The Culture of Flowers from Seeds 



appear year after year from self-sown seeds, and it will therefore be 

 evident that Mignonette may be grown with the simplicity of a farm 

 crop. And it should be so grown where bees are kept and space 

 can be afforded, for Mignonette honey is of the finest quality in 

 flavour and fragrance. As a border plant we have but to sow where 

 it is to remain, at different times from March to Midsummer ; the 

 one important point is to make the bed very firm ; in fact the soil 

 should be trodden hard. It is important to thin early and severely, 

 for any one plant left alone will soon cover a square foot, and in 

 some circumstances a square yard. In pot culture it should be 

 remembered that Mignonette does not transplant well ; therefore, 

 having sown, say, a dozen seeds in each of a batch of 48- or 32-sized 

 pots, the young plants must be thinned down to five, or even three, 

 in each pot, as soon as they begin to grow freely. If small plants 

 are wanted early, leave five in a pot ; if larger plants are wanted later, 

 leave only three, or even only one. So accommodating is this plant 

 that it may be forced for early flowers, or be grown as a hardy annual 

 without any care at all, or even to a tree of great dimensions, and 

 tree-like specimens can be kept for any number of years if the culti- 

 vator is careful never to allow them to ripen seeds. But it is better 

 practice to raise young plants and grow them to specimen size by 

 regular and moderate shifts, nipping out all blooms that show until 

 the plants are large enough, and then, having flowered them, it is 

 more profitable to destroy than to keep them. A rich friable soil is 

 requisite, and plenty of light. But Mignonette will bear a close 

 atmosphere, and even damp in winter fairly well, so that there are 

 but few difficulties in the way of producing handsome specimens. 

 For winter and spring, sow in 32- or 48-pots in August, and keep 

 them as hardy as possible until it becomes necessary to put them 

 under glass for the winter. Several strains of different tints are now 

 at the command of cultivators of this favourite flower. 



MIMULUS 



Monkey Flower. Hardy perennial 



THIS flower will grow in almost any soil, although a moist retentive 

 loam and a shady situation are best adapted for it. There are many 

 varieties, differing in height, and all are worth growing, both in pots 

 and borders. If sown in February or March, and treated as green- 



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