814 



OPEN FLOWER-GARDEN. 



vember. The surface of the beds should be 

 rendered smooth by raking, and the distances 

 should be accurately marked out by tracing the 

 lines first longitudinally and then across the 

 bed. The distance between the centre of one root 

 and another is set down by most florists at 7 inches ; 

 some, howevei', allow a little more ; but with the 

 tulip, the hyacinth, and similar rooting plants, it 

 should be considered that they send down 

 their roots (the bulbs are not the roots) perpen- 

 dicularly to a great depth, and not horizontally, 

 as do many other plants ; therefore they may 

 stand much closer together in the bed. Where 

 the squares intersect each other as marked on 

 the bed, there should the bulbs be set, and 

 under and around each bulb a little clean sharp 

 sand should be placed; it tends greatly to prevent 

 the bulb from rotting, and also keeps the soil 

 or compost from adhering to it. When the 

 planting is finished, a top-dressing of strong 

 sound fresh loam, moderately enriched, should 

 be added, so that the bulbs may be covered 

 to a depth proportionate to their size, none 

 deeper than 4 inches, and the weaker at 2 5 or 3 

 inches at most. In regard to the arrangement 

 of the bulbs in the blooming-bed, some know- 

 ledge of the sizes, colours, and habits of the 

 plants is requisite. The largest, tallest, and 

 strongest varieties should occupy the centre 

 row ; the next in order of strength the next ; 

 and the weakest and dwarfest of all the oiitside 

 rows. Some leave the surface of their beds 

 level, so that the rain may be of equal advan- 

 tage throughout. Others round them off to 

 throw off the heavy rains. 



General culture. — It may be necessary, during 

 severe frosts, to mulch the surface of the bed 

 over with some light dry material, to be care- 

 fully removed in spring. A more effective 

 covering, however, must be accorded them in 

 spring, as soon as the plants begin to appear above 

 ground, and also while they are in bloom. The 

 protection required should be the same as we 

 have recommended for the hyacinth. The sur- 

 face of the bed should be kept scrupulously 

 clean and free of weeds, and be frequently 

 stirred on the surface, using a wooden spatula 

 for the purpose. Allow abundance of ventila- 

 tion to the plants, and water the soil should it 

 seem dry, but let none fall on the blooms, and 

 protect them also carefully from rain and intense 

 sunshine. After the blooming season is past, 

 and the foliage beginning to decay, let the bulbs 

 be lifted on a dry day, and place them under 

 cover to dry in an airy situation. The offsets 

 and loose brown skin should be rubbed off when 

 they are quite dry, taking care, however, not to 

 remove too much of the skin, or to displace 

 offsets very firmly attached to the main bulb. 

 The bulbs should be kept in drawers or in 

 paper bags, in a cool dry room, to await the sea- 

 son of planting. 



Several writers on floriculture have gone so 

 far as to include amongst florists' flowers a much 

 greater number than we think come under 

 this direct head. For example, if Lobelias, 

 Rockets, Campanulas, Hydrangeas, Balsams, 

 Fuchsias, Petuneas, Rhododendrons, &c, are to 

 be so regarded, then Heaths, Epacrises, and 



almost every other plant found on our exhibi- 

 tion-tables, may be also included. 



We deem it of little or no practical utility to 

 give lists of florists' flowers, and therefore beg 

 to refer our readers to the catalogues of growers, 

 who will furnish them gratis upon application. 

 Every year produces a new race of these flowers, 

 and therefore what may be considered a first- 

 rate dahlia, hollyhock, &c, this year, may be 

 superseded by others in a year or two's time 

 — not, however, that we believe that improve- 

 ment in all cases keeps pace with this mania for 

 novelty. 



§ 6. — THE ALPINE GARDEN AND 

 ROCKERY. 



The cultivation of alpine plants, or, as the 

 term implies, plants natives of alpine or moun- 

 tainous regions in various parts of the globe, 

 but chiefly inhabiting the temperate or frigid 

 zones, has for the most part hitherto been con- 

 fined to gardens strictly botanical. A taste 

 for their possession is now on the increase, 

 particularly in the private gardens of Scot- 

 land. They are exceedingly well adapted 

 for amateurs having limited accommodation ; 

 they occupy little room, are not expensive 

 to purchase, are for the most part of easy 

 culture, blooming from early spring to late in 

 autumn, and some even throughout the winter. 

 They are often planted on rockwork or stoneries, 

 but are better grown in pots plunged in sand, 

 and placed within a cool pit, so constructed that 

 a sufficient protection from frost and wet may 

 be afforded them during winter ; for, however 

 strange it may appear, plants from the frozen 

 regions of Spitzbergen, Melville Island, &c, will 

 not survive our winters without a certain 

 amount of shelter. In their native habitats 

 they are protected from intense frost and damp 

 by thick coverings of snow, during which period 

 they are also confined to total darkness. In 

 imitation, therefore, of these conditions, we 

 cover our alpine pits about the end of No- 

 vember with thin -boarded or felt shutters, 

 which sufficiently exclude the extent of frost 

 that would be hurtful to' them, and keep them 

 comparatively dry, and nearly deprived of light. 

 Towards spring we admit air and light gradually, 

 as it were in imitation of the progressive melt- 

 ing of the snow, until, by the beginning of 

 March, vegetation begins to revive in the plants, 

 when all the light possible is afforded them, 

 covering only during cold or frosty nights ; 

 afterwards the covers are removed entirely. 

 During winter, on fine days, the covers are re- 

 moved, that the plants may be examined, and 

 all dampness removed ; for our artificial cover- 

 ing has a much greater tendency to create damp 

 than the constant covering they enjoy in their 

 native places of growth. This may possibly 

 arise from the variableness of our climate com- 

 pared with that in which they naturally exist. 

 In March yearly they are re-potted, and such 

 species propagated as are required, by division 

 of the plant, by seed saved during the previous 

 summer, or by cuttings, according to their 



