ON EEARIXG FLOWERS. 



13a 



occur, they should be liberally supplied with water each 

 day, for some time after planting. Some writers recom- 

 mend planting them in the autumnal months, but as by 

 this practice they will be liable to be thrown out of the 

 soil by severe frost, the spring is by far the best time for 

 performing this operation. In planting those that shed 

 their leaves, such as starworts, and others of similar 

 habits, the crowns of the roots should be very slightly 

 covered with soil, and never be buried more than half an 

 inch beneath the surface of the ground ; while those 

 which retain then- leaves should never have any part of 

 their leaves buried in the soil. 



Those which grow to a considerable height, such as Chi- 

 nese chrysanthemums, and such as have weak and slender 

 items, should be timely supported by stakes, placed in the 

 ground as near as possible to the stems, and the plants 

 secured to them with garden matting. This should always 

 be attended to as soon as the plants have attained the 

 height of six or eight inches, as, if it is too long deferred, 

 they will be liable to injury from strong winds or heavy 

 rains ; and also, because, if it is not performed in the early 

 stages of their growth, it can never be done neatly after- 

 wards, and the plants ^vill remain unsightly throtighout the 

 whole season. Few persons, except professional gardeners, 

 attach sufficient importance to this operation, and the con- 

 sequence is, that plants of this description are deprived of 

 the principal part of their beauty, and the gardens in which 

 they are grown always present a slovenly and untidy ap- 

 pearance, however free they maybe from weeds or rubbish, 

 or however properly they maybe attended to in other re- 

 spects. A plant, for instance a Chinese chrysanthemum, 

 is planted in the flower-border in the spring, and towards 

 autumn its numerous stems will grow to the height of three 

 cr four feet, and because the person who cultivates it will 

 not take the trouble to place a stake in the centre of the 

 young shoots, and secm^e thein to it with matting, they are 

 blown down by the wind in all directions, and, besides 

 having a most slovenly appearance, they greatly injure the 

 plants that happen to be beneath them, and their flowers 

 are completely spoiled with the dirt that is washed into them 

 from the ground by rain. Stich cases are by no means of 



