OPERATIONS FOR MAY. 
95 
annot refrain from doing so in the present instance. A specimen flowering in the large conserva- 
ory at the Horticultural Society’s Garden at Chiswick, is a truly splendid object. In general 
ppearance, when not flowering, it is not unlike a small plant of Brugmansia suaveolens, the foliage 
3 similar in shape, but of course not nearly so large, and much less smooth. The flowers are 
)orne in immense large leafy panicles, some of them eighteen inches and upwards in length, and in 
jreat profusion ; they are tubular, waxy in appearance, of a deep orange-crimson. The plant has 
>een little regarded in consequence of the treatment it has experienced being unfavourable to the 
levelopement of its true character. In conjunction with this last cause of the plant having been 
slighted, Oestrum roseum has been extensively distributed for it. It is in reality a fine thing, 
excellently adapted for a conservative wall, and the borders of a greenhouse conservatory. 
OPERATIONS FOR MAY. 
» 
In the average of seasons, and almost universally, the principal work of this month consists 
in furnishing the flower-garden and pleasure-ground generally, with plants for a summer display 
of flowers. In some instances, according to circumstances, such as a particular locality being 
frequently visited by late spring frosts, a late autumn display of flowers being required, the beds 
being occupied with spring-flowering plants, or their being of unusually small dimensions, &c., it 
may be advisable and necessary to postpone till as late as the middle of June even, placing the 
i plants out. It should be borne in mind that the plants preserved to plant out thus late, will 
require particular attention to maintaining them healthily, and induce them to become good and 
established plants ; freely potting and plunging them when potted, pinching off the whole of their 
flowers before they come to maturity, &c., will be instrumental in insuring their welfare till they 
are required. 
Except in cases similar to those already mentioned, the various beds should not now require 
preparing for the reception of the plants. Presuming they do not, but that in accordance with 
previous instructions their being got properly ready has been attended to, we will direct attention 
to the actual operation of putting the plants in the ground. As it is generally performed, a 
circumstance frequently the fertile parent of very considerable mischief is the neglect of 
ascertaining whether the balls of the plants being turned out are properly moist ; their not being 
so, in scores of instances, is the cause of the plant dying off, and invariably the certainty of many 
dragging on a lingering existence for a considerable time. The great number of plants every 
spring turned into the open ground, are in a peculiar manner previously liable, from various 
causes, to become dry ; principally from the majority of them having been long kept in small pots, 
consequently the balls of earth they are growing in, from frequent waterings, are rendered firm, 
and the soil often bound solidly by masses of roots. The least degree of dryness under these 
circumstances once becoming established, it will be imagined that, rather than its being lessened 
by the quantity of water casually given to the plants, a state of perfect drought will inevitably 
succeed. Again, these numerous plants in small pots, exposed as they too frequently are to the 
full glare of sun, and in addition, the quantity of roots powerfully and continuously extracting the 
moisture from the soil they grow in, renders a few hours of the description of exposure referred 
to, sufficient to completely dry them to parching, to which condition, if they arrive, nothing short 
of the immersion of the whole ball of earth, for some time in water, will restore it to a proper 
degree of moistness. To small plants, like those under consideration, a state of perfect saturation 
is necessary to the healthy preservation of their roots, during the prevalence of hot and clear 
weather. 
From whatever cause the balls of plants about to be placed in the ground are dry, or becoming 
so, that dryness, to whatever extent it exists, must be removed by soaking the whole ball of 
earth in water ; for, if planted without undergoing such operation, they are certain to 
have their state of dryness increased, and watering to any extent, or scarcely a lengthened period 
of rain, will render them otherwise. The ball being directly sheltered by the plant, and the 
looseness of the surrounding soil affording a ready medium for the escape of any quantity of water 
