Round the Year in the Garden 



poor quality. They should remain out of doors, the pots 

 plunged to the rims in ashes or leaves, or in a cold frame, 

 until February ; they are then pruned and placed in the 

 greenhouse. The following winter they can be pruned 

 in December and put under glass early in the New Year. 

 Strong plants obtained from a nurseryman or dug up 

 from the open ground should be potted in pots 6 or 7 

 inches wide, all thick, long roots being cut back and the 

 growths shortened by about half. Firm potting is neces- 

 sary ; an ideal compost consists of rough turfy soil with 

 which one-third rotted manure and some J inch bones are 

 mixed. Then the Roses may be grown for several years 

 without being repotted, provided they are given a top- 

 dressing of similar soil each autumn. A few good varie- 

 ties suitable for cultivation in pots are Madame Abel 

 Chatenay, Lady Hillingdon, Richmond, Joseph Lowe, 

 Prince de Bulgarie, Mrs. John Laing, Pharisaer, G. C. 

 Waud, Ulrich Brunner, Mrs. Herbert Stevens and 

 W. R. Smith. 



Potting Bulbs. The simplest and cheapest way of 

 obtaining a display of spring flowers in the greenhouse is 

 by growing bulbs in pots. It is difficult to fail if one 

 begins early, in October, but quite easy to do so if one 

 defers the work until late November or December. 

 Even then success may be achieved, but it is not so 

 certain, and, in gardening, one ought not to impose too 

 great a strain upon the flowers one grows. If the bulbs 

 are potted during the first two weeks of October and 

 placed out of doors beneath ashes for two months, then 

 being brought into a frame or greenhouse, it is difficult 

 to see how failure is possible, providing the bulbs are 

 sound and one has mastered the practice of watering. 

 Amateurs frequently ask how often plants should be 

 watered, and no one can tell them definitely. The sim- 

 plest and the best way is not to give water until the 

 soil begins to get dry ; then to fill the pot to the rim 

 and to give no more until the soil again shows signs of 



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