254 



MY GARDEN. 



ashes. They sprout in spring and form branches three or four 

 feet high, covered with pendant flowers. This plan appears to be 

 almost abandoned near London, but at Whitby and at other country 

 places I have lately seen the plant grown in great perfection. It is 

 usual to store the fuchsia plants in the back parts of greenhouses, 

 as it is necessary to keep out immoderate or long-continued frost. 

 Some of the florists' flowers have been obtained so large *and mis- 

 shapen as to be positively ugly. 



I have a single Australian plant, the Metrosidcros speciosus (fig. 514), 

 amongst which the kangaroos in their native country delight to live. 

 It gives a red blossom like a bottle-cleaner, which harmonizes well 

 with its stiff" dark green leaves. 



FIG. 514. Metrosideros FIG. 515. Mimosa, 



speciosus. 



\Vegrow a sensitive plant, Mimosa sensitiva (fig. 515), every year, 

 as it is easily raised from seed, and is a physiological mystery. 



The Cineraria (fig. 516), an early spring flower, greatly adorns a 

 greenhouse. The seed is sown in April in a pan, and the young 

 plants are put into separate pots as soon as they are sufficiently large. 

 They are kept in a cold frame during summer and in the green- 

 house during winter, when they form charming decorative plants in 

 early spring. The varieties of blossom are very considerable, but 

 without care the plants are apt to be infested with aphides. 



Another plant has been much varied by the florists' art, the 

 Impatiens Balsamina (fig. 517). The seeds may be sown in pans 

 in early spring, and the plants grown in cold frames in separate 

 pots till blossom appears, when the pots may be transferred to the 



