254 FEATHERGRASS HOLLYHOCK. 



season, when three inches long, and planted in pots 

 as above directed. Well tended in summer, they 

 will produce small tubers capable of yielding the 

 finest flowers next year. This tender offspring may 

 be preserved during winter, either in the pots where 

 they grow not to be watered however dry, nor 

 exposed to frost or they may be cleared of mould, 

 and store like the stronger roots, with a little more 

 delicacy in favour of their youth as in a drawer 

 of the study, where they may be occasionally seen. 

 . Feathergrass On account of its curious appear- 

 ance and extreme resemblance to plumage, is worthy 

 of a particular notice. Being of slow growth from 

 its hard and spiky seeds, it is often lost or destroyed 

 before coming to maturity. This is the sole reason 

 of introducing here a plant which afterwards needs 

 so little care. Sow the seed in a flowerpot, and 

 when the grass has got strong and turfy in the 

 root it may be safely committed to the border. 

 By the third year it will yield a profusion of feathers. 

 Hollyhock Is properly a biennial plant, but may 

 be continued a number of years. In deep soil with 

 shelter it may reach the height of fourteen feet, but 

 half that measure is enough for beauty. The long 

 duration of blossom, the length of stalk in flower at 

 the same time, the richness of the double sorts, and 

 the great variety of colours, render this plant a chief 

 ornament of the garden in the months of autumn. 

 Save the seeds of the best plants and sow in April 

 or May. Thin the young plants, removing the more 

 forward to other ground, in order to get strong 



