74 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



is finally mounted and dressed in the following way : 

 a small circular card preferably of Bristol cardboard 

 is cut, with a star pattern in the centre, two-thirds the 

 diameter of the pod, and the stem of the flower is then 

 drawn through it. The points of the stars yield and 

 bind round the pod. This small card serves as a " plat- 

 form," as it were, for the display card referred to under 

 June. The small card does not, in clasping the calyx, 

 interfere in any way with the movement of the petals, 

 which must be quite free. The large card, with its 

 central hole (which is large enough to allow the petals 

 to move freely), is then fixed above the smaller one 

 by drawing the stem through the slit edge. The top 

 of the calyx is turned outward with a pair of steel 

 tweezers, to allow the petals to move freely, and then 

 the flower is dealt with. First the large outer petals 

 (" guard" petals) are drawn towards the edge of the 

 large card and arranged in a ring, then the second row 

 of petals is arranged over the edge of the first ; other 

 rows are treated likewise ; and, finally, the central 

 petals are lightly curved over the centre. With prac- 

 tice this can be done without giving the flower an 

 unnatural and artificial appearance. If made to look 

 very stiff, it would be regarded as " over-dressed." 

 Seedlings in the beds should be examined as they come 

 into bloom, and any very good ones marked, for pre- 

 servation and propagation by layering. Pot plants 

 should be watered and syringed regularly. 



August. Layer young shoots out of doors in 

 mounds of soil in the manner previously described, 

 beginning early in the month. Should the weather be 

 very hot and dry, the layers ought to be watered daily 

 to encourage rooting. Pot plants should be watered 

 and syringed as in July. 



