130 FLOWERS AND THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



plant, fit to grow in pots, or on rockwork. Cheiranthus 

 mutabitis requires a hot-house. Wallflowers grow very 

 readily irom seed. 



The Cistus, or Rock Rose, is very pretty, grows freely 

 in a mixture of loam and peat, and is easy to increase 

 by cuttings, under a hand glass, by layers, or from seed. 

 Many kinds, of low growth, do nicely for rockwork, but 

 these are only half hardy, and will require a little pro- 

 tection during severe winters. In case some may die it 

 is a good plan to take some cuttings of these, and keep 

 them in a cold pit. The Gum Cistus grows four feet 

 high, and produces its pretty white or spotted flowers 

 in June. The purple flowered is another pretty kind, 

 of medium height. 



The Hydrangea is a handsome plant, from its bold 

 foliage, bushy growth, and large balls of delicate coloured 

 flowers of the palest tint of pink or blue. The blue 

 flowers are a sport, and when a plant bearing them is 

 moved to a new locality it will often fly back to pink. 

 Hydrangeas are very handsome and ornamental in pots, 

 and out of doors they will stand our winters in very 

 warm sheltered spots ; but when less favourably placed 

 they must be protected. They like moist sheltered 

 places, and do not mind the drip of trees if the situation 

 be warm. If the roots be protected with manure, the 

 plants may be cut back to them, and will shoot out 

 again and bloom late. They may be propagated al 

 almost any time by cuttings of the young side shoots 

 two or three inches long, in sandy earth with a little 

 heat. The old stems strike anywhere, but take more 

 time. It is said the loam of Kenwood, Hampstead 

 Heath, Stanmore Heath, the peat of Wimbledon, and 

 from some of the bogs near Edinburgh, produce the 

 beautiful tender blue flowers, and I have known them 

 do well in earth almost entirely composed of leaf-mould. 

 Watering with water impregnated with alum, steel- 

 filings, sheep-manure, wood-ashes, peat-ashes, nitre, car- 

 bonate of soda, common salt, and tan, have all been tried 

 with more or less success. The plants should be cut 

 back when they have done flowering. 



