CUT-FLOWER CROPS 305 



450. Botanical characters. Wallflowers are her- 

 baceous plants with an upright habit of growth. The 

 flowers are in terminal spikes, and are yellow, red or 

 yellow-brown in color. 



Habitat. Southern Europe. 



451. Commercial importance. Wallflowers are yearly 

 becoming more popular as cut-flowers. Some markets 

 demand a liberal supply throughout the winter months. 



452. Culture. They are easily grown, and are at- 

 tractive, either as cut-flowers or as potted plants. The 

 seed is sown in March. Early in May, when the seedlings 

 are well established in three-inch pots, they are planted 

 in the field. Here they are given careful cultivation 

 during the summer, and early in October they are care- 

 fully lifted, breaking as few roots as possible, and planted 

 in raised benches or solid beds in the greenhouses. The 

 plants are spaced about twelve inches apart and the soil 

 should be similar to that in which carnations are grown. 



Wallflowers require a cool house, and the night tem- 

 perature should never go above 45 or 50. They need 

 a liberal supply of water and careful ventilation. When 

 they are lifted in the fall, they may be potted in six- 

 or eight-inch pots, and grown the same as in beds. If 

 cut-flowers are desired in late spring, the plants may be 

 wintered in a coldframe with leaves packed about them. 

 The last of March the plants should be brought into 

 the house and forced into bloom. 



TEN-WEEKS STOCKS 



453. Botanical classification. Order, Cruciferae ; 

 genus, Matthiola (after Peter Andrew Matthioli, an 

 Italian physician and writer on plants) ; species, incana; 

 variety annua. 



