64 The Flower Garden [Chapter 



Start in the house in flats, and when large enough to 

 handle transplant into tiny pots in a hotbed or sunny 

 window and grow on until time to plant in the open 

 ground, shifting as required. They may also be 

 started in the hotbed, or in a protected bed in the 

 open ground when the trees are in bloom. Set from 

 one to two feet apart, according as a close hedge or 

 fine specimen plants are required. The new California 

 Abutilons present a great diversity of form and colour 

 there are beautiful drooping bells, gay little para- 

 chutes, flowers crinkled like crape or shining like satin, 

 some so full as to appear double. They should be 

 cultivated frequently if grown in the open ground 

 and potted before the nights become cold, as a chill 

 is often as harmful as frost, and plants so exposed are 

 likely to lose their foliage. Plants intended for winter 

 blooming should be lifted while the days and nights 

 are still warm. 



Asparagus plumosus nanus and A. Sprengeri (em- 

 erald feather) may be started any time in the late 

 winter or early spring. The seeds are large and 

 should be planted in rows an inch apart each way, 

 pressing them into the soil a quarter of an inch and 

 covering them over. They germinate in about twenty- 

 one days, and require no especial care other than to 

 be kept moist and fairly warm. When an inch high 

 transplant to thumb-pots, using the fine compost. 

 Shift as often as necessary; all Asparagus especially 

 the Sprengeri are greatly benefited by frequent re- 



