9 2 JUNE 



most part, be removed, even though they are still 

 a little green ; and the rose-beds in which they are 

 planted should be forked over with a four-inch 

 hand fork, an operation easily undertaken by the 

 garden boy. Air and dew will thus enter freely 

 and penetrate the soil. 



If the sowing of hardy perennials has not 

 hitherto been done, this month is not too late to 

 get fairly good plants from seed, provided that 

 watering is properly attended to. There are few 

 that cannot now be sown in the open, although 

 some kinds, such as the sea hollies, auriculas, 

 and others, need boxes, because their period of 

 germination is long, and they are apt to be for- 

 gotten if they remain unseen in the earth for many 

 months. I have kept a few late things, such as the 

 Chinese dianthus and spring-sown snapdragons, in 

 four-inch pots, to fill gaps in the borders ; and now 

 that the oriental poppies have nearly finished 

 flowering they will be cut down level with the 

 ground, and these pot plants will be put near and 

 around the roots. Pyrethrums may be treated in 

 the same way as the poppies, but it is not advisable 

 to behave so brutally to most early-flowering plants, 

 for some of the weaker-growing perennials would 

 resent their temporary extinction, and would prob- 

 ably make it a permanent one. 



The fancy pelargoniums are getting near their 

 time of rest, and must soon be cut back and 

 prepared for next year's flowering. They are 

 reduced to the hard wood ; the ball is also made 

 smaller, and the plants are set out in a cool frame 

 in clean pots. New plants are raised from some of 



