390 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



February, 19 i 4 



How to Grow Cinerarias. 



There is something quite in- 

 tensely human about this gi\y blos- 

 som, but one can can hardly des- 

 cribe what it it is, for it is so 

 elusive. With all its l>eauty there 

 is a great amount of hardness 

 al>out it, and there is not anything 

 of the softness there is e%'en about 

 an aster, but, with many folks it 

 is a \ery great favourite, lor as a 

 house-plant or for decorative pur- 

 poses it takes a lot of beating. 



— Grown from Seed. — 



It is undoubtedl)^ true that the 

 ordinarj^ every-day amateur or pot 

 plant grower would infinitely pre- 

 ler to go to the nursery gardener 

 and invest a few shillings in four 

 or five pots of cineraries than buy 

 a packet of seeds and rear them 

 themselves, and yet think of the 

 numbers one can get from a packet 

 of seeds and the varieties one can 

 obtain. One ma.y pay a couple of 

 shillmgs lor a plant of very Ijeau- 

 tifiil showy blossoms bf this tribe 

 of flowers, but, in say tharee weeks, 

 the blossoms are non est and we 

 have not anything to show for our 

 money, for, of all llowers, they 

 seem to be the most Heating. 

 Cmerarias are decidedly '• 1< ..i 

 and need a very congenial home if 

 one wishes to make a success of 

 them. In the first place, a flat 

 box such as a Coleman's mustard 

 box, is one of the best of all re- 

 ceptacles for sowing them in, or 

 the ilat earthenware seed pans. 

 These flat boxes need plenty of 

 holes drilled underneath for drain- 

 age and a nice thick layer of char- 

 coal is the first requisite to put 

 in, and then a soil of well-sifted 

 sand and old wood-house stuff. 

 Sprinkle the seed carefully over thq 

 top of this and then scatter or 

 allow to drift through the fingers 

 very gently a little sand. Some 

 folks believe in a little fowl man- 

 ure being added. I do not, but a 

 great fad of mine is this, and ex- 

 I)erts may smile at the idea. After 

 jnitting the seeds in as I have 

 mentioned, I water them once a 

 day \ery gently througli an old 

 can then on the fourth day I 

 water with the weakest liquid ma- 

 nure imaginable through the s.nnc 

 recei)tacle. It is always well to 

 kee)) one's seed-box or pan cover- 

 ed with a square of gla.ss till the 

 wee plants appear. Many folks 

 say cineraria seed germinates and 

 shfjws within a week, but I look 

 [or it in about twelve or fourteen 

 days at least. The seed pans 



should never be allowed to be 

 where they can feel the full force 

 of the Sim, l)ut should remain in 

 the warm though shady corner of 

 the verandah. That sounds para- 

 doxical, but it is often very easy 

 to find a comparatively warm but 

 sheltered spot in one's garden or 

 verandah. 



— Seedlings. — 



It is just as well not to rush 

 the seedlings from their birth- 

 j)lace ; let them ha\ e at least 

 three little leaves on before mov- 

 ing them, and then they need the 

 gentlest, most careful hau'dling and 

 the leaves should be of a fair size. 

 Many people say that cinerarias 

 do well in the open garden, but I 

 have never had an opportunity of 

 judging personally, the. few times I 

 have ever planted them out my 

 bete noir in garden pests (cats) 

 have made a careful study of what 

 I ha\ e been doing, and although 

 the plants hav'e, as I thought, 

 been well protected, the next morn- 

 ing has seen ruin of the greatest. 

 IMy experience is that catsi do much, 

 more harm to our yoimg seedlings 

 than aphis or any other plant pest. 



These plants have two most pro- 

 noimced foes and they are the li|ttlef 

 soft downy aphis and frost. After 

 all, either of these is easy enough 

 to circumvent with a little 

 thought and care. 



— A Useful Tot Plant. — 



In .Tuly, when the brightest llow- 

 ers are fairly scarioe, it is wonder- 

 ful to see the bright, joyous-look- 

 ing plants of cinerarias. They 

 .seem so brave and happy-looking, 

 and to me, who have an absurd 

 idea of regarding flowers as hav'- 

 ing a human side, they seem to 

 say, " You may have a sort of 

 Ur. P^ell-like feeling about me, but 

 even you must admit I'm brave 

 and show my courage in putting 

 out my best blossoms when most 

 of my fellow-sisters are asleep." 

 For this is exactly what these 

 llowers, with their royal purple- 

 like hues do, and very grateful we 

 often are to them if we especially 

 want some bright, gay-looking pot 

 plants in the winter time. I read 

 recently in an American novel this 

 sentence, " The rich fragrance of 

 the cineraria l)looms, which form- 

 ed the chief decoration, as almost 

 too overpowering." Honestly, I 

 can say I have never come in con- 

 tact with a scented s])ecimen of 

 this flower, but have known 

 the Melbourne florists to sjJray 

 cineraria blooms before selling! 

 them, thinking, no doubt, that 



this mode of treatment enhanced 

 their value. 



Many folks say a cineraria ne% er 

 blooms so well as when pot-bound, 

 but 1 contend they may flower 

 earlier, if such is the case, but the 

 blooms will be more fleeting and 

 less lasting than if the flow^ers just 

 before setting for bud are trans- 

 ferred most carefully and tenderly 

 to a slightly more spacious home. 

 A fair-sized plants needs (on an 

 average) a pot nine inches in, di- 

 amter. If a very large pot plant 

 is needed, it is often a good idea 

 to put at least four plants of one 

 variety in a large thirteen to four- 

 teen inch pot, and this will reaUy 

 make a taagnificent-looking plant 

 for one's hail or vestibule, or for 

 a pedestal in one's dining room. 

 A great decoration for one's man- 

 telpiece and fireplace (especially tha 

 very up-to-date aflairs of this sort{) 

 is to have a dozen or fourteen 

 nine-inch pot plants filled with 

 cineraria plants ; those on the 

 mantelpiece can be very easdy 

 draped with some old Oriental 

 stuff, which so many housewives 

 possess. The efiect is aAvluUy 

 good, and generally calls i|forth the 

 utmost admiration. 



— Decorative Flowers. — 



For a dinner table of a winter's 

 evening cinerarias are not . too 

 great a success, for as the Ughts 

 are turned on, often the purple 

 tints of this flower assume rather a 

 hard look, but tubes of the white 

 flowers, especially if used with 

 dainty, decorative glasses or soft- 

 looking ferns, are very graceful and 

 pretty. There is an undoubted 

 marguerite suggestion about the 

 cineraria, especially the pure- 

 white ones, and pots of this latter 

 variety are simply perfect, ; used as 

 a chancel decoration at a wedding. 



— Watering. — 



When cinerarias are just forming 

 their buds, then is the time to 

 give them liquid manure about 

 twice a week, for it seems to helj) 

 them greatly. To aflow any ol 

 these jdants to become dry is cer- 

 tain (leath to them, and yet so 

 many folks, because they are 'at 

 their zenith in the winter time,' 

 think they do not need moisture, 

 and " it reallj' docs not matter if 

 they are ke])t without water for a 

 few days." — Exchange. 



^ 



Many of the deciduous shrubs 

 and trees will root from cuttings 

 if the jiieces are taken before the 

 wood gets too hard. 



