BEDDING PLANTS. 



BEDDING PLANTS. 



petunias, calceolarias, lobelias, and others ; 

 indeed all sorts of trailers and creepers 

 used for covering beds in summer and 

 autumn are so named. Most of these 

 latter require pegging down ; and in wet 

 seasons, when the plants are apt to run too 

 much to leaf, the lower extremities of the 

 shoots may be slightly bruised, which will 

 check their growth and promote flowering. 

 Beds for all the ordinary bedding plants 

 should be well drained, and the soil light 

 and rich. 



To grow bedding plants in perfection, 

 the beds should have a dressing of manure 

 annually, or a heavier application every 

 second year. It would be almost as 

 reasonable to attempt to grow two crops 

 of cabbages in succession, without en- 

 riching the soil, as two crops of bedding 

 plants. Many of them exhaust the soil 

 more than any crop whatever ; and to grow 

 them rapidly, and in perfection, the beds 

 must be liberally manured. 



Bedding Plants, Culture and 

 Management of. 



Bedding out plants are plants v/hich will 

 thrive and do well in the open air in 

 summer, but which require protection 

 during the winter. Half-hardy annuals 

 are found among them, but they consist 

 for the most part of herbaceous plants, 

 which are, or may be, propagated by 

 cuttings. The propagation of many of 

 these plants, which are favourite tenants 

 of the greenhouse and conservatory, will 

 be touched on in the special articles 

 devoted to their culture under the name 

 of each as heading. Speaking generally of 

 their management as a class, it is desirable 

 that all cuttings taken in the late summer 

 to become rooted before the arrival of 

 winter, should be taken early enough to 

 allow of the formation of a good mass 

 of roots before the plants are consigned 

 to winter quarters. Thus, the best time 



for taking cuttings of geraniums, verbenas, 

 &c., is from the middle of July to the 

 middle of August, during which time they 

 may be stuck in the open border or a close 

 frame, but when deferred to September 

 the cuttings should be plunged in slight 

 bottom heat. Calceolarias, however, may 

 be subjected to different treatment. The 

 cuttings may be taken in September, and 

 even later, and they may be wintered with 

 no more protection than that which is 

 afforded by a cold frame. 



Bedding Plants, Hardening Off 

 and Planting Out. 



No plant that has been an inmate of 

 a cold frame or glazed structure of any 

 kind during the winter can be removed 

 from shelter at a moment's notice, and 

 placed with impunity in the open air. 

 Before removal from winter quarters into 

 the beds in which they are to bloom, air 

 should be given as freely as possible all 

 day and every day, weather permitting. 

 By this salutary exposure plants will ex- 

 perience no check when moved out. The 

 transfer of bedding plants to the open may 

 begin about the middle of May, or even 

 sooner, if the weather be warm, but if cold 

 and unpropitious, which is often the case 

 in May, it should be deferred till June. 

 Good soil is desirable for bedding plants, 

 but it should not be too rich. 



Bedding Plants, List of. 



The plants comprised in the following 

 list are those which are most commonly 

 used as bedding plants. It will be noticed 

 that the list comprises plants that may be 

 raised from seeds, as well as cuttings, and 

 some that are tender annuals. It may be 

 said that Antirrhinums, Cerastiums, Del- 

 phiniums, and Penstemons, being hardy, 

 require no protection in winter, as do the 

 others. 



