V 



COMMON HARDY FLOWERS. 



Marjoram {Origanum). French, Marjolaine ; 

 German, Marjoran ; Italia,n, Maggiorana. — Mar- 

 jorams consist of four or more species. Reference 

 ■will only be made to tliree, however, which are the 

 most useful, though not more than two species are 

 in general use, comprising the " Pot " and " Sweet " 

 Marjorams. 



Pot Marjoram {Origanum Onites) is a perennial 

 dwarf shrub, introduced from Portugal. It is only 

 moderately hardy, and requires to be increased re- 

 gularly, and kept in thrifty young bush form, else 

 severe and excessively moist winters often destroy it. 

 For this reason a light dry soil is best for it. It is 



Common Maejoeam. 



easily propagated by division of the roots during the 

 month of February or March. Each plant should 

 be from eight to twelve inches apart, and it is well 

 to tread around the plants in the late autumn, should 

 the soil be at all loose, to make it firm, so that less 

 latent moisture may be maintained around their base 

 during the winter months. 



Marjoram, Summer {Origanum Majorana). — 

 This variety is sometimes called "Knotted" Mar- 

 joram, and is often in demand. It is a native of the 

 same country as the former, but is a somewhat less 

 hardy or enduring biennial. It is much safer, there- 

 fore, to sow seeds each spring about the beginning of 

 April. Choose a dry, sunny border for the seed-bed, 

 and when the young seedling plants are well above 

 ground, thin them out to three or four inches apart. 

 "Where an early summer demand for it exists, it is a 

 good practice to sow a few pots of it during the 

 month of February, thinning out the seedlings, and 

 to plant what remains bodily out of the pots into a 

 rich, warm border about the second week in May. 



Marjoram, Common {Origanum vulgare). — Thi& 

 is a British plant found abundantly upon most chalk 

 soils, and in a majority of instances it has to da 

 duty for the better kinds. It is extremely hardy, 

 and divides or seeds at will, requiring very little 

 attention to insure permanently large plants. 



COMMON HAEDY FLOWEES. 



Il^TnOBJJCTION. 



UNDER this general and comprehensive heading it 

 is proposed to include all sorts of old-fashioned 

 plants which may not yet have arrived to the dignity 

 of florists' flowers, nor to the showiness, perma- 

 nency and effectiveness of those now generally used 

 for popular flower gardening. Besides, there are 

 thousands of readers who have neither the means, 

 space, nor skill to go into the cultivation of either 

 of these classes of plants, who have nevertheless one 

 or more square yards of ground at the front, back, or 

 sides of their houses, which they would gladly make 

 more beautiful if they only knew how to do it at 

 little trouble and cost. All such are cordially wel- 

 comed to dip into this "common flower" series, and 

 to plant and cultivate such in their borders, by 

 their walls, or in their tiny beds on the gravel 

 around their homes. For their special encou- 

 ragement, it may be added here that the plea- 

 sure or interest derived from gardens is by no 

 means measured out or determined by their size. 

 On the contrary, it is not seldom true that the 

 smaller the garden, the more of both is reaped 

 from it ; the larger, the less pleasure or interest. 

 The land-hunger has proved even more disastrous 

 in the garden than upon the farm, and the fabu- 

 lous white elephant — excessive size — has too often 

 devoured the pleasures and profits of both alike. 

 As reasonably assess the merits of a picture by 

 rule or tape-line, as those of a garden by its area ; 

 the gems of art in either painting or gardening, 

 like those of jewellery, are mostly in the inverse 

 ratio of their size. But while all this is said for 

 the encouragement of small gardeners, the fortunate 

 possessors of large ones have still the best of it if 

 they only have the skill to manage them aright ; and 

 any management that excludes common flowers is 

 radically faulty, for the common flowers are after 

 all, as a rule, the most beautiful. Nature, who 

 sprinkles her mineral gems so sparingly in or 

 through the earth, scatters her vegetable treasures 

 broadcast over the surface, and invites all to her 

 feast of satisfying beauty. Gardening may, in a 

 sense, be defined as the setting of her jewels to the 

 best effect ; but they are so beautiful in themselves 



