Commercial Gardening 



after themselves, and increase with astonishing rapidity so much so 

 that they are apt to choke themselves in the struggle for air and light. 

 They should be thinned out to 1 ft. apart every spring. Bunches of twelve 

 sprays realize from Is. to 3s. per dozen sometimes much less. Other 

 species of Perennial Sunflower worth growing as catch crops for cut flower 

 are H. decapetalus, 4 ft.; H. giganteus, 10-12 ft.; and H. multiflorus, 3-5 ft. 

 The last has fine double-flowered varieties like Bouquet d'Or, flore pleno, 

 and Soleil d'Or or grandiplenus all worth a place for cut bloom, as they 

 are fine in colour and last well when cut. H. sparsifolius is a newer plant 

 about 8 ft. high, with fine leaves, and very large bright yellow flowers with 

 pointed petals. 



Helleborus niger (CHRISTMAS ROSE) (fig. 207). This is grown exten- 

 sively in some market gardens between rows of Apples, Pears, Plums, &c., 



chiefly for the large pure- 

 white blossoms which appear 

 naturally at Christmas time 

 and later. The plants like a 

 rich, cool, moist soil and semi- 

 shaded places, and should 

 always be planted early in 

 spring after the flowers have 

 faded. For forcing purposes 

 they are very valuable. 

 Clumps are lifted in Novem- 

 ber or earlier, just as the 

 buds begin to appear, and 

 are placed in shallow boxes. 

 These are transferred to a 

 greenhouse with gentle 

 warmth, and when kept just 

 moist the flowers open with 

 great purity of colour, and 

 are then bunched up for 

 market, the prices realized 

 varying from 3d. to 6d. and 

 9d. per bunch according to 

 circumstances. Clumps that 



have been gently forced in this way are afterwards planted in the open, 

 and are not forced again until at least two winters later. A fresh batch 

 of plants is used instead, and they rest in due course while another batch 

 is being forced into early bloom. 



There are many kinds of Hellebores besides H. niger in which nursery- 

 men do a trade with owners of private gardens, &c. The following may 

 be noted: orientalis, the Lenten Rose, with rosy flowers from February 

 to May; odorus, green and purple, fragrant: atrorubens, deep purple; 

 punctatus, pale red, spotted: colchicus, bright purple; foetidits, green- 



Fig. 207. Helleborus niger 



