July 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
175 
require, during dry weather, sprinkling with water 
every evening: this will keep them fresh and grow¬ 
ing, and will encourage such as have yet to flower 
to do so healthily and freely. This watering will 
cause weeds to spring up; pluck them away as soon 
as they appear. To keep the plants on a rockery in 
good and neat order, care and attention is necessary. 
Some of these plants grow and spread rapidly, and 
if not watched and kept within bounds by pruning, 
will soon run over and destroy their more slow-grow¬ 
ing neighbours. Now, it may he desirable to allow 
some species to grow with all luxuriance: in that 
case it will be necessary to transplant the close-grow¬ 
ing species into a part of the rockery at a safe dis¬ 
tance from their aggrandizing fellows, and thus allow 
such rapidly spreading kinds to display their beauty. 
Other kinds of Alpine plants have creeping roots 
running underground: these, however pretty they 
may he, ought not to be planted in such a place at 
all. Too many persons that form and plant rock- 
work neglect this point. Two or three, or even one, 
creeping-rooted species will, if planted amongst the 
rest, soon run over the whole space, and render it 
not only unsightly but positively a nuisance. Sup¬ 
posing, by way of illustration, that our common 
coltsfoot was a scarce new plant from the Alpine 
regions, and a collector sees it in flower early in 
April: its bright golden blossoms charm him; he 
purchases it, brings it home, and plants it amongst 
his Alpine favourites. Those flowers that had 
tempted him to purchase it soon vanish, broad leaves 
spring up, the plant thrives with great luxuriance, 
the owner is delighted to see ■ it thriving, but does 
not observe the aggrandizing qualities of his favour¬ 
ite until it has spread abroad its creeping insidious 
roots amongst the unsuspecting content-with-their- 
station neighbours, and the following spring rises up 
like a haughty usurper, to crush and staiwe all to 
death that have a home near it. Such plants, the 
moment their creeping propensities are discovered, 
must be rooted out unsparingly. 
Ferns on the rockwork will now be in full luxuri¬ 
ance, and will be greatly benefitted by frequent 
sprinklings of water, either with the watering pot or 
the syringe. A covering of living moss over their 
roots will keep them cool and moist, and cause them 
to push forth vigorously their beautiful fronds. 
Rhododendrons, Ghent Azaleas, and other 
American Plants. —These beautiful ornaments of 
the flower-garden will now be making their annual 
growth. The forming of flower buds must take 
place this season, or there will be no flowers next 
year. Should the summer prove a dry one, and no 
care taken to keep the plants growing healthily and 
strongly, they will droop in the sun, make puny 
shoots, and few and small, if any, flower buds. In 
such a case the industrious cultivator applies the 
element the clouds withhold: he waters freely these 
favourite shrubs every evening. They will soon, by 
their recovered health and luxuriance, show forth 
their grateful sense of his liberality and industry. 
There is no operation in gardening that displays 
such immediate beneficial effects as the application 
of water to plants drooping with drought after a hot 
sunny day. The good of this operation, however, 
may bo considerably enhanced by covering the sur¬ 
face of the soil around these plants with some 
rubbish that is a bad conductor of heat. Round 
fruit-bearing plants short littery dung is the best, 
because that, every time water is applied, either by 
the hand or from the clouds, the enriching qualities 
of the manure are carried down to the roots ; but, in 
the case of ornamental shrubs in well-kept flower- 
gardens, littery dung would be unsightly, and so 
some other substance of the same quality as a non¬ 
conductor of heat, and consequent retainer of mois¬ 
ture, must be sought for. This article we have 
mentioned before, when writing about the formation 
and planting of the “ American bed,” and also just 
above in the case of “ ferns.” The substance we 
allude to is living green moss. Cover the roots of 
rhododendrons, &c., with tliis, and they will not 
require half the amount of water, as without it they 
undoubtedly would, to keep them growing satis¬ 
factorily. 
Layers of American Plants and Hardy Heaths. 
—Water these also in dry weather, and cover the 
earth with the same article of friendly protection 1 
It will cause them to throw out roots more freely and 
much more quickly. 
Lilium Lancifolium (Lance-leaved lily) and its 
varieties, Album (white), and Speciosum (showy).— 
We have great pleasure in announcing to our readers 
and correspondents that these truly magnificent 
flowers are perfectly hardy, at least in the neighbour¬ 
hood of London. They have stood the weather of 
two winters in a border facing the east, at Messrs. 
Hendersons, Pine-appleqdace, and at Messrs. Lee, 
Hammersmith, and no doubt at other nurseries. 
We noticed those plants a few days ago, and were 
delighted to observe the healthy appearance they 
made. We have, then, another grand addition to 
the many beauteous flowers to grace and ornament 
our flower borders; and, as the price of them is 
becoming more moderate every year, we may hope 
to see them in every cottage garden, even as com¬ 
monly as their equally noble compeers, the white, 
orange, and tiger-spotted species. 
Culture. —The tribe of lilies all require a rich 
deep soil and open situation. The bulbs should be 
planted, in such a soil and situation, rather deep; 
that is, the crowns of each bulb should be covered 
at least three inches deep. Several sorts throw out 
roots from the flower stalk not only level with the 
surface but frequently above it. As soon as these 
are perceived lay upon the surface some well-decayed 
cow-dung, covering it with some fine soil to hide 
its unsightly appearance. If lilies are allowed 
to grow for several years on the same spot, the 
soil, even with the above additions, will become 
exhausted, the bulbs will grow less instead of 
larger, and, as a matter of course, will produce 
fewer and smaller flowers. We remember once 
taking charge of an old garden where the lilies 
were in that condition. We had them all taken up 
towards the end of September, the border trenched as 
deeply as possible, for the clay prevented us digging 
so deeply as we could have wished. The border was 
then manured pretty freely with rotten leaves; holes 
were then dug where the lilies were to be planted; 
into each hole a good spadeful of very rotten dung 
was thrown; and this was then thoroughly mixed 
with the soil at the bottom of the holes: this 
brought it up to within three inches of the level. 
The roots, two or three in each hole, were then 
immediately planted, and covered up with the soil 
that had been laid on one side: this finished the 
operation. The good effects of this management 
were visible even the following year. The leaves 
put on a dark healthy green, the bulbs increased in 
size, as also did the flowers. But the best results 
were to be seen the second year; they were then 
in the flowering really grand. Many of the white 
lilies reached the hoiglit of fivo or six feet, and some 
