174 



VERBENA. 



roots grow long and become hardened before re- 

 moving from the sand the plants will be slim and 

 weak. Cuttings strike so readily that laying is not 

 advisable. Self-rooted layers form roots so low 

 down that they will not produce as healthy plants 

 as cuttings of younger growth. 



Verbenas seed well if the plants have not been 

 too long propagated by cuttings. Seeds should be 

 soaked in warm water over night before planting, 

 and may be sown early in spring in shallow boxes, 

 filled*with leaf-mold and sand, and covered with a 

 thin layer of the mold. Set them out when an inch 

 and a half high in boxes of similar soil, two inches 

 apart, or, a better method is to use 2-inch pots and 

 plunge them in sand. Set those designed for bud- 

 ding out in the open ground, as soon as the weather 

 is warm enough. They will bloom in three months. 

 It is well to pinch off the first flower buds and let 

 the plants become strong before blooming. From 

 these seedlings make cuttings of the most desirable 

 "varieties for winter bloom. 



It is important that the house Verbenas be fumi- 

 gated once a week as a preventative for the aphis. 

 Tobacco smoke, it is thought, has also a tendency 

 to exempt them from black rust, the work of a 

 minute insect, sometimes called the " Verbena 

 mite" which is most destructive in a high tempera- 

 ture, hence the importance of keeping them in a 

 cool room. When young plants are brought into 

 the house, they should remain a few weeks without 



