;{;,! THE PLEASURE, OR [Afrii.. 



•Sowing Perennial and Biennial Flower Seeds. 



You may now with good success, sow the seeds of most kinds 

 of perennial and biennial fibrous rooted flowers, that prosper in the 

 upen ground, such as those mentioned last month, in page 300, 

 together with monk's-howl, nettle leaved campanala, lobelias, 

 phloxes, double BOapwort, sneezewort, goat's-rue, and red garden 

 valerian; crimson monarda, Chinese ixia, verbascums, night-smell- 

 ing rocket, and aletris or star- root j asclepiases, of various sorts.: 

 calceolarias, Maryland cassia, clinopodiums and coreopsises; dra- 

 cocephalums, galega virginica, gerardias, cucubalis, hedysarums 

 and huecheras; hibiscuses, liatrises, Oenotheras and podalyrias; 

 penstemons rudbeckias, saxifragas, and silphiums; solidagoes, 

 spigelias, spiraeas, chelone, trilliums and veronicas, with many 

 other kinds. 



These seeds may either be sown on borders, or on three or four 

 feet wide beds of rich earth, and covered evenly with fine light 

 earth; the largest not more than from half to three quarters of an 

 inch deep, and the smallest from an eighth to a quarter of an inch. 



But in sowing these or any other kinds, you may draw shallow 

 drills, proportioning the depth to the size of the seeds, and sow 

 them therein, drawing the earth lightly over them, observing that 

 it is much better to cover too light than too deep, for if covered 

 shallow they will vegetate when moist weather ensues, but if over- 

 ly deep, never. Or you may practise the following method: first 

 rake the surface of the bed smooth, and with the back of a rake, or 

 a common trowel, draw or push oft' the fine top mould, either into 

 tl\e alleys, or the divisions intended to be left between each kind, 

 and to a depth in proportion to the size of the seed intended to be 

 sown in each space, then sow it on the surface, and cast the drawn 

 off earth evenly over it, after which, pick or rake away the lumps 

 with a fine rake, and pat the surface lightly and smooth with the 

 back of the trowel. 



Should dry weather ensue, it will be necessary to sprinkle the 

 beds frequently with water, both before and after the plants appear, 

 and to be very particular in keeping them free from weeds. Some 

 of the more delicate kinds when up, may not be able to bear the 

 midday sun whilst young, and will consequently appear in a de- 

 clining state; these must be shaded and protected from its influence 

 by occasional coverings of mats, until they have established their 

 roots, and obtained sufficient strength to withstand its force. 



Planting and Propagating Perennial Flowering Plants. 



In the early part of this month you may continue to remove and 

 transplant most sorts of fibrous and tuberous rooted perennial How- 

 ering plants, and to slip and increase many of them by offsets. 

 The following, together with those mentioned in page 300, may 

 yet be removed with good success, that is, such of them as have 

 not previously begun to shoot flower stems, viz., dracocephalums 

 of various kinds, but particularly the virginicvm and denlatum, 



