66 
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
are put from the seed pots, they must be stopped, to induce 
them to produce side-shoots and form bushy specimens by 
planting-time. 
Alternanthera. —This genus presents us a series of lovely 
little plants with red, crimson, or orange-tinted leaves, which 
are valuable for edging flower-beds, and eminently so for leaf- 
embroidery. They are tender plants, and require more than 
ordinary care in their cultivation ; hence it is not unusual to 
hear them spoken of slightingly as comparatively worthless. 
As to planting them, it is utterly useless to put out plants that 
are not much larger than “ darning needlesfor, if they 
grow at all, the summer wflll be past before they can fill the 
space allotted to them. To insure bushy little plants by the 
end of the spring, the cuttings should be struck moderately 
early in the autumn, and wintered near the glass in a stove 
or warm greenhouse ; during the early spring months, after 
the plants are potted off separately, they can be growm in a 
comparatively cool temperature. It is not necessary to pot 
them off in the autumn, and a few panfuls of cuttings take up 
but little space. When the propagation of the bulk of the 
stock is deferred until spring, it is difficult to strike the 
cuttings early enough to afford the plants sufficient time to 
attain their proper size by the planting-out season; to force 
them in much heat will render them less able to battle with 
unfavourable weather when first put out in their summer 
quarters. It is also important to plant them in beds situated 
in a warm sheltered situation, and they do much better if the 
surface of the bed is elevated a few inches above the general 
level. The best of the varieties is A. magnified. It combines 
the vigour of growth of A. paronychioides with the rich leaf¬ 
colouring of A. amcena , both of which are good. A. spathulata 
and A. versicolor are of little use for outdoor work. 
Amaranthus. —The most popular plant in this section is 
A. melancholiacs , with beautiful claret-coloured leaves. The 
scarcely-known A . tricolor presents the most brilliant leaf 
colours of any plant in the garden, but is peculiarly tender 
and is rarely seen well grown. A newer variety, called A . 
eleg antis simus, equals tricolor in beauty, and is somewhat 
more vigorous in habit and more constant in colouring. They 
are all raised from seed, which should be sown in March in a 
gentle heat, and the seedlings pricked out into pans and boxes 
a3 soon as they are large enough to handle. They may be 
