THE CULTIVATION OF HARDY FLOWERS. 



451 



inside with paraffin and set it on fire to char the surface ; this 

 prevents the growth of fungus. 



It is well to notice how long each species takes to attain its 

 climax of perfection from seed. Some perennials take two years, 

 others as long as ten ; they are liable to vary so much in height, 

 their first, second, and third year of flowering, as to make the 

 same position in a mixed border unsuited to all these stages of 

 growth. Observe, for example, the annual progress of Cam- 

 panula lactiflora or Spircza Aruncus. Before dismissing the 

 subject of raising from seed, I may say that it is well to avoid 

 disturbing without good reason the soil near rare plants, as I 

 have often found spontaneous seedlings when I have been unable 

 to rear gathered seed. This, again, may suggest that it is wise to 

 imitate nature ; but let us consider how small a proportion of 

 seeds become mature plants in nature. Let us take the case of 

 a perennial which lives five years and produces a hundred ripe 

 seeds each year ; we thus get a proportion of one in five hundred. 

 Gardeners expect and obtain a far better result than this. 



Many good plants which are short-lived and shy of ripening 

 seed must be frequently increased by cuttings or by division. 

 In the case of florists' flowers like Phloxes and Pyrethrums, rules 

 for propagation are readily accessible to all gardeners ; but 

 rarer plants have to be carefully studied. Some, like the double 

 Lychnis vespertina, are so hard to increase that the market in 

 them becomes almost a monopoly. Others are easy to divide 

 and to strike only at some limited period of their growth — per- 

 haps during one week in each year. I have heard it said of a 

 famous gardener at Baden-Baden that he sits up all night 

 rather than miss the right moment for dividing Omphalodes 

 LucilicB. Some things require long patience to grow them from 

 cuttings into plants. Daphne cneorum and Lithospermum 

 prostratum take four or five years before they are large enough 

 to make a show ; it is a sound rule to take a few cuttings of all 

 such plants every season, and cuttings make far better plants 

 than layers. Another item of advice I will give is to utilise for 

 growing flowers every corner of the garden, especially if the 

 garden is small. There are always neglected shady spots, which 

 a few stones covered with leaf mould would easily convert into 

 an attractive bed of hardy Cyclamens. Other sheltered places 



