798 



OPEN FLOWER-GARDEN. 



November. Those struck during the summer 

 months will flower during autumn, and until 

 arrested by the frost. 



"For autumn, winter, and spring striking,'" 

 Mr Turner, one of our very best florists, recom- 

 mends, " we use pots, pressing them firmly 

 and closely to the edge, using sandy soil, with 

 plenty of drainage; but for summer propaga- 

 tion we prefer a shady border, which should be 

 well drained, and prepared so that worms can- 

 not disturb the cuttings. They should be pro- 

 tected from heavy rains, and from exposure to 

 the sun ; but if they are shaded like most other 

 cuttings, they will most assuredly damp off. 

 All depends on the situation, which should be 

 light, without powerful sun. Another difficulty 

 to contend with at this time (March) arises 

 from harsh drying winds. We use hand-lights 

 and small frames, bo that heavy rain and wind 

 can be effectually kept from them. However, 

 not an hour should be lost in keeping them 

 open in favourable weather." 



Propagation by layers. — The best cultivators 

 do not recommend this mode of propagation, 

 unless it be in cases where the plants do not 

 throw up young shoots readily. 



General treatment. — The surface of the beds 

 that were planted in autumn should be frequent- 

 ly stirred up, and weeds and decaying leaves 

 removed. Peg down all long rambling branches, 

 and partially cover them with fine soil, allowing 

 the points only of the shoots to appear above 

 the surface. A slight surface-dressing towards 

 spring wUl be beneficial, and this top-dressing 

 should be somewhat richer than the soil the 

 roots are planted in. Their natural season of 

 commencing growth is in March; and as cold 

 drying winds usually occur at that period, it is 

 advisable to afford the beds some degree of 

 shelter to ward off the cutting winds, and this 

 is best effected by raising a thin canvass screen 

 on their windward side. Where, however, early 

 bloom is required, a top-covering during night 

 of glass or thin semi-transparent canvass is neces- 

 sary to protect them from frost. Beds for a 

 successional bloom should be prepared about 

 the beginning of March, and planted with the 

 plants kept in store -pots during the winter. 

 During dry weather regularity in watering 

 should be attended to, and this should be ad- 

 ministered in the morning until the weather 

 becomes settled and warm, when the afternoon 

 will be a more proper time. Weak liquid- 

 manure may be applied with advantage, parti- 

 cularly to weakly plants. Pansies in pots, and 

 placed during winter in frames fronting the 

 south, should, about the middle of May, have 

 the frames reversed — that is, to face the north. 

 Attention must also be paid that abundance of 

 ventilation be given, even to the extent of draw- 

 ing the sashes entirely down during the day, 

 and in mild weather leaving them partially open 

 during the night also. When the blooms, how- 

 ever, appear, there is danger in this, as they 

 would be exposed to the wind, which would 

 blow the flowers about, and greatly damage 

 them, particularly if for exhibition. It is better, 

 therefore, to elevate the frames upon bricks, so 

 as to leave a clear space all round of from 4 to 



6 inches, through which the air will blow, and 

 come in contact with the pots instead of with 

 the plants. By this mode of ventilation the 

 sashes may be kept constantly on, and so pro- 

 tect the bloom from rain, a very important 

 matter when they begin to fully expand. 



The ordinary flower-gardener delights in a 

 full display of his parterre at the same time. 

 The case is different with the florist — he wishes 

 to prolong the period of his bed of flowers, and 

 for this purpose he never allows a flush of 

 blooms to appear at the same time. To effect 

 this h« cuts off all small superfluous or inferior 

 blooms, and often destroys the whole of the 

 flowers for a few days to insure a few superior 

 blooms for any particular occasion — a competi- 

 tion, for example. 



In July, beds should be prepared for autumn 

 blooming, and planted with plants struck from 

 cuttings during the previous months. These 

 will often produce small flowers at first, but 

 these should be cut off to enable the plants to 

 attain size and strength to produce bloom of 

 larger size and greater merit. 



The natural enemies to the pansy are the 

 vrire-worm and grub, both of which attack the 

 roots, and the slug and earwig commit great 

 destruction among the leaves and blooms. The 

 wire- worm is easily captured, by placing baits of 

 carrot, potato, &c., in the bed, in which they 

 will burrow, and thus be readily extracted. 

 The grub is to be sought for about the roots of 

 the plant, and also when the surface of the 

 beds are stirred with a small hand-fork. Finely- 

 powdered hot lime, dusted over the surface of 

 the bed on a quiet day so that it may not fall 

 upon the bloom, will destroy the slug, or cabbage 

 or lettuce leaves laid amongst the plants, will 

 attract it ; and earwigs may be trapped by plac- 

 ing 3-inch pots inverted, having a small portion 

 of dry moss pressed hard into their bottoms, 

 upon the surface of the bed. The leaves and pots 

 should be examined every morning, when the 

 enemy will be found under them taLking shelter 

 from the sun. 



The hollyhock, at present a very popular flower, 

 is the result of floral improvement upon Althaea 

 rosea, a native of China, and, in one state of per- 

 fection or another, an inhabitant of our gardens 

 for about three hundred years, being mentioned 

 by Dr Turner in 1564 as a well-known plant in 

 hia time. The hollyhock seeding freely, and 

 being for two hundred and fifty years multiplied 

 by that means, varieties would, as a matter of 

 course, continue to appear. Of their merits we 

 know nothing. Somewhere about twenty years 

 ago, Mr Charles Baron of Walden began to study 

 their improvement, and it is mainly owing to 

 his exertions that we now possess this flower in 

 its present state, his success having given an 

 impetus to others, so that by their united efforts 

 the hollyhock has now arrived at as great a 

 state of perfection as it is possibly capable of 

 attaining. Whether regarded as a mere florist's 

 flower, and grown for the purpose of exhibition, 

 or as an autumnal decorative plant in our flower- 

 gardens, the hollyhock is highly deserving of 

 the cultivator's attention, seeing that we have 

 no other plant of equal merit to prolong to 



