12 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOWERS. 



splendid bloom. It is usual to peg them down when in 

 beds, but they thrive better and look better when allowed 

 to stand up, and therefore petunias are well adapted to 

 form low flowery hedges in the flower garden. In Paris 

 they are much employed in this way in combination with 

 white " marguerites," the result being a dense hedge of 

 about a foot to a foot and a half in height, composed of 

 two close lines of purple and white flowers. When enclosing 

 a small plot of grass this is very effective. 



The named varieties are propagated from cuttings in 

 July and August without the aid of artificial heat. The 

 best place wherein to winter them is a cold dry pit, for 

 damp is death to them ; they cannot endure a touch of 

 frost, and, generally speaking, the greenhouse is too warm. 

 When kept sufficiently cool they are entirely free from 

 vermin ; indeed, the amateur gardener may with advantage 

 regard as a doctrine that the liability of a plant to the 

 attacks of vermin is in direct proportion to mismanage- 

 ment in respect of temperature and moisture ; generally 

 speaking, when a plant becomes covered with " fly " or 

 " spider," it is the consequence of insufficient ventilation. 



