A YEAR'S GARDENING 



compost of sandy peat and leaf mould and gradually hardening the 

 plants in September. By December they may be settled in a warm 

 place in the greenhouse, and by January should be growing freely. 

 It is important to have the pots well drained, but the plant may be 

 watered with weak manure water whenever dry. 



BACHELOR'S BUTTON. See Ranunculus. 



BALSAM. A half-hardy annual very useful for making pot 

 plants for summer blooming in the greenhouse or for bedding-out 

 plants in the border. It is easy of culture and sowings may be made 

 at any time from the middle of March to the middle of May. The 

 earlier sowings should be made on a hot-bed or in a frame, but in 

 May the seed may be sown in the open, on a prepared bed of light, 

 rich soil — moist but not wet. The seedlings should be transplanted 

 as soon as the second pair of leaves appear and kept protected until 

 June, when they may be turned into the open border. If sown for 

 pot plants the seedlings must be transplanted from time to time as 

 their growth proceeds until each has its suitably-sized pot, and some 

 authorities advise that the flowers be picked off in the early stages, 

 with the object of giving greater vigour to the plant, but it is question- 

 able whether this is either desirable or necessary. There are many 

 varieties, with colours ranging through white, yellow, rose and 

 scarlet. {See also Impatiens.) 



BAMBUSA (Bamboo). These are such elegant and graceful 

 plants that in all except the smallest gardens some sheltered nook 

 should be found for one or two specimens. It is, of course, the grace- 

 ful lines of their foliage which constitutes their chief beauty, and to 

 obtain the full effect of this they should have a background of ever- 

 greens, which should be so placed as to protect the bamboos from the 

 UOTth and east winds; the mild, moist-laden winds from the south 

 and west they will brave without injury. Autumn mulching, 

 especially when first planted, is necessary to protect the roots from 

 frost and prevent evaporation in summer. 



BARTONIA. The Bartonia Aurea is that which is most in 

 favour — a .fine, showy plant, growing from 12 to 18 inches high, 

 with a rich golden-coloured blossom. It is a hardy annual, easily 

 grown in the open border by sowings made in spring. 



BEE BALM. See Monarda. 



BEGONIA. There are two varieties in general use — the tuber- 

 ous and the fibrous rooted, the tuberous being the greater favourite. 



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