174 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



most of them with crimson combs. Giant Empress grows ift. 

 high, and has dark foh'age and large briUiant purple combs. 

 Vesuvius is a handsome plant, with golden-yellow combs, the 

 upper part being of a bright red colour. 



Centaurea ragusina is a valuable bedding plant, with broad 

 silvery-white foliage, for which alone it is used ; it is excellent 

 for contrasting with any strong colour, and forms a suitable 

 subject for edgings to beds of Coleus, Iresines, Perillas, &c. 

 It is propagated by cuttings taken off preferably with a heel, 

 and inserted m pots of sandy soil during September, plunging 

 the pots in a cold frame, and keeping close for a few weeks, 

 until the cuttings are rooted. Plenty of air should then be 

 admitted, keeping the leaves dry, so as to avoid damping. 

 Plants will winter successfully in a frame providing that frost 



is excluded. Some 

 growers prefer to in- 

 sert the cuttings singly 

 in small pots, potting 

 on in the spring, and 

 pinching, to form 

 bushy plants. Those 

 kept in the cutting- 

 pots during the winter 

 ought to be potted up 

 singly in the spring, 

 into "forty-eights," in 

 which they will stand 

 until bedding-out time 

 arrives. Seeds may also 

 be sown in August in 

 heat, and the seedlings 

 pricked off singly into 

 small pots and treated 

 in the same manner as 

 the cuttings. 



Cineraria maritima (Fig. 85) is a hardy perennial with silvery- 

 white foliage and heads of yellow flowers. The flower-stems 

 must, however, be pinched out as soon as they apppear, as it is 

 the silvery foliage that is required. It is largely used for edgings 

 to beds of Perillas, &:c., taking the place of Centaurea i^agusifia. 

 It may be increased by cuttings of short side-shoots, taken off 

 the old plants in early spring, and placed in gentle heat. Seeds 

 also germinate freely if sown in heat about February, pricking off 

 the seedlings when large enough into boxes, and keeping in heat 

 until established, afterwards hardening off in a cool pit or frame. 

 The seedlings, however, do not develop such fine coloured leaves 

 as do the plants struck from cuttings, so that it is always best to 



