0338 



The king appointed Jean Robin, who owned a botanical garden in the Faubourg Saint- 

 Denis [Translator's note: a suburb of Paris], to cultivate the rarest and most beautiful 

 plants as subjects for designers and embroiderers. In 1608 this botanist published a 

 catalog of 1300 plants that he grew in his garden, many of which he had collected on his 

 journeys. 



USES. The flowering shrubs of this plant display their greatest variety when the 

 sun 



Has passed the shining sign of Gemini 



And in triumph pursues his course atop the sky; 



CASTEL. 



[Translator's note: the sun is in Gemini close to the summer solstice in June] and when 

 the vivid violets, whites, purples or reds of their wide corollas are elegantly arranged in 

 groves or in ornamental gardens. 



CULTIVATION. This hibiscus is propagated from seeds planted in April in trays 

 filled with good quality, slightly loose soil. These are then set in a hotbed. The plants can 

 stay in the tray for the first year; they're sheltered from frost in winter. The seedlings are 

 removed the following spring and put in pots or transplanted to a nursery, taking care to 

 cover them well when it starts to get cold. The soil where they'll be planted should be 

 gentle, substantial, but always somewhat compact. 



KEY TO PLATE. 



1. Garden hibiscus. 2. Open calices showing the location of the pistil. 3. Capsule, 

 transverse section. 4. Seeds. 



