MIGNONETTE MIMULUS 249 



appears from year to year from self-sown seeds, it will be evident 

 that Mignonette may be grown with the simplicity of a farm crop. 

 And it should be so grown where bees are kept and space can be 

 afforded it, for Mignonette honey is of the finest quality in flavour 

 and fragrance. As a border plant we have but to sow where it is 

 to remain, at different times from March to midsummer. It is 

 important to thin early and severely, for any one plant left alone will 

 soon cover a square foot, and in some circumstances a square yard. 

 In pot culture it should be remembered that Mignonette does not 

 transplant well ; therefore, having sown, say, a dozen seeds in each 

 of a batch of 48- or 32-sized pots, the young plants must be thinned 

 down to five, or even three, in each pot, as soon as they begin to grow 

 freely. If small plants are wanted early, leave five in a pot if larger 

 plants are wanted later, leave only three, or even only one. So ac- 

 commodating is this plant that it may be forced for early flowers, or 

 be grown as a hardy annual without any care at all, or even to a tree 

 of great dimensions, and tree-like specimens can be kept for any 

 number of years if the cultivator is careful never to allow them to 

 ripen seeds. But it is better practice to raise young plants and grow 

 them to specimen size by regular and moderate shifts, nipping out 

 all blooms that show until the plants are large enough, and then 

 having flowered them, it is more profitable to destroy than to keep 

 them. A rich friable soil is requisite, and plenty of light. But the 

 plant will bear a close atmosphere, and even damp in winter fairly 

 well, so that there are but few difficulties in the way of producing 

 handsome specimens. For winter and spring, sow in 32- or 48-pots 

 in August, and keep them as hardy as possible until it becomes 

 necessary to put them under glass for the winter. Several strains of 

 different tints are now at the command of cultivators of this favourite 

 flower. 



MIMULUS 



Monkey Flower. Hardy perennial 



THIS flower will grow in almost any soil, although a moist retentive 

 loam and a shady situation are best adapted for it. There are many 

 varieties, differing in height, and all are worth growing, both in pots 

 and borders. M. Roezli, from its dwarf habit and golden yellow 

 flowers, makes an effective edging plant. If sown in February or 

 March, and treated as greenhouse annuals, they will all flower in the 



