November 7. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
101 
the finger, or a blunt stick, through the hole at the 
bottom of the pot, pressing hard to force the ball out of 
the pot. The roots of the strong growers cling to the 
sides of tho pot very tenaciously, and require consider¬ 
able force to separate them. In very obstinate cases it 
may be desirable, rather than injure a valuable plant, to 
break the pot, but the stroke to do it must be gentle, or 
the roots will be bruised. Having got the ball out of 
the pot, then pick out carefully all the old crocks used 
for drainage ; the roots in a healthy plant will be bore 
very numerous. Then with a sharp-pointed stick pick 
out some of tho old soil all round the ball, and give it 
a smart stroke or two on the hand. This will loosen 
some roots, and make them ready to enter into the new 
soil. Have ready tho pot well drained with a few 
pieces of the rougher parts of the compost (or a thin 
layer of moss) on the drainage. The pot should be so 
much larger than the ball as to allow the operator to 
thrust the soil down between it and the sides of the 
pot. Fill in as much compost upon the covered drainage 
as will raise the ball rather above the level of the rim 
of the pot, so that when it is pressed and shaken down 
the ball will bo below the rim, about tho thickness of a 
finger or more, if the pot is very large. Then fill in 
the compost round the ball, and finish by a smart stroke 
or two on the bench. Level the soil, and then the 
operation is finished; and so proceed till the whole are 
gone through. Give a very gentle wateriug through a 
fine-rosed pot, and replace them in the greenhouse. By 
potting them at the season above indicated, they will 
not require shading, and will be slowly making new 
roots to sustain the new growth. 
This potting time is a good season for increasing all 
such as will bear dividing, but all plants so divided off 
should be placed either in a close frame or in a shady 
part of the houso. 
Summer Management .—Where Ferns arc grown under 
the stage, and tho greenhouse stage is occupied through 
the summer with flowering-plants, the Ferns will be 
greatly benefited if placed out-of-doors from the end of 
May to the middle of September, only remembering to 
keep in such as I have indicated as being rather delicate 
with regard to wetting their leaves. The situation for 
their summer residence should be one where they will 
be shaded from the midday sun, and if the pots are 
I plunged in moss over their rims the Ferns will thrive 
all the better for the cool, moist qualities of the moss; 
only keep a good look-out for slugs and destroy them. 
Remove them in-doors early in September, and then 
give them plenty of water, gradually reducing the 
quantity till in the depth of winter the soil is only just 
moist enough to keep them from drooping. By follow¬ 
ing these simple rules, Ferns in the greenhouso will 
thrive and be very ornamental. T. Appleby. 
EARLY-FLOWERING BORDER PLANTS. 
(Continued from page 01.) 
IBERIS. 
From Iberia, the ancient name of Spain. In that 
country the species abound. A genus of plants well 
known, the common annual Candy-tuft, growing now 
almost in every garden. The perennial species are very 
ornamental in the mixed flower-border, or on rockwork. 
Many of the species are as yet rare in cultivation. 
I. conferxa (Crowded).—Native of Spain, with white 
flowers appearing in May; growing only six inches high. 
Increased by seeds, or by cuttings, in June, either 
put in pots in sand under a cold frame, or in sand 
under a hand-glass behind a low north wall. 
I. contracta (Contracted).—From Spain, with white 
flowers in May; flowering three inches high, a pretty 
compact species. Increased by seeds and cuttings. 
I. pumila (Dwarf).—A low-growing, little, evergreen 
bush, from Sicily, with white flowers, in May. Increased 
by division, seeds, and cuttings. 
I. saxatjle (Rock). — A rather tall-growing species, 
from the South of Europe, with white flowers in May ; 
growing nine inches high. Increased by seeds and 
cuttings. 
I. semperflorens (Evcr-flowering). — This is almost 
a shrub ; growing eighteen inches high. Flowers white, 
in May. Native of Sicily. Increased by seeds and 
cuttings. Frequently flowers in the Autumn as well 
as May. 
I. semperviuens (Evergreen)—From Candia. This 
is the common perennial Candy-tuft of our gardens. 
The Florists near London grow hundreds of pots of it 
for Covent Garden, and for hawkers to carry out in their 
basket, or little hand-carts. Such is the love of flowers 
by the people of London, that any plant green and in 
flower, especially in the earlier months of the year, finds 
plenty of customers, from the poor inhabitants of three 
pair of stairs back, to the wealthy shopkeeper’s lady in 
Regent-street. All love flowers more or less, and many 
a page might be filled with the history and statistics of 
tho immense quantity of cheap plants that are annually 
raised aud sold in the streets of the great metropolis of 
Great Britain. 
This Candy-tuft grows six inches high, colour white, 
appearing in April and May. Increased by taking up 
the plants, and dividing them into sections, with roots 
to each, which divisions will flower well the following 
year, also by cuttings. Old plants not divided should 
be cut in to form compact bushes, or tufts, immediately 
after the bloom is over. 
IRIS. 
Fleur-de-lis. —The Flower of the Eye; so named from 
the beauty of the flowers. There are a great number 
of species, and also varieties, produced by tho skill, 
patience, and perseverance of the florist; but more 
especially in such as have bulbous roots, to which I 
shall refer hereafter. There are upwards of eighty 
recorded species of what are called herbaceous species, 
though many of them keep their leaves, and thus 
enliven the early border with their green leaves all tho 
year. The flowers are mostly very largo and handsome, 
and there are almost every colour under the sun, 
excepting scarlet, in the different species. They are 
very hardy, and easily cultivated, and all increased by 
division. 
I. acuta (Pointed-leaved).—Native of Siberia. Flowers 
in May, colour blue ; growing two feet high. 
I. amcena (Lovely). From Russia; growing a foot 
high. Flowers in May, colour delicate blue. 
I. arenarta (Sand).—Hungary; growing six inches 
high; in May; yellow. 
I. aurea (Golden-yellow).—From Germany; May; 
two feet high. 
I. bicolor (Two-coloured).—South of Europe : purple 
and white; growing eighteen inches high ; in May. 
I. biglumis (Twice-giumed, or two-rowed).—A dwarf, 
pretty species, from Siberia. Colour a beautiful blue, in 
May. 
I. Bohemica (Bohemian).—One foot high; in May; 
colour a lovely blue. 
I. cristata (Crested).—Tiffs is a very pretty species, 
from North America, with light blue flowers; six inches 
high, in June. 
I. flavissima (Very-yellow).—A Siberian species, 
flowering in May ; growing nine inches high. 
1. flexuosa (Zig-zag). — From Germany. Flowers 
white, in May; growing two feet high. A rare and 
desirable species. 
1. Germanica (German).—The varieties of this hand¬ 
some species arc a legion, they arc so many. Mr. Salter, 
