MARCH 257 



forcing all hardy things, that is the great secret, send 

 them to sleep as early as you can by taking them up and 

 exposing them to cold. All plants must have their rest; 

 they are not like Baron Humboldt and his night of two 

 hours. The leaves of this Spiraea are a blue-graj^, and 

 the branches are wreathed with miniature 'May blos- 

 soms.' Alas ! they do not do well picked and in water. 



I am sure, for anyone who wants to force coloured 

 Hyacinths, only the very best bulbs are worth while, 

 especially when single flowers are preferred, as in my 

 case. They are so sweet in the house that I think they 

 are worth the trouble of growing and the expense of 

 buying annually. I got last autumn a larger and later 

 flowering kind of white Hyacinth from Van Tubergen, 

 called 'Italian Hyacinths,' single ones and quite cheap. 

 They have come on splendidly. They are something like 

 the early Roman ones, only far larger and stronger. They 

 flower much later and are of an accentuated white, well 

 worth growing, and I think they will do out of doors 

 next year or the year after. Two newly bought Staphylea 

 colchica are looking lovely now in the greenhouse, and 

 also a bought plant of white Lilac is covered with 

 bloom. We must cut them all back hard after flower- 

 ing, plant them out, and give them a year's rest ; then I 

 hope they will do again. lAbonia floribunda is also a 

 very pretty little greenhouse plant at this time of year. 

 This is the time to pot up some rested plants of Sweet 

 Verbena, and put them into the warmest house to 

 start their growth. They soon come into leaf, and are 

 then best in the ordinary cool house. This gives plenty 

 of Verbena for early picking. 



March 8th. The lion -like character of the weather 

 is softening, and all the little spring things begin to 

 come through. Each day makes a difference, but the 

 delightful feeling of new life is already everywhere. 



