THE FLOWER GROWERS GUIDE. 



avoided. It is sometimes found that amateurs and even gardeners are not so careful in 

 attending to seedlings in frames as they should be, and many persons might succeed 

 better if they placed the pots in a cool greenhouse, where they would be less likely 

 to be overlooked in respect to shading and watering. Great care should be taken in 

 this case to place the seedlings near the light as soon as they appear, or they will 

 become drawn and damp off. When the seedlings have made their true or second 

 leaves, they may be transplanted into small nursery beds or other pans or boxes, placing 

 them 2 or 3 inches apart. Methods for avoidance and adoption are shown on pages 

 26, 192-3 and 115. 



The ideal situation for the hardy flower garden is one open to sun and air, but 

 sheltered from high winds. In the south, a west or north-west exposure is very desirable 

 for many plants, but in the north a south or south-west one is preferable. There are 

 few who possess a garden who can make a choice, and the majority have to make the 

 best of the position at command. It is thus encouraging to know that there are hardy 

 flowers available for all positions, although the number which will grow and flower well 

 under overhanging trees, and exposed to the drip from their branches, is very limited. 

 It is hopeless to expect very satisfactory results under these conditions, and such places 

 should be devoted principally to the cultivation of some of the hardy ferns (pages 

 110 and 111). Bulbs also thrive under the dense shade of trees, such as scillas, snow- 

 drops, and most other hardy kinds which are out of flower before the trees assume their 

 foliage. Some of the early anemones, such as A. apennina or the varieties of A. 

 nemorosa, are also very useful for such places. 



The difficulties to be encountered in a hot and dry situation may be more easily 

 overcome, and the requisite shade secured for shade-loving plants by growing them 

 among taller, sun-loving flowers or shrubs, or by the provision of a low trellis, which 

 may be made ornamental by covering it with a choice rose, a clematis, a perennial pea, 

 or one of the many other climbing plants easily grown. A hot, dry corner where such 

 expedients cannot be adopted, may be made very attractive by growing in it some of the 

 stonecrops, which vary very much in height and appearance, houseleeks, encrusted 

 saxifrages, or a specimen or two of the few cacti which arc hardy enough to withstand 

 our climate. In such a place Zauschneria californica, or Plumbago Larpentse, do well and 

 may flower regularly, which is not the case if they are grown in the ordinary border. 



The half-shaded situation is one which is a favourite with many flowers and some, 

 e.g. many of the campanulas, last much longer in bloom in such a position than when 



