88 LADIES' FLOWER GARDENER. 



be consigned to a nursery-bed to remain for that time, in order to 

 swell and strengthen by themselves. 



If you wish to procure new varieties from seed, it must be 

 sown in August. The healthiest flower-stalk should be chosen, 

 *nd deposited in pots or boxes of fine light earth, for the con- 

 venience of removing under shelter in wet or frost. Keep the 

 pots or boxes in the shade during the heats, but, as the cold 

 weather advances, remove them to a warm sheltered spot. Litter 

 will shelter them from the frost, if you cannot command any 

 other covering. The plants will appear early the following May : 

 they must be kept very clear from weeds, and be moderately 

 watered in dry weather. These seedlings must be transplanted 

 every summer to be thinned, and placed further apart from each 

 other till they blow, when they may be removed into the flower- 

 beds. . 



This method is troublesome, and requires patience. Tulip 

 seedlings are seven years before they flower, and a lady may find 

 her patience severely tried in waiting for their blooms. Seven 

 years is a large portion of human life. If you can persevere, 

 however, you will be rewarded by beautiful varieties of new colors 

 and stripes. 



Fine tulips should have six leaves, three on the outside and 

 three on the inside, and the former should be broader than the 

 latter. The stripes upon the tulip should also be defined and dis- 

 tinct, not mixing, with the ground tints. 



Hyacinth seedlings are four years before they flower ; this is 

 not so harassing a period as the Tulip requires ; but every plea- 

 sure has its counterbalance. If you will have fine flowers, you 

 must wait for them. These bulbs love a sunny situation. 



The Orchis tribe prefer a moist ground and a northern aspect. 

 Columella says, that when orchis bulbs are sown in autumn, they 

 germinate and bear flowers in April. 



