AUGUST. 
163 
when necessary. On the return of spring, when the days lengthen and the 
plants get more heat, light, air, and water, the flower-buds will begin to show 
themselves. As the flower- stems advance in growth they should be tied neatly 
to stakes, both to support and prevent them from breaking, and to give the plant 
the shape required. When the flowers begin to expand the plants should be 
shaded in bright weather, and they must be liberally supplied with water while 
they are in flower. If shaded, the plants will continue in bloom seven or eight 
weeks, and when in perfection there are few finer objects. 
If the plants are required to be grown again after they have done flower¬ 
ing, they should be cut down immediately after they have gone out of bloom, 
in order that they may break and make a little growth before the autumn gets 
too far advanced. As these plants require one entire season to make the young 
wood and set the buds, and another entire season to perfect the flowers, it is 
desirable to have a number of plants, and to flower one half of them one 
season and the other half in the following year. 
As Kalosantlis are very useful for in-door decoration, cuttings should be put 
in every season, and a number of small plants grown for the purpose. They 
make fine plants for vases, and form very gay beds in the flower garden during 
August and September. As the plants when in flower are very showy and 
ornamental, and as they are very easily grown, a good stock should be always 
kept on hand; they are useful for so many purposes. 
Stourton. M. Saul. 
OLD FAVOURITES. 
We move so rapidly, and take such giant strides now-a-days in some 
branches of horticulture, promoting International Horticultural Exhibitions, 
and similar great enterprises, that there is some danger of our forgetting, or, 
if not forgetting, pushing aside some old favourite flowers that at one time 
were to us so captivating that we looked anxiously for their appearance, and 
welcomed them as 
“ Stars, to tell us Spring is born.” 
Not that the old love has been thrust off by the new—a true florist rarely jilts 
an old flame—but big concerns and stirring enterprises engross our time, and 
the old and seemingly less important ties are partially sundered. 
I remember how a few years ago the varieties of double Primroses were 
largely used for spring flower gardening before there sprung up such a 
general liking for some of the odd and fantastic forms that the summer flower- 
garden now takes. If any one doubts their real use and beauty, let him pay 
a visit to Cliveden Gardens early in May, and he will there see what they can 
do to contribute towards the most pleasing effect one could desire to see. How 
charming do the crimson, lilac, and white varieties appear, clothed as they 
always are during their season with flowers ! They can be used in many ways 
for effect to suit the taste and skill of the designer. When they have done 
blooming they can be removed, divided, and planted in a cool, shady’ border 
for use again in the autumn, to gild with their sweet beauty 
“ Beturning days—returning spring.” 
The Polyanthus is another flower that is ever a “ welcome guest ” at the 
birtlitime of spring. The gold-laced variety, each flower having a distinct 
well-defined edging of gold, is getting now well known and largely grown. It 
seeds freely, and young plants can be obtained quickly’. An old gardener has 
left on record this fact, as containing a rule demanding the strictest observance, 
