150 



PRACTICE OF GAEDENI2hG. 



of plants is not desired, their flowering may be greatly pro- 

 longed by plucking off the flowers as they fade, and not 

 allowing the plant to produce seed. Sweet-peas may thus be 

 continued in flower till the frost appears to destroy them, 

 and will form a very pretty feature amongst the autumnal 

 flowering plants. Mignonette will also flower all the season 

 if similarly treated, and may even, when potted and shel- 

 tered in winter, be converted into a sort of perennial by 

 this means. Candy -tuft will likewise produce a second or a 

 third display of bloom, if the flowers be removed as fast as 

 they fade. But in this and all other similar cases, success 

 can only be attained by the most prompt and careful atten- 

 tion ; for, if once the seed is allowed to develop itself, the 

 plants will be weakened, and never again flower finely. 

 When the seed of any plant is intended to be saved, (which 

 should be particularly attended to by persons of small 

 means,) as soon as it is properly matured, the plants should 

 be taken up and the seed-pods cut off and placed on paper 

 in the sun to dry, removing it of course at night and in wet 

 weather to a sheltered place. Seed should always be col- 

 lected in fine and dry weather, and never be suffered to re- 

 main on the plant till it is too ripe, otherwise it will be 

 liable to be scattered by the wind. The best and safest me- 

 thod is to gather each pod as they severally ripen, just be- 

 fore it begins to burst, and having dried it on paper or can- 

 vas as before directed, to rub out the seeds and preserve 

 them in paper in a dry situation through the winter. 



A few plants of the hardy kinds, if allowed to remain, 

 will scatter their own seeds ; and if these are properly 

 thinned, or carefully transplanted to any desirable situa- 

 tion, they will frequently stand through the winter, and 

 flower in great beauty early in the spring. Or the hardier 

 kinds may be sown, at the end of August or beginning of 

 September, where they are to remain. 



In planting annuals, as indeed all other flowering 

 plants, due regard should be paid to their height, and the 

 colours of their flowers, so as to have the smallest plants 

 in the front of the bed or border, and the larger ones in 

 the centre or at the back ; and likewise to have as great a 

 variety of colours as possible. To effect this latter pur- 

 pose, it is important, unless the plants are well known, to 



