172 
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
capable of existing almost anywhere, the common wallflower 
is scarcely a thriving plant in shady positions and on cold, 
wet soils. Warmth and dryness are important conditions of 
its well-doing, and it will attain complete development on a 
wall or buttress, where it has but a mere spoonful of dust to 
root in, while on a rich, heavy soil, it will progress but slowly, 
and will surely die in a cold, wet winter. A light, rich, and 
■well-drained sunny border will suit all the plants in this sec¬ 
tion ; damp is always death to them, but they scarcely suffer 
if required to grow in partial shade. It is so easy to get up a 
stock of wallflowers from seed, that we shall be content to 
advise that, if a succession of flowers is desired, three sowings 
should be made—in April, May, and June ; and the open 
border is the best possible seed-bed. To plant them out as 
soon as they are large enough to handle is an important 
matter; for if they remain crowded in the seed-bed, they 
become attenuated and comparatively worthless. Those wall¬ 
flowers will bloom the best that have been long standing on 
the same spot; and, when removal is necessary,,it should be 
performed in dull, showery weather. We will suppose, now, 
that you are enjoying tbe cheerful appearance and delightful 
odour of a mass of wallflowers, and you note amongst them a 
few with particularly fine flowers. If you wish to keep those 
varieties for any special purpose—say for spring bedding—the 
simplest and safest course will be to take from them as many 
cuttings as possible, and strike them under hand-glasses or 
on a mild hotbed, and the stock is secured. When the plants 
are in bloom is the proper time to make the cuttings ; and the 
blind shoots at the base of the plant—that is to say, the small 
green shoots that have not flowered, are those which should 
be removed to be made into plants. There are in cultivation 
a few peculiar “ strains” of wallflowers—one in particular, a 
dwarf bushy plant, with flowers of the clearest yellow. There 
is much difficulty in obtaining seeds of these highly-valued 
varieties, but having once secured a pinch of true seed, or a 
few plants of the right sort, the cultivator never need lose 
any of them again, for he has two strings to his bow—he may 
save seed and strike cuttings ; and though the first may sport 
away from the proper type, the second will not, but will re¬ 
produce exactly the characteristics of the parent plants. The 
double-flowering varieties can only be perpetuated by cuttings, 
and those who purchase seed 64 warranted ” to produce double 
