178 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



pity to restrict them to the flower garden. It is becoming more 

 and more common to lift small plants in autumn, pot them, and 

 gently force them into bloom. After flowering the bloom heads 

 are cut off and the plants put out again, or the pots are plunged 

 in ashes in a spare corner for the summer. The normal soil suits 

 them. Propagation is effected by cuttings or by grafting. Among 

 many beautiful varieties the following may be named: Charles X., 

 lilac ; Madame Lemoine, double white ; and Rubra de Marly, red. 



Lilies. See Bulb section for notes on Liliums and Lilies of 

 the Valley. The Scarborough Lily (Vallota purpnred) is a brilliant 

 scarlet bulb, which is much esteemed for greenhouses, and is often 

 grown in a window. It is easily managed, thriving in the normal 

 soil. The best time for potting is in early summer. 



Mignonette. Our fragrant flower garden favourite must be 

 pressed into service as a pot plant, more especially as there are 

 several varieties of it admirably adapted to pot culture, notably 

 Miles's Spiral, Parsons' White and Machet. When Mignonette is 

 grown in pots as excellently as the market-growers produce it, it 

 is a handsome as well as a sweet flower. It is best to sow about 

 a dozen seeds on the surface of the soil in a six-inch pot, and thin 

 them to half-a-dozen of the strongest plants at about equal dis- 

 tances apart. This may be done at intervals of a few weeks 

 right through the year, in order to get a succession of bloom. 

 With a little attention to staking and tying, charming pots of 

 deliciously scented flowers can be got. 



Musk. Another fragrant favourite, easily grown from seed, and 

 making a very pretty object when trained on a small, neat trellis 

 of split laths in a pot. If one has a plant, some pieces of the root- 

 stock may be set an inch apart in a six-inch pot. If not, seed 

 may be sown in the ordinary way in spring. The Musk likes 

 moisture and shade. 



Myrtle. Myrtles are strong, free-growing plants, and hence 

 are not suitable for small greenhouses, but they are well adapted 



