340 LECTURE ON SPRING FLOWERS. 



I must pass on to the second part of my subject, to 

 speak of those plants which bloom naturally under glass 

 in spring. We find here an entirely different assemblage, 

 a gayer and more brilliant order of beauty. For the most 

 part they are natives of warmer climates, and the flowers 

 are of larger size, and endowed with richer tones of 

 colour. 



Glass structures intended for spring-flowering plants 

 should be built as light and airy as possible. The colours 

 of flowers depend so much on light, that the lighter the 

 structures in which they are grown, the brighter and 

 stronger will be the colours ; and it is scarcely less 

 important that the structures be well ventilated. There 

 is much moisture in the air in spring, the damaging effects 

 of which in excess is best counteracted by securing a free 

 circulation of air. 



The Cyclamen is one of the chastest and sweetest of 

 spring-flowering plants. Some of the species are hardy, 

 but I prefer to treat the whole as greenhouse plants. The 

 best mode of increasing them is by seeds, which should be 

 sown in June or as soon as the seed is ripe, in soil com- 

 posed of about equal parts of loam and sandy peat. Place 

 them in a cold pit. In September the seedlings may be 

 transplanted into single pots. They should retain their 

 leaves through the first winter, and be gradually brought 

 to rest when about twelve months old. The greater part 

 will flower during their second spring. 



The Camellia, of which there are endless varieties, 

 stands forth prominently among spring flowers. The 

 Rose is universally acknowledged the Queen of Summer, 

 and I think we may justly call the Camellia the Queen of 

 Winter. Whether we consider the symmetry of its rich 

 and delicate blossoms, or the deep massive green of its 

 expansive leaves, from either point of view it is a lovely 

 plant. In the climate of Angers, in the west of France, 

 the Camellia is treated as an out-of-door plant. There, in 

 the nurseries of M. Leroy, thousands are planted in the 



