August 20. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
335 
geous-colourcd flower-beds as our fathers never dreamed 
of!* How would your humble servant have fretted, like 
a trapped bird, if mewed up within the four walls of such 
a greenhouse—forbidden to speak of the many uses to 
which such a house could be applied—told that he must 
keep his plants thero for ever and aye, bo they growing 
or standing still, in full gay feather, or in dishabille; 
resolutely denied the use of cold pit or hot pit by Messrs. 
I Appleby and Errington, and warned by Messrs. Beaton 
and Robson from trespassing on their grounds, for 
Standing, plunging, or plantiug-out room. 
Those last matters have been frequently alluded to, 
but not more often than their importance domauds. The 
huddling of greenhouse plants into shady corners in 
summer will soon be numbered with the things that 
wore, especially among amateurs. I mention amateurs, 
as they are more likely to pride themselves in doing well 
whatever they attempt, and because this bedding system, 
and the continual sweeping and cleaning in large places, 
keeps many of the best gardeners always in a bustle, and 
always behind. We look at plants, day-by-day, our linger 
ends itching to shift them, to plunge them, or plant them 
out in an open or sheltered place; but day-by-day brings 
with it some more pressing necessity. Good plants, 
standing in north or shady borders, tossed and tumbled 
by winds, can scarcely be in a worse position. Every 
plant that will bear light should have its own share of it 
in summer, though it should never be taken from shelter 
to full exposure at ouco. When gradually exposed, 
plants even of the linest hard-wooded kinds do not 
suffer from the branches being exposed. The roots 
chietly suffer from exposure—being burnt by the sun in 
the dog-days, and frosted in the cool damp nights of 
autumn. A soft, porous, damp pot is about as effectual 
for this latter purpose as a damp woollen stocking drawn 
over a bottle of water is useful for cooling the contents, 
by the evaporation of the moisture on the stocking when 
exposed to a hot atmosphere. Plunging all hard-wooded 
plants so as to secure perfect drainage and freedom from 
worms is of great moment. Plunging and planting-out j 
soft-wooded plants, as Chrysanthemums, Salvias, Gera¬ 
niums, Cinerarias, &c., furnish them with an equilibrium 
as respects heat and moisture, and guards them from 
sudden changes, while it greatly diminishes the necessary 
labour. “ But why tell these things in the middle of 
August? ” Better late than never: besides the end of this 
month, the whole of the next, and part of the succeeding, 
are of great importance for securing winter embellish¬ 
ment; and those plants that cannot bo protected with 
glass will, if plunged or planted out, suffer less from ex¬ 
tremes of all kinds than those standing in pots ; that is, 
provided the water does not stand about the roots. The 
soil is more equal in its temperature, and higher in its 
average in autumn, than the atmosphere is, and green¬ 
house plants, warm at the roots, will resist, uninjured, a 
degree of cold in the branches which they could not 
endure with the pots crusted with ice at midnight. The 
luxuriance, and yet robustness of such plants, will bear 
no comparison with those coddled in pots in the usual 
way standing above ground. 
While on this subject, I may mention being struck 
the other day with two rows, avenue fashion, of Salvia 
J'ulgens, and S. splendens, on the sides of a walk, grown 
as standards, with clean single stems several feet in 
height, and just coming into fine bloom. Fulgens does 
well with me in beds; Splendens was always a wreck 
the first rude wind that came, and this place catches it 
pretty well from every point of the compass. Standards 
of either, and especially of Splendens, would be out of 
the question with me. I have seen it in the neighbour¬ 
hood of London a splendid bush, and a gorgeous blaze 
of scarlet on a lawn. 1 have, so far as I recollect, seen 
it pretty good in some of the sheltered nooks of Scot- 
laud. Those who are not visited with rough winds, and 
sheltered and warm, I would advise, by all means, to 
grow this Salvia out-of-doors, both as bush and 
standard. In the same place, I saw a bed of Erythrina 
Gristagalli, that would keep an enthusiast dreaming for 
a month. Tho rain that had marred the beauty of 
everything else, seemed to have been charmed from 
touching it. R. Fish. 
THE HOLLYHOCK. 
{Continued from page 322.) 
It is exceedingly interesting to watch the progress of 
a flower, or rather class of flowers, advancing year by 
year, and step by step, towards perfection. And it is a 
remarkable fact, that though we have been raising seed 
lings, and endeavouring by skill and ingenuity, we have 
never as yet attained in any oue flower the acme of per¬ 
fection. Whether the florist practices upon tho Auricula, 
tho Polyanthus, tho Carnation, or the Pink, he still 
finds in his newest and best varieties something 
wanting, some property deficient, or over-done. This is 
the case with the Hollyhock moro than with any other 
flower ; hence the desirableness of persevering in raising 
new varieties still. We have no doubt, in a few years, 
there will be varieties as much surpassing the present 
generation, as tlioso we possess now surpass such as we 
remember to have seen ten or fifteen years ago. All 
that is necessary is hybridising, and saving seed from 
tho best-formed flowers. But, says the amateur, what 
are the points or properties that constitute tho best 
varieties? We will endoavour to answer that question. 
Characteristics .—The Hollyhock, is, as is well known, 
a tall-growing plant, but a good variety need not exceed 
from four feet to six feet; the foliage on tho flower-stem 
should be of moderate size, or rather small. This pro¬ 
perty is to allow, tho flowers to be, when in flower, more 
exposed to view. Towards the top of the flower-stem 
there should be no foliage at all. On the stem, tho 
flowers should be at such a distance that they do not 
crowd upon each other, but allow each bloom to expand 
fully. Each bloom should have the guard-petals per¬ 
fectly flat and circular; they should project about half- 
an-inch ,beyond the centtal one, forming, as it were, a 
floral card to set them on. The stouter they are, the 
better they will then support the others, and they must 
be of the same colour. The central petals should be 
numerous and even, with as small hollows amongst 
them as possible; they should stand up boldly, quite as 
high as they are in diameter; the whole to form, as it 
were, a ball cut in two, with the flat side set upon the 
guard-petals. If a self, the colour should be full and 
bright; and if mottled, or striped, these variations 
should be in every flower, and on every petal alike, and 
the different colours separate and well defined. Then, 
lastly, for size. We fear this property is becoming too 
much favoured. Though a large flower is desirable, yet 
this quality may be pushed too far, till the flowers 
become coarse and vulgar, like the common pceony. 
From four to five inches diameter will be quite large 
enough, measuring to the extremities of the guard- 
petals. We have seen flowers nearly six inches 
diameter, but we considered them anything but elegant 
or beautiful, as florists’ flowers. 
Such flowers, possessing the whole, or a greater part 
of the above properties, are the right ones to hybridise 
and save seed from ; but such good kinds are not very 
free to produce seed, the flowers being often so double ks 
to exclude the productive powers; hence it behoves the 
florist to watch those that do seed with all diligence, and 
the moment they are ripe to gather them, gradually 
dry, and put them by till the spring, in a place secure 
from damp and mice, for these little creatures are very 
fond of the seed. The seed is produced upon a flat 
receptacle, or pan, and previously to putting it by, it will 
