March Sowing and Planting 



finished flowering, it is not necessary to throw them 

 away, as so many people do, for if planted out of doors 

 in odd corners where there happens to be room, they will 

 continue to increase in beauty year by year. This is 

 especially true of Daffodils, and in a lesser degree of 

 Tulips and Hyacinths, though even they, or at least the 

 best of them, are worth saving. Roman Hyacinths and 

 the earliest Tulips, however, are best thrown away. 



The Chimney Bellflower (Campanula pyramidalis) 

 is one of the most striking of all the plants in this family, 

 and when the 5- or 6-feet high stems are clothed with 

 blue or white blossom in July, they make an imposing 

 display. This Bellflower is commonly treated as a 

 biennial, but unless seed is sown sufficiently early in 

 the season, the plants will not blossom the following 

 year. If, however, seed is sown during March no anxiety 

 need be felt. The seed will soon germinate if kept moist 

 and shaded in the greenhouse, and the seedlings must 

 subsequently be repotted singly in small pots. If re- 

 potted as becomes necessary in loamy soil, and kept 

 in a frame throughout summer, they will be excellent 

 plants before winter. During winter the protection of an 

 ordinary frame or greenhouse is sufficient, for this plant 

 is really hardy. In spring the final repotting is given, 

 pots 8 or 9 inches in diameter being chosen, and the 

 plants will blossom in July. 



Repotting Room 'Plants. This is the season at which 

 ferns, palms, Aspidistra, Dracaena and other plants com- 

 monly grown in rooms are repotted if necessary. As 

 a rule these plants thrive best in comparatively small pots, 

 especially when grown in a room, and unless they really 

 need a " shift, " as the gardener puts it, they ought not to 

 be given a larger pot. Often all that is required is to 

 remove as much as possible of the surface soil, to see that 

 the drainage is satisfactory, and to replace with fresh 

 compost the soil taken off. Those that must be repotted 

 should be placed in only slightly larger pots. Palms 

 M 177 



