January February 



plant the more vigorous and free blooming will it be. A temperature 

 of 60 is sufficient to raise the seed at this period of the year ; and after 

 the plants are established in pots, heat may be gradually dispensed 

 with. Sow in pans or boxes filled with rich, mellow, and very sweet 

 soil. Transfer to thumb pots when large enough, and give one or 

 two more shifts as growth demands, until the plants are ready for 

 bedding out in May. There is a choice of distinct colours, which 

 come true from seed. Green fly is very partial to the Verbena, 

 especially while in pots ; it must be kept down, or the seedlings will 

 make no progress. 



FEBRUARY 



A CONSIDERABLE number of important flowers should be sown during 

 this month. The precise dates depend on the district, the character of 

 the season, and the resources of the cultivator. Should the month 

 open with frost, or with rough, wet weather, it will be wise to exercise a 

 little patience. Where there are insufficient means for battling with 

 sudden variations of temperature, choose the end rather than the 

 beginning of the month for starting tender subjects. Govern the 

 work by intelligent observation, instead of following hard and fast 

 rules. But in no case should fear of the weather form an excuse for 

 the postponement of necessary work. 



Annuals and Biennials, Hardy. It is one of the merits of 

 hardy annuals and biennials sown in late summer for blooming in 

 the following spring that they need very little attention. Still, they 

 ought not to be entirely neglected. They should be kept scrupu- 

 lously free from weeds, and it may be evident that a mulch of 

 decayed manure is necessary to protect and strengthen them for a 

 rich display of colour in the spring. Such varieties as have to be 

 transplanted should be watched, and the first suitable opportunity 

 seized for transferring them to flowering positions. 



Abutilon is a flowering greenhouse shrub which answers well 

 under the treatment of an annual. It does not need a forcing 

 temperature at any stage, nor is the plant fastidious as to soil. The 

 seed, which is both slow and irregular in germinating, may be 

 sown in pots. As the young plants become ready they should be 

 pricked off and kept steadily growing. When leaves drop, it indi- 

 cates mismanagement, perhaps starvation. A well-grown specimen, 

 when the buds show, will be two feet high, and bear examination all 

 round. 



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