CULTIVATION AND ANALYSIS OF PLANTS. 
apart, in some quiet, sheltered place, the weeds and grass kept well subdued, and a lib¬ 
eral supply of water given when required. It will be of great advantage to mulch them 
with leaf-mold, sawdust or manure, according to circumstances, filling up the interstices 
between the plants, and completely covering the soil to the depth of two or three inches. 
As soon as frost makes its appearance, frames should be set over the beds and covered 
with glazed sashes, and in cold latitudes these frames should be banked with stable 
manure. In extremely cold weather the sashes will require to be covered with mats or 
shutters, which should be made close-fitting and weatherproof. Thus protected, they will 
bloom early in spring, otherwise the flowers will come later, or not at all. The extra 
labor and expense will be recompensed by the earlier flowering of these plants; and the 
frames, sashes, mats and shutters can be used for many other less hardy plants after having 
done service for the Violets. In warm climates these precautions are of course unneces¬ 
sary, as there they will bloom all the year round if desired. Indoors, the flowers begin 
to appear in autumn, and continue to bloom through the winter and spring. 
-WJEIG-ELJc. 
ANDSOME, hardy and accommodating, the Weigela, so called in 
honor of the German botanist, Weigel, is a desirable shrub of the 
Bignonia family. The original species, introduced from China, was 
designated W. rosea, because of its rose-colored flowers. It is one 
of the prettiest of the shrubs that have, through the zeal of collectors 
within the last fifty years, been made to enrich the Flora of Europe and 
America. The large, trumpet-shapecl flowers, appearing generally in 
pairs at the axils on almost every stem, add much to the beauty of the plants, 
while the foliage admirably supports by its density and abundance the graceful 
effect. One new variety, called the W. variegata, will often have some leaves 
entirely white, others green, and still others mixed, all in the same plant. 
Another variety, the W. amabilis, will flower from May to October, surpass¬ 
ing the variegata and rosea, whose blooming is confined to the earlier months, May and 
June; it also is superior to them in size of leaf. Small specimens of any of the Weigelas 
may be grown in the parlor, and being hardier than most house plants, are easily taken 
care of. They should have a season of rest, by withholding water, for one or two months 
in the early fall, to ripen their wood before being transferred to the house for winter 
blooming. The same course can be adopted to advantage with those which are to be 
left out all winter, for if watered freely to the close of the season, the frost would find 
many green shoots, through which it would seriously damage the whole plant. Being 
hearty feeders, they luxuriate in abundance of rich, liquid manure during the flowering 
season, in or out of doors; and the soil in which they grow can scarcely be made too rich. 
During hot, dry weather, they demand a free use of the watering pot. They can he best 
propagated by layering or side-shoots; by cuttings, also, if taken while the shoots are 
fresh and green, hut these require to be carefully watered and protected from the winds. 
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