FEBRUARY 323 



ready for flowering in the summer, it will be necessary to give the 

 seed-pans a temperature of 60 or 70, and follow the usual practice 

 of pricking off and potting the seedlings. 



GLADIOLUS. It is not common to grow this noble flower from 

 seed, but the task is simple, and seed good enough to be worth the 

 experiment is obtainable. In large pots, well drained and filled with 

 fibrous loam and leaf-mould, dibble the seeds separately an inch apart 

 and half an inch deep. A temperature of 65 or 70 will bring them 

 up, and when they reach an inch high the heat should be gradually 

 reduced. The seedlings need not be transplanted, but may remain 

 in the same pots until the grass dies down, and the corms are sifted 

 out in September or October. Flowers must neither be expected nor 

 allowed until the third season. 



GLOXINIAS. There is yet ample time to secure a brilliant summer 

 display from seed. The directions under January are applicable, but 

 it will be necessary to provide shade for the seedlings as the sun 

 becomes hot, especially after they have been re-potted. 



LOBELIAS occupy a foremost place for bedding, and are suffi- 

 ciently diversified to meet many requirements. Indeed, there is no 

 other blue flower which can challenge its position. The compact 

 class is specially adapted for edgings ; the spreading varieties answer 

 admirably in borders, where a sharply defined line of colour is not 

 essential ; the gradlis strain has an elegant effect in suspended 

 baskets, window boxes, and rustic work ; and the ramosa section 

 grows from six to twelve inches high, producing large flowers. All 

 these may be sown now as annuals, to produce plants for bedding 

 out in May. Put the seed into sandy soil, and start the pans in a 

 gentle heat. 



MIMULUS, if sown now and treated as a greenhouse annual, will 

 flower in the first year. It is one of the thirstiest plants grown in this 

 country, and must have unstinted supplies of water. 



MYOSOTIS AZORICA. Moisture and shade are almost inseparably 

 associated with the name Forget-me-not. But so far as M. azorica is 

 concerned, the idea is altogether erroneous. It will flower admirably 

 in the border if treated as a half-hardy annual, and it also makes a 

 very elegant pot plant. Sown in this and the succeeding month, it 

 will bloom from July to September. Use a light compost, and when 

 large enough put the seedlings into boxes or pans, from which they 

 can be transferred to flowering positions. For pot culture get them 

 early into small-sized pots, and give additional room as they develop. 



PELARGONIUM. In raising seedling Pelargoniums, it is well to 



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