AUGUST. 



AUGUST. 



August. Flower Garden, Work 

 in. 



Bulbs, Autumnal. Colchicums, nar- 

 cissuses, Guernsey lily, and amaryllis may 

 still be planted in borders, beds, or pots, in 

 light sandy loam. 



Carnations and Picotees. These should 

 now be layered, but without shortening the 

 grass. Where seed is required, pick off all 

 decaying petals, to prevent damp injuring 

 the pods. If not wanted for seed, cut down 

 the stems. First-struck pipings may now 

 be planted out, potting a quantity in 

 order to fill up vacancies which may be 

 caused from the ravages of the wireworm, 

 &c, 



Dahlias. These plants now require 

 constant watering and attention to tying 

 out lateral shoots, removing superfluous 

 ones, and relaxing the ties. Stir the soil, 

 but not deeply, and give special attention 

 to seedlings, selecting those worth pre- 

 serving, and throwing away worthless 

 varieties. Attend to the training and 

 thinning of the shoots of dahlias : place 

 small inverted pots, with a little dry moss 

 in them, on the top of stakes, for a trap for 

 earwigs. 



Geraniums. Now that the planting-out 

 season may be considered over, attention 

 should at once be directed towards furnish- 

 ing a supply of plants for another year. 

 The class of plants which will require pro- 

 pagation first are geraniums, of which both 

 the fancy and common bedding kinds must 

 be struck in time to get established in small 

 pots before winter, and the different scarlets 

 and horseshoe and zonal sorts. There is 

 no plant more useful for decorative pur- 

 poses ; many are, besides, deliciously fra- 

 grant, and there is none whose cultivation 

 is more simple. Geraniums may be easily 

 propagated by thinning out the beds here 

 and there, without much injury to them, 

 and, after making cuttings, inserting them 

 in small beds on a south border, puttin a 



little silver sand in the holes made to 

 receive them. 



Hollyhocks require the same attention as 

 to staking and selecting. 



Pansies. Make pansy beds of cuttings, 

 &c., that have been struck at earlier 

 periods of the year. Cuttings may still be 

 struck. 



Perennials, Propagation of. All double- 

 flowering perennials done flowering may be 

 propagated by slips, and parting the roots 

 towards the end of the month, taking up 

 the whole plant, and dividing it into as 

 many separate plants as there are roots 

 with buds, eyes, or stems. Let every root 

 be trimmed by cutting off the straggling 

 parts or injured roots, picking off all dead 

 leaves, planting them in some shady border, 

 and giving some water. Crassulas, Ian- 

 tanas, hydrangeas, mesembryanthemums, 

 &c., should be struck early to flower freely 

 the following season. Petunias, verbenas, 

 heliotropes, salvias, and lobelias, may be 

 taken in hand next, reserving calceolarias 

 to the last, as they strike better during the 

 cold weather of autumn than earlier in the 

 season. Verbenas and calceolarias may be 

 struck under hand-glasses or in a cold 

 frame. Anagallis, maurandyas, and lopho- 

 spermums may be rooted in sandy soil, if 

 placed in a cold frame, and shaded in 

 bright sunny weather. Maurandya Bar- 

 clayana rosea is an abundant flowerer, but 

 of undecided colours. 



Plants, Propagation of. Continue the 

 propagation of plants for next season, in 

 which no time must be lost with the more 

 delicate pelargoniums, in order to get them 

 established before winter. Plant out all 

 recently struck pinks, double wall-flowers, 

 and pansies, keeping a few of the latter in 

 pots for protection during the winter. 



Roses. Perpetual flowering roses in dry 

 weather require copious supplies of water. 

 If mildew appears, forming white spots on 

 any of them, syringe the plant with soft 



