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OPEN FLOWER-GARDEN. 



of the soil removed from their roots, and be re- 

 potted in the same sized pot. The propagation 

 of all bedding-out plants should be attended to 

 in August and September, that they may be- 

 come well established before winter. A mild 

 hotbed placed behind a north wall is the most 

 eligible, and in it the pots in which the cuttings 

 are inserted should be plunged. When the 

 cuttings are rooted, they should be planted off 

 into 3-inch pots, shaded for a few days, and 

 afterwards placed in cool pits, or frames covered 

 with glass set in an open sunny situation. On 

 the approach of frost in autumn, the salvias, 

 heliotropes, and such tender sorts, should be 

 removed to their winter- quarters first, followed 

 by geraniums, verbenas, &c, which are hardier. 

 The best accommodation during winter is 

 shelves near the glass, or in low pits capable of 

 being heated, so that the frost may be excluded 

 and abundance of air admitted. Verbenas and 

 calecolarias are impatient of fire-heat ; they 

 should therefore be kept in pits from which 

 frost may be excluded by covering or otherwise. 

 The same accommodation will be required for 

 such plants as have been plunged during sum- 

 mer : on the appearance of frost they should 

 be taken up, their branches moderately thinned 

 and shortened if required, and be placed in pits 

 or houses for the winter. Abundance of air 

 must be admitted for some weeks after being 

 taken in, and water rather freely given at the 

 roots to prevent the leaves flagging, as some of 

 the roots will have been destroyed at taking 

 up, having escaped through the holes in the 

 bottoms of the pots. Afterwards and through- 

 out the winter no more water should be given 

 than is sufficient to keep the plants alive, and if 

 possible none be spilt on the foliage, which 

 would encourage dampness. Many make-shifts 

 have to be made to preserve such plants during 

 winter, and those who cannot do so will have 

 much to regret when the planting-out season 

 again arrives. Those who have not the accommo- 

 dation of pits or houses will have to take up their 

 geraniums, salvias, calecolarias, &c., and reduce 

 both their roots and branches, and plant them 

 thickly in boxes of sand, and set them in a dry 

 cellar, stable, or other place of shelter, admit- 

 ting light and air to them on all favourable 

 occasions. Verbenas winter ill in such places, 

 as they require so much light ; and heliotropes 

 cannot be saved by such means, on account of 

 want of a sufficient temperature. Where win- 

 ter accommodation is limited, mauy defer pro- 

 pagation till spring, keeping only a limited 

 number of plants over winter from which to 

 obtain cuttings, which they strike in bottom 

 heat and grow rapidly, so as to have the 

 plants fit for turning out by the beginning of 

 June. Such plants, however, sustain a check 

 at planting-out which those kept over winter do 

 not, as they have become more woody, better 

 furnished with roots, and hardier in constitu- 

 tion : besides, if shifted into larger pots_ in 

 March, they have attained a much larger size, 

 and consequently a less number of them covers 

 the same space of ground. The beginning of 

 June is as early as bedding-out plants can with 

 safety be planted out, and every means should 



be employed to get them forward, of a good 

 size, and sufficiently hardened off by ample ven- 

 tilation and full exposure during fine days, that 

 the transition may be the less felt by them when 

 exposed altogether. A bright sunny day should 

 be avoided, as also when the wind is strong, 

 and a mild cloudy or rainy day chosen for 

 setting them out. Water and shade the most 

 delicate for a few days after planting. Avoid 

 planting too close, particularly geraniums ; each 

 plant should have room to develop itself fully. 

 We do not admire pegging down geraniums ; 

 and although it is very desirable to have the 

 surface of the beds completely covered, we 

 would rather sow mignonette to effect this 

 end, having the scarlet geraniums growing out 

 of it. Indeed, this makes a very interesting 

 bed, particularly if large. A bed of scarlet 

 geraniums, margined with a ring of the white- 

 leaved Cineraria maritima, has also a good effect, 

 as has also a bed with variegated-leaved gera- 

 niums planted in the same way. Verbenas and 

 similar trailing plants require to be closely 

 trained to the ground, and for this purpose we 

 place small stones on the shoots as they ad- 

 vance, which keeps them in their place, and 

 induces the formation of roots from the joints 

 over which the stones are placed. Verbenas, 

 the dwarf-growing lobelias, cupheas, and similar 

 growing plants, are best when planted in the 

 soil, because they are not required to be lifted 

 in autumn, and also because they do not over- 

 grow their proper limits ; but geraniums, cal- 

 ceolarias, heliotropes, and suchlike, we grow in 

 pots, which corrects any grossness of habit a 

 rich soil might induce. 



SELECT LIST OF BEDDING-OUT PLANTS. 



Ageratum Mexicanum, blue ; Anagallis Brew- 

 erii, carnea, grandifiora, coerulea compacta, coeru- 

 lea grandifiora, rubra grandifiora, Monelli, under 

 6 inches ; Bouvardia aurantiaca (orange), flava 

 (yellow), under 12 inches; Comaclinium auranti- 

 acum, scarlet and orange ; Cuphea platycentra, 

 strigulosa var. splendens, under 10 inches; Cyan- 

 anthus lobatus, light blue, 3 inches high; Calys- 

 tegia pubescens flo. pleno, peach, may be trained 

 to the ground or used as a climber, rising to 3 

 or 4 feet; Cheiranthus Marshallii, orange, 12 

 inches; Cineraria maritima, employed for mar- 

 ginal lines on account of the snow-white colour 

 of the whole plant ; Gazania rigens, pavonia, 

 yellow with dark centres, 0 inches; Hesperis 

 matronalis rubra, et albo pleno, 18 inches ; 

 Heliotropium azureum (blue), albicans (white), 

 corymbosa (lavender), gem (blue and purple), 

 Louis Napoleon (deep blue), Perciles (dark 

 dwarf), Voltairianum, (deep blue), Souvenir de 

 Liege, Triumph de Liege (lavender), Voltairi- 

 anum nanum (dark blue, very dwarf) ; Iberis 

 Gibraltarica (12 inches), sempervirens (6 inches), 

 saxatilis (6 inches), all white; Lantana florida 

 (rosy pink), purpurea (bright ruby), Sellowii 

 (light pink); Lobelia Ajax (damson), amoena 

 (light blue), azurea (light blue), ccelestis (violet 

 plum), compacta (fine blue), erinoides (light 

 blue), cardinalis (bright scarlet), episcopalis 

 (light blue), favourite (violet), fulgens (intense 



