370 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



boies of light sandy soil, placing them in a frame 

 or greenhouse. The seeds will soon germinate, and 

 the plants should he protected from frost during 

 winter, and pricked off into boxes or pans in early 

 spring, and grown in as quickly as possible. Or the 

 seeds can be sown in February in seed pans, placing 

 them in a gentle heat, where the seeds will quickly 

 produce plants, and allow tbcina to remain there 

 until the plants are from two to three inches high. 

 Then prick them out into boxes or pots, about two 

 inches apart, and gradually harden them off till the 

 weather is sufficiently mild to plant them out in 

 a bed of good rich soil. Treated in this way the 

 plants get into good size early, and flower about 

 August. This is making the Snapdragon an annual. 

 Then a sowing can be made about July in pans 

 or boxes, placed in a cold frame ; and in September 

 or October the young plants can either be planted 

 out in a bed in a cold frame to winter, or be placed 

 out in the open ground. A somewhat warm sheltered 

 border is best ; young imbloomed plants winter much 

 better than those that have flowered the previous 

 summer ; and seedlings raised from seed sown in 

 July will flower much eaiiier in the following- 

 summer than those raised from heat in February of 

 the same year. 



The plants that flower in July may have all their 

 flower spikes cut away as soon as the beauty is over, 

 lea\'ing only a very few from which it is desirable 

 to take seeds ; and they will throw out fresh growths 

 that will bloom in October and November if the 

 weather is mild. The second blooms will not be 

 so large as the first, but the plants will be more 

 compact at growth ; and, because it is the autumn 

 season, the colours if anything more brilliant. 



There is a very dwarf section of Antirrhinums of 

 Continental origin known as Tom Thumb. They do 

 not rise much beyond six inches in height, and some 

 not so high as this. The seedling plants form dense 

 tufts, and they throw up six or eight or more pretty 

 spikes of flower. Any one with a liking for Tom 

 Thumb Antirrhinums should sow a little seed every 

 year; for if the plants are left over for two years 

 they grow a good deal taller. The seedlings can be 

 raised in just the same way as those of the taller= 

 growing section. 



The colours of the Antirrhinum vary very much. 

 Some of the flowers are self-coloured ; some beauti- 

 fully striped and flaked ; others bi-coloured and tri- 

 coloured. On some plants two or three difl'erent- 

 coloured flowers can be seen at once. And wa con- 

 clude by saying that all lovers of hardy garden 

 flowers should grow a few pretty Snapdragons. 



Selection or Named Axtiurhinums. 



Ada, s^-riped. j Cluuy, dark criinson. 



Abel, Graud, striped. ' Canary, white fuel crimsor:. 



Selection of Named A: 



Clierub, white and rose. 

 Comus, yellow and claret. 

 Duard, deep crimson. 

 <iipsy, sulphur and rose. 

 Golden Gem, yellow, 

 Hendersonii, white and car- 

 mine. 

 Jewel, cream. 



XTiKKHiNL'MS [continued). 



John Dowrice, rich car- 

 mine and white. 

 Monarch, orange-crimson, 

 Ophir, deep yellow and rose. 

 Sunrise, rosy-lilac. 

 Sylph, white and rose. 

 Sunshine, rosy-crimson., 

 Themis, tine striped. 



Hydrangea. — The common Hydrangea of our 

 gardens is K. Jioriensis, which was introduced from 

 China nearly a century and a half ago. There are a 

 few American species, not generally known, to be 

 found in botanical and other gardens, and gene- 

 rally of a thoroughly hardy character. The common 

 form is a little more tender, and yet much hardier 

 than is generally supposed ; standing well in the 

 southern and western parts of England and round 

 London, though always liable to be cut down in severe 

 winters. When it is cut down to the ground, it in- 

 A ariably springs up again luxuriantly the following 

 year. In exposed positions it is wise to cover the 

 crowns of the plants during winter with litter, so 

 that if severe frost comes, and the branches are de- 

 stroyed, no harm shall come to the roots. Hydran- 

 geas should be planted in good soil when placed in 

 the open ground, and if the covering recommended 

 in winter be in the form of some fertilising material, 

 the plants will be greatly benefited thereby. In 

 spring, when the young growths come up from the 

 bases of the plants, the thin ones should be cut away, 

 and only the strong ones allowed to remain; and 

 the old wood should be thinned out in the same 

 way. 



The Hydrangea makes an admirable conservatory 

 and forcing plant, and it is largely grown for market 

 purposes. Small plants, having one or more stems, 

 surmounted by very large heads of bloom, can be seen 

 in the public streets of London in early summer, and 

 it is remarkable that such splendid plants can be 

 grown in such small pots. 



Cuttings taken in s^Dring strike freely in sandy 

 soil and a light bottom heat. The usual plan is to 

 put one cutting in a 3-inch pot, as soon as it is suffi- 

 ciently rooted, giving them a compost made up of 

 good turfy loam, leaf mould, and sand to grow in ; 

 and applying plenty of water at all stages. After the 

 growth is made, the plants are exposed to sun and 

 air to ripen their wood. In November the plants are 

 placed in heat, and when the flower-heads appear 

 the plants are stood in pans of water, for at this stage 

 a good supply of water is necessarj-. The market 

 growers adopt the practice of taking cuttings from 

 the plants in August, or as soon as the buds have be- 

 come hard and the plants are ripening their growth ; 

 they are placed singly in 5 -inch pots in a slight bot- 

 tom heat, but not sufficiently brisk to incite them to 



