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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS matthiola 



the plants as much light and air as possi- 

 ble, to make them hard and sturdy. By 

 the end of May or beginning of Jmie, when 

 all danger of frost is past, the plants may 

 be placed where they are to bloom. The 

 richer the soU, the better the plants will 

 bloom and the more brilliant the colours, 

 which are white, lemon, pink, rose, scarlet, 

 purple, crimson, violet, with numerous 

 shades of each. If there is no convenience 

 for raising Ten Week Stocks under glass, 

 the seeds may be sown in the open border 

 about the end of April. Plants raised in 

 this way, however, must not be trans- 

 planted, as the season in most parts of the 

 country is scarcely extended enough to 

 permit of full development. The seed- 

 lings are best thinned out, leaving the 

 most promising plants to flower where the 

 seed has been sown. Among the kinds 

 grown may be mentioned the Dwarf, 

 Large-flowered, Giant, Wall-flower, Vic- 

 toria, and Pyramidal Ten Week Stocks in 

 various colours. 



In order to obtain dwarf, sturdy, 

 bushy plants the leading shoot may be 

 pinched out as soon as the flower-buds 

 begin to swell. By this means growth 

 will be retarded in the main shoot, but 

 will be accelerated in the side ones, each 

 of which becomes longer and bears numer- 

 ous blossoms. 



Seeds may be saved, but only from 

 the single-flowering varieties. But as a 

 rule seed saved in most parts of the 

 United Kingdom is of little use, and it 

 is much better to raise plants from the 

 best imported seeds. To secure a large 

 percentage of double-flowered varieties, 

 it is, however, better to obtain well-ripened 

 and imported seeds from a nurseryman. 



Intermediate Stocks 



These are also derived from the 

 Common Stock, Matthiola annua, and 

 are chiefly confined to scarlet, white, and 

 purple varieties. They are very useful 

 for flowering in spring before the ordinary 

 Ten Week Stocks. To secure them at this 

 season, the seeds should be sown in July 

 and August ; the seedlings will thus have 

 plenty of time to become well established 

 and hardened to stand the winter. Where 

 glass protection is available, the plants 

 may be grown one or more in a pot, 

 wintered in a cold frame or greenhouse, 

 with as much light and air as possible, 

 when they will make fine bushy plants 

 for early spring flowering. 



East Lothian Stocks 



This is a form of the Intermediate 

 variety of Matthiola amnua and is 

 chiefly valuable for producing its flo-ners 

 in the autumn, after most of the Ten 

 Week Stocks are finished. The seeds 

 may be sown about the end of March or 

 April, and when large enough transplanted 

 in the usual way. By using the Inter- 

 mediate, Ten Week, and East Lothian 

 Stocks in rotation as named, it is possible 

 to have Stocks in bloom for the greater 

 part of the year. 



M. bicornis. — This is a branched sub- 

 shrub, native of Greece, and somewhat 

 tender in the least favourable parts of the 

 country. It has oblong lance-shaped cut 

 leaves, the upper ones being entire. The 

 flowers are purplish-red like those of 

 the Wallflower-leaved Stock (M. incana), 

 but smaller, and nearly sessile, with ob- 

 long spoon-shaped petals, appearing in 

 spring. 



Culture dc. as for the Brompton 

 Stocks below (see M. incana). 



M. fenestralis. — ^A sub-shrub about 1 

 ft. high, native of Crete. It has erect 

 simple stems with crowded, obovate, 

 downy leaves, and scarlet or paJe purple 

 flowers produced in July and August, on 

 a long erect raceme, sometimes slightly 

 branched at the base. Only compara- 

 tively few double-flowered varieties are 

 obtained from seeds. 



Culture dc. as for the Brompton 

 Stocks below. 



M. incana {Wallflower-leaved Stoch ; 

 Brompton a,ni Queen Stock). — This grows 

 in a wild state in W. Europe, the Canaries, 

 the Levant &c., to a height of 1 or 2 ft., 

 having branched sub-shrubby stems ■ndth 

 erect, hoary, oblong, lance-shaped leaves, 

 and flowers 1-2 in. across in summer vary- 

 ing from purple to violet. 



Culture dc. as below. 



Brompton Stocks 



These are vigorous growing bien- 

 nials with handsome flowers of purple, 

 scarlet, white, or crimson. They are 

 not quite hardy in all parts of the British 

 Islands, and where there is a likelihood 

 of the plants suffering during the winter, 

 they should be planted under the protect- 

 ing branches of trees and shrubs, which 

 will shield them a good deal from the 

 effects of frost. 



Culture and Propagation, — Brompton 



