100 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
yellow.*, the colour, that is <o say, the light 
colour, must be alike in the three under petals 
to be worth growing lor show. Where a bed 
has fairly done blooming in perfection, cut the 
plants down pretty close, and earth them up 
well, giving them water in dry weather, and 
in a few weeks, or perhaps less, there will be 
a new growth. They may then be taken up 
and parted in most cases; for all the shoots 
will be found rooted : these may be planted 
out immediately for new beds. 
Ranunculuses and Anemones. — The 
beds in which these are growing should be 
stirred up, and the earth closed about the 
tubers, which in swelling and throwing up 
their shoots always disturb the ground, and 
make it hollow and spongy ; by bruising the 
earth, and stirring it an inch or so all over the 
beds, and pressing it close to the tubers, the 
growth will be greatly promoted. All the 
weeds must be removed ; plenty of water 
must be given all over the bed in clry weather. 
Roses. — Stocks which have been planted 
for budding will now throw out shoots. The 
stocks should be cut down to the top shoots, 
as all above these died. All the shoots but 
the top two or three should be cut off, or 
rubbed off close to the stocks, to throw all the 
strength into the upper ones intended to bud 
on, and these should be carefully selected, for 
the strongest are best. Any stocks that have 
been grafted should be examined, to see that 
none of the stock shoots are taking the 
strength away from the graft. Roses of all 
kinds, growing on stocks, must be examined, 
and the stock shoots rubbed off. Suckers, 
also, from the roots must be taken up ; for if 
these be allowed to grow, they completely 
check, if they do not actually stop, the growth 
of the head. If any have been allowed to go 
unpruned, for the sake of making a late bloom, 
the shoots will have come out all along the 
branches, and be forwardest at the ends. Let 
them be cut back to a single eye, or two at 
most, which two will be found not started, 
perhaps not even swelled, the growth of the 
others having taken the entire strength of the 
plant to sustain them. These eyes will soon 
start, but will, nevertheless, be a month later 
than the others before they bloom, and thus 
keep up a succession. Towards the end of 
the month it may be well to make visits to 
the different nurseries, to pick out the best of 
the sorts that bloom in May, and keep up these 
visits monthly, through all the summer and 
autumn, for it is well to select each month by 
the bloom alone. Pick out such as have 
double, free-opening flowers, with thick petals, 
smooth edges, and well up in the centre, and 
if you see twenty-four of these out of the 
hundreds of varieties you will see in any one 
month, be careful to possess them; for the rose 
will not be perfect until we can get Societies 
to have them shown in stands, like dahlias. 
This will at once bring out flowers of good 
character, and make a great hole in tin*, 
popular catalogues, which contain hundreds 
that arc useless. Every one of the proper 
character will be raised in value ; for it 
happens that whatever is most beautiful on a 
stand will be found most showy and rich on 
the tree or plant ; but the petals must be 
thick and leathery, or velvety, smooth on the 
edge, and plenty of them. 
Hyacinths, Narcissuses, Early Tulips, 
and other spring bulbs, are blooming, or very 
forward towards it. If possible, the flower 
should be protected from sun and rain. In 
beds, this is to be done by hoops and mats, or, 
which is better, transparent cloth made water- 
proof, as it does not take away the light. 
Towards the end of the month the flowers 
begin to decay. As soon as they begin to fade, 
pull them off, unless you want the seed. The 
roots ought not to be taken up till the foliage 
has decayed. 
Carnations and Piccotees. — These are, or 
ought to be, in their blooming pots ; and if 
their stage is only for themselves, they ought 
to be all placed in it ; but as most persons 
who grow tulips make the tulip stage do for 
their Carnations and Piccotees, they may 
be kept on shelves, placed in pots standing 
in pans of water, to prevent the approach 
of ground vermin and many other things. 
Ground worms, when they are on the open 
ground, too often get into them, to the great 
disadvantage of the plants. All that remain 
after filling your blooming pots, should be 
planted out eighteen inches apart, and not 
more than two rows in a bed of 3 ft. 6 inches 
wide, each row within a foot of the edge, but 
eighteen inches from one another. This gives 
room to weed and layer them without dif- 
ficulty. 
Double Wall Flowers, having gone out 
of bloom by the end of the month, generally, 
will throw out many shoots. As soon as these 
are large enough to handle well, they should 
be stripped off, and put into a shady border, 
under a hand-glass, to strike ; but they must 
be taken while not more than an inch or an 
inch and a half long, before the bottom of the 
wood ripens. 
Sweet Williams, of any value, may be 
propagated by taking the shoots round ,the 
bottom off, and striking them under a hand- 
glass, like pinks ; but they are frequently not 
ready in this month ; however, these, like 
wall flowers, are better taken young than 
old, as they strike quicker, and make better 
plants. As these are found very often double 
and very handsome, it is desirable to per- 
petuate them. Of course no one will attempt 
