the 

 other way. I have proved this by 

 actual hand-crossing. Most strains of 

 tufted Pansies are bred the wrong- 

 way, and lack the tufty root which 

 makes the Violetta strain perennial." 



Although we like the colours simple 

 and pure, there are other pretty ones 

 of a different kind, such as Accushla, 

 Blue Cloud, Columbine, Countess of 

 Kintore, Duchess of Fife, Hector 

 Macdonald, and Skylark. In the 

 south, however, they are uncertain, 

 liable to vary in colour, and not so 

 good as the selfs. Some kinds, like 

 Violetta, are white, running off to 

 delicate bluish or lilac hues. These 

 delightful plants are so easily raised 

 and crossed that each garden might 

 raise its own kinds, so as to have as 

 much variety as possible. They love 

 a light and cool soil. In northern 

 districts they are more at home than 

 in the south, where special treatment 

 is necessary to bring them to perfection. 



For early spring flowering the cut- 

 tings should be rooted in July or 

 August and planted out in October. 

 They commence blooming early in 

 April. In heavy soils liable to crack 

 with drought use abundance of leaf- 

 soil, burnt ashes from the rubbish 

 fires, and the like, to bring them into 

 order. Also select a dry time for 

 digging, working in the above with 

 plenty of short manure from an old 



Mushroom bed, and scattering an inch 

 or so on the surface for the roots at 

 planting time. Cuttings are better 

 than divisions, particularly if they 

 are made of the young shoots stripped 

 from the old stool with a heel attached. 

 To yield a supply of these cuttings a 

 reserve batch of plants is necessary. 

 About the second week in June cut 

 them back to within 2 inches of the 

 soil. A month afterwards they]will 





A Tufted Pansy. 



be bristling with young shoots. When 

 3 inches long, scatter some fine soil and 

 leaf-mould among the young growths, 

 and keep well watered for a fortnight, 

 by which time the majority will be 

 making roots freely. A fortnight later 

 they will be ready for planting in 

 nursery-beds in a shady spot and in 

 good soil. As growth is renewed, 

 pinch out the top of each to encourage 

 the quicker formation of shoots at the 

 base. By October there will be some 

 grand plants for putting into their 

 permanent quarters, full of youth and 

 vigour that will produce masses of 

 flowers in due season. 



VISCARIA. V. oculata, a showy 

 and beautiful hardy annual from South 

 Europe, is well suited for a border. 

 Seed should be sown in spring or 

 autumn, and the seedlings thinned 

 out when large enough. The plant 

 is 6 or 8 inches high, and bears a 

 profusion of rose - coloured blossoms 

 with a dark centre. The varieties 

 cardinalis (bright crimson - purple), 

 ccerulea (bluish), alba (white), Dunnetti 

 (rose), splendens (scarlet), picta elegans 

 (crimson - purple, edged with white), 



