ORNAMENTAL WINTER AND SPRING FLOWERING PLANTS. 95 



than truncatum, and is beautifully adapted for small vases which 

 are placed rather above the eye. Of the varieties of Camellia 

 japonica, it is scarcely possible to confine my remarks within 

 sufficient brevity, and as treatises on the subject are plentiful, I 

 must refer my readers to them. Of Pelargoniums for winter 

 and spring flowering, the fancy varieties take the lead ; and as 

 they are so admirably adapted for flower garden purposes, as 

 well as for summer display in the greenhouse, I cannot do 

 better than recommend their very extensive propagation. As 

 they have such a tendency to produce flowers on very short 

 shoots, it is necessary, for the purpose of obtaining a supply of 

 suitable cuttings, to grow a few plants of each variety in very 

 rich soil, and to divest them of flower-buds as soon as they ap- 

 pear. It is still useful to grow a few plants of the old forcing- 

 kinds, as Napier and Multiflora alba, to produce flowers for 

 glasses, as a sufficient length of stalk cannot be cut with the 

 blossoms of fancy kinds without destroying successional buds. 

 There are several hardy annuals which are very useful if a little 

 pains is bestowed on them. First of these stands Mignonette, 

 but as we cannot spare much room for individuals, I shall 

 merely say, in passing, that dependence should not be placed 

 upon one sowing, made on any special day, as much depends 

 upon the peculiarities of the season. We make three sowings 

 here — in the beginning, middle, and end of August ; if the 

 earliest comes in too quickly, the flowers are pinched out as 

 soon as they are distinguishable, by which the plants are con- 

 siderably strengthened. The soil should consist of moderately 

 light loam, rendered porous by the addition of some clean road 

 grit ; a little leaf-mould may be added, if reliance can be placed 

 upon its being free from insects, which are very injurious to the 

 young plants. The plants should be occasionally watered with 

 soot-water, and to give them additional strength, a little weak 

 guano-water will be very useful. If they are very much cut 

 from during the winter, a sowing should be made about the 

 middle of February, to precede the earliest sowing in the open 

 air. Nemophila and Collinsia bicolor are also useful for flower- 

 ing in spring, in 5 or 6-inch pots. The seeds should be sown 

 at the same time in which the two last sowings of Mignonette 

 are made, and should receive the same treatment, except that 

 the soil may be rather richer, and, as they are very hardy, a 

 cold frame will be ample protection for them at all times. 

 They will not need manure-water till they begin to expand their 

 flowers. Viscaria oculata is a beautiful thing for flowering in 

 pots late in spring. They should be raised from seed in the 

 end of July or beginning of August, and transplanted into 

 5-inch pots, three in each, as soon as they are large enough to 



