THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
-June 2. 
together, and most of us gardeners in the country gave 
up the idea of ever seeing healthy, long-lived plants of 
this as standards. Some one has hit the right nail on 
the head, however, and here is a proof; a plant bbught 
in three or four years ago, and was probably as many 
years old at the time it was bought, the stem and the 
head are now so united, so healthy, green, plump, and 
full of sap, that both promise to do as well and as long 
together as the apple and the crab, and this stock is 
either Cotoneaster qffinis, or accuminata, as far as I could 
make out, but 1 desired the gentleman who owns it, to 
let me know if any sucker or side-shoot comes from the 
stock, by which I could at once determine the species, 
as it may turn out that but one deciduous species can 
sustain the evergreen. The practice is no secret in the 
nurseries, for the gentleman was expressly told that the 
stock was a Cotoneaster, and that there was no doubt 
about its doing well, and he was told the truth certainly. 
This is another instance of the old saying, that one can 
I never enter a garden for the first time without learning 
something new to him. 
The Weeping Holly is a most beautiful tree, I always 
think, when I see it worked six or seven feet high. 
There was a beautiful specimen of it in the Arboretum, 
at Bank Grove, out on the grass, and I saw abundance 
of it in Mr. Jackson’s nursery, but I never saw the 
weeping Cotoneaster with him. I once saw a grafted 
Weeping Sophora, which spread out fifteen feet on each 
side of the stem after reaching the ground, and the 
shoots were trained as regularly as a fruit-tree, against 
. a wall, on a raised trellis, and this device was exceed- 
, ingly pretty. I also saw the original of the Weeping 
Larch, a seedling which appeared many years since, in 
Mr. Godsal’s nursery, at Hereford, and it ran along the 
ground like a Strawberry-runner. D. Beaton. 
IMPROVING ECONOMICALLY A NEGLECTED 
GREENHOUSE. 
( Continued from page 81.) 
Let it be kept in mind, that those remarks are in¬ 
tended solely for those who do not grudge a little 
labour, but who are under the necessity of making what 
display they can without entailing much expense in the 
way of purchasing. The few seeds I mentioned, at p. 
; 81, were chiefly intended for summer and autumn de- 
! coration, but the time was indicated for sowing Mig¬ 
nonette, Nemophila, and Collinsia, for spring flowering. 
I shall, in a random manner, to-day, advert to a few more 
seeds to be sown for winter and spring blooming, chiefly 
the latter ; and then, if space permits, mention a few 
things, the propagation of which should be seen about 
for a similar purpose. 
In adverting to the sowing of seeds, I shall not be 
considered very egotistical if 1 mention, that I was never 
more delighted with any of my own handy-work than I 
was with a plant of Collinsia bicolor, grown in a London 
atmosphere too. It was self-sown in a border, taken up 
in the end of September, transferred into a sandy, poor 
soil in a five-inch pot, and housed in a greenhouse, 
- from which frost was merely excluded. The plant was 
| several times stopped, by nipping out the terminal buds 
I to make it bushy. In the middle of January it got a 
j seven-inch pot, aud richer soil; and in March it got a 
| twelve-inch pot, and the soil enriched with leaf mould. 
In May, it was nearly three feet in height, with one 
j stake in the centre, and the diameter of the base of the 
I cone more than twenty inches through, one mass of 
I bloom. 
The striking effect produced last season, in the large 
conservatory at the Horticultural Gardens, by numerous 
pots of this common annual, demonstrates what may be 
done with the cheapest materials. 
163 
Large plants of the Nemophila insignis, grown on 
without stopping, trained to rise about six inches, and 
then allowed to run over the sides of the pot, that pot 
being elevated upon another, and the graceful plant 
covering both with its masses of blue-white flowers, that 
would be quite as attractive a spectacle as the Collinsia, 
and such specimens, with young beginners, would do 
more to create a taste for-the love of nature in general, 
and floral beauty in particular, and thence secure extra 
assistance and advantages, than any amount of grumb¬ 
ling, or sighing after the unattainable. Rarity in 
flowers, as well as everything else, must always be as¬ 
sociated with the expensive; but the truly beautiful is 
spread around us so liberally, that the humblest in sta¬ 
tion, as well as the highest in rank, may thoroughly 
enjoy it. Here, as well as in other matters, we find that 
the greatest blessings of a beneficent Creator are those 
which are most common and easiest accessible to all 
His creatures. 
I mentioned Schizanthus for blooming in summer; 
but though I have not grown it in pots for many years, 
I do not know anything more splendid for early summer 
and spring blooming. For this purpose, the seeds 
should be sown about the middle or end of August, and 
the plants potted singly, or three in a four-inch pot, and 
just begun to grow before the cold weather sets in. A 
dry, cool place, in a cool greenhouse, is just the place 
for them. The soil should be rather sandy, and have 
no manure in it. The freer it is of all foreign ingredients, 
the better will the plants get through the winter. They 
must be kept from flagging; but as soon as the roots fill, 
or take hold of the pots, they should be kept rather dry, 
giving no more water in the dark days than is absolutely 
necessary, and never allowing that to touch the stem of 
the plant if you can help it. By the middle of January, 
the plants may have a small shift if the weather is clear, 
later if it is dull; and by the middle of March they may 
be put in nine or twelve-inch pots to bloom. In these 
two last shillings, but especially the last, rotten leaf 
mould, or very rotten dried dung, may be incorporated 
with the soil, and pieces of rough peat earth, or char¬ 
coal, to keep it open. In potting, disentangle the 
fibres a little with a small pointed stick, that they may 
enter freely into the new soil, and until they begin to 
occupy that soil, be very careful not to puddle it with 
water. Give plenty of drainage. Be sure the plants 
are well watered before you shift them, and if you have 
put three plants in a small pot it is best not to separate 
them. One looks best generally, however, aud a seven 
or eight-inch pot will grow a very nice plant. We do 
not expect you will rival the Collinsia referred to at your 
first attempt; but a plant half the size would look well. 
Plants of Schizanthus, from three to four feet in height, 
and branched with bloom from top to bottom, are not 
uncommon. Half of that size, well done, will look 
charming. With the smaller sized pot, one shift would 
do, and even with the larger sized, could we depend 
upon your understanding, how, in such circumstances, 
to wield the water-pail—namely, never to soak the soil 
farther than you have reason to believe the roots have 
reached. 
The time of sowing, and general management detailed, 
are based upon the desirableness of not having the 
flower-stem appear until you have obtained a strong 
healthy vegetation of leaves. If the stem appears in 
the autumn you cannot expect much of a specimen. 
The same rule holds good, but in most cases less trouble 
is involved, with all pretty annuals that bloom freely 
out-of-doors in summer. Such as Wallflowers, used as 
an annual, Candy Tufts, &c., which look very beautiful 
in spring, when well managed, and are peculiarly well 
suited for decorating rooms, etc., and thus would save 
the ruin of many expensive plants. The whole expense 
of such things is their cultivation. A few pence will 
