EESBDA 



MIGNONETTE OBDEB 



cisTus 223 



form of this species, There are many 

 garden forms, among which may be 

 mentioned ' Machet ' with fine bold spikes 

 of flowers in which the red-brown anthers 

 are so conspicuous, ' Golden Machet,' 

 ' Golden Queen,' ' Miles' Spiral,' ' Victoria,' 

 ' Prince Bismarck,' ' White Diamond,' 

 ' Parson's White ' &c., all worth growing. 



Culture and Propagation. — Were it 

 not for the delicious fragrance of its 

 flowers it is doubtful if the Mignonette 

 would receive any attention at all in 

 gardens. If sown in open patches in 

 borders or beds, at the end of March or 

 April till midsummer, in a few weeks the 

 plants wiU be producing trusses of fragrant 

 flowers, which may be cut freely. It is 

 important to sow rather thinly, and even 

 then it will be necessary to thin the plants 

 severely, at the same time pinching out 

 the tips of the strongest shoots on the 

 plants left. This treatment will result in 

 strong bushy plants. 



If sown in the autumn, the plants will 



survive mild winters, and will flower early 

 in spring in the milder parts of the 

 kingdom. 



If required in pots, it is best to sow 

 che seeds in spring in gentle heat, say a 

 dozen seeds or so in each pot, afterwards 

 thinning down to one, two, three, or five 

 plants, according to the size of the pot. 

 By judiciously pinching the points, one 

 bushy plant will ultimately be found 

 sufficient for a pot. The shrubby variety, 

 frutescens, may be cultivated in pots for 

 four or five years, by giving attention to 

 pinching out the tips of the shoots so as 

 to cause the side shoots to develop, and 

 also by picking off the flowers as soon as 

 they fade. The energy of the plant is 

 thus not wasted in producing seeds, and 

 is utilised for the development of more 

 shoots. In this way quite large specimens 

 can be obtained. 



The soil for Mignonette in pots should 

 be a rich and light sandy loam, with a 

 little leaf mould. 



XIII. CISTINE^— Rock Rose Order 



Perennial herbs, shrubs, or undershrubs, often with viscid branches. Leaves 

 entire, opposite or alternate, generally feather-veined, sometimes fan-veined. 

 Stipules leafy, small or none. Flowers usually herrnaphrodite, regular, 

 solitary and terminal, or in scorpioid cymes ; very fleeting ; white, yellow, or 

 red, never blue. Sepals 3-5, imbricate, the two outer ones small or absent, 

 the three inner twisted in bud. Petals 5, rarely 3 or none, fleeting, often 

 crumpled in bud. Stamens numerous, rarely few, hypognous, free ; ovary 1- or 

 many-celled, with 3 stigmas. Fruit a 3-5 (rarely 10) valved capsule. 



CISTUS (Gum Cistus ; Bock Eose). 

 A genus containing about 20 well- 

 defined species of beautiful shrubs, rarely 

 undershrubs, often somewhat viscid, with 

 opposite entire or somewhat toothed leaves 

 without stipules. Flowers often beautiful, 

 like Wild Roses, in terminal cymes or 

 panicles, rarely sub-racemose or solitary. 

 Petals 5, usually with a differently coloured 

 blotch at the base. Stamens numerous. 



Oultu/re (Mid Propagation. — It is 

 somewhat unfortunate that lovely plants 

 like the Bock Eoses will grow well only in 

 the warmest and most congenial parts of 

 the British Islands. The flowers, though 

 very fleeting individually , not lasting more 

 than a day or so, are produced in such 

 numbers in succession that the bushes 

 always look fuU of bloom, and make a 

 lovely picture. A rich, light, sandy soil. 



and sheltered position facing south, are 

 best, and a little extra prrftection in hard 

 winters would probably save many a plant 

 which now dies. 



The Rook Roses may be increased by 

 seeds, layers or cuttings. The latter should 

 be about 3 or 4 in. long, and placed in 

 sandy peat under handlights in early 

 autumn. Layers may be made almost at 

 any time. Seeds, however, give better 

 plants. They should be sown early in 

 spring in light soil under glass, and when 

 the plants are 1-2 in. high, they may be 

 shifted singly into small pots, and kept 

 close and shaded in the frame for some 

 time to get established. When hardened 

 off by gradually allowing more air and 

 sunshine, the plants may then be trans- 

 ferred to the outdoor garden in mild 

 showery weather the following spring. 



