862 VIOLA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



VIOLA. 



V. reniformis (New Holland Violet}. 

 This mantles the ground with a mass of 

 small leaves, has numerous slender creep- 

 ing stems, and bears throughout the 

 summer blue and white flowers of ex- 

 quisite beauty, about 2 inches from the 

 ground. It is pretty for planting out over 

 a bed of peat or very light earth, where 

 taller plants are put out in a scattered 



Viola reniformis (New H 



manner during the summer, but being 

 very small and delicate, it should not be 

 used with coarse subjects. It must be 

 treated like a tender bedding plant taken 

 up or propagated in autumn, and put out 

 in May or June. Australia. Division. 

 V. r. grandiflora is a larger plant in all its 

 parts. Syn., Erpetion. 



V. rothomagensis (Rouen Violet}. A 

 handsome plant belonging to the tricolor 

 group, dwarf, and with low creeping stems 

 which bear in spring numerous purple and 

 white blossoms. It is a free grower, but, 

 being a native of Sicily, is not so hardy as 

 some Violets, and should be grown in a 

 light soil and a warm border. 



V. tricolor (Heart'' s-ease}. The Pansy 

 is usually classed under the head of V. 

 tricolor, though it is probably descended 

 from V. altaica a species to which a 

 good many Pansies seem nearly allied. 

 But the Pansies are so numerous, so varied, 

 and, withal, so distinct from any wild 

 species of Violet, that little can be traced 

 of their origin. Of one thing we may be 

 certain : the parents of this precious race 

 were true mountaineers. Only alpines 

 could give birth to such rich and brilliant 

 colour and such noble amplitude of bloom. 

 Its season never ends ; it often blooms 

 cheerfully enough at Christmas, and is 



sheeted with gold and purple when the 

 Hawthorn is white with blossoms. Such 

 a flower must not be ignored on our rock- 

 gardens, even though it thrives in almost 

 any soil and position. It may be treated 

 as an annual, a biennial, or a perennial, 

 according to climate, position, and soil. 

 One of the commonest of weeds in Scot- 

 land, the wild V. lutea, may be grown in 

 the south of England, if sheltered from 

 the midday sun. It thrives capitally with 

 a north or, better still, a north-east 

 exposure, if sheltered by tall trees or 

 buildings, so that it may get the cool sun 

 of the early morning only. 



For borders one way is to grow the 

 plants from seed. The Belgian or fancy 

 Pansies are remarkable for the strange 

 and almost gorgeous variety of their 

 colours and the unusual size of many of 

 the blooms. They are more hardy as 

 seedlings, and more robust as plants, than 

 the other kinds, and yield a greater variety 

 of colours. The seed should be sown in 

 July or August, in pans of light leafy soil, 

 such as sand, leaf-mould, and mould from 

 rotted turf, and placed in a cool shady 

 place. When mixed seeds are sown, sow 

 each separately at a distance of i^ in. or 

 so. As soon as the first seeds have ger- 

 minated and the seedlings have three 

 pairs of leaves, they should be removed 

 without disturbing the weaker and more 

 backward ones, for amongst the seedlings 

 which are the last to appear will be found 

 the greatest proportion of finely-coloured 

 flowers. It is important to sow the seed 

 when fresh. 



It is rarely convenient to plant the 

 seedlings at once where they are to 

 bloom, therefore they should be placed in 

 pots plunged in a cool place in the open 

 ground, and shifted to their final place 

 in time to get well-established before 

 winter sets in. They stand the winter 

 well, and the only danger lies in heavy 

 rain or sleet succeeded by sharp frosts. 

 A pot inverted over each plant to protect 

 the soil from too much wet would be 

 sufficient protection. It is not advisable 

 to move Pansies in spring unless they 

 have been kept in pots during winter, in 

 which case they may be planted, though 

 with as little root-disturbance as possible. 



Pansies are divided into two sections 

 the show or English kinds, and the 

 fancy or Belgian kinds. The first com- 

 prises five divisions : white and yellow 

 ground belted Pansies, white, yellow, 

 and purple Pansies. The selfs must be 

 clear decided colours, and should have a 

 black well - defined blotch under the 

 eye. The belted kinds should have a 



