O:^ EEARIXG TLOWERS. 



179 



after this, the plants should be rather more liberally- 

 watered, and where they have been properly exposed to 

 light during the summer months, they will almost invari- 

 ably'flower. They should be repotted as soon as the flowers 

 Lave faded, and otherwise treated as before directed. 



The various species of fig-marigold will thrive well if 

 planted out in an exposed border during the summer 

 months, and taken up and potted again in the autumn ; 

 or, the pots in which they are growing may be plunged 

 in the soil of a bed or border in the open ground, 

 removing them to a dwelling-room on the approach of 

 winter. 



Balsams, cockscombs, and other tender annual plants, 

 may be grown successfully in pots, if desired, and, with 

 a little attention, will be highly interesting and orna- 

 mental. They may be sown in pots or boxes of loamy 

 soil, which may be kept in the window of a dwelling- 

 room, but will succeed better if a little dung heat can be 

 procured, and covered with a hand-glass or frame. As 

 soon as the young plants have formed two leaves besides 

 the seed leaves, they should be potted into small pots 

 in a rich loamy soil, and either one, two, or three plants 

 may be placed in each pot, according as the individual 

 may possess room to place the pots in a light situation. 

 Any tender annuals, besides balsams or cockscombs, may 

 be planted three in a pot, and all the attention they will 

 afterwards require is to be shifted into larger pots and 

 liberally watered. Balsams, however, and cockscombs', 

 should be planted singly into small pots, and they will 

 rec|uire to be very frequently potted into larger pots, 

 using pots of only one size larger at each shift, and never 

 pottiDg them into large pots at once, as is frequently 

 done for the purpose of saving trouble. They reqoii^e to 

 ba kept as near as possible to the light ; and where only 

 side light is afforded, they should be frequently turned 

 to prevent them from growing deformed and unsightly. 

 They also require to be largely supplied with water, and 

 in fine weather they should be exposed to the open air ; 

 water should be applied over the leaves and branches, as 

 well as to the roots, but the former of these operations 

 must always be performed in the evening of the day. 



