CULTIVATION OF THE HEARTSEASE. 
93 
—the reign of the Ice King is now, it is hoped, nearly at an end, 
and the “cloud-embosomed lark” gives token of approaching 
spring, when the milder reign of Flora will commence, and the 
presence of her attendant train, unfolding their ever-varying 
charms, cause all loyal hearts to pay their accustomed homage, and 
rejoice 
“ In Nature’s resurrection from the tomb 
Of icy Winter’s deepest, darkest gloom.” 
But I must not indulge in the wanderings of fancy, but endeavour 
to give a few practical directions suitable to the advancing season. 
The beds planted in the autumn should now be loosened with 
the fork, and the plants carefully gone over, for the purpose of 
fixing firmly in the soil such as the frost may have lifted, which 
will be found to be the case with most of those that were not well 
established before the winter set in. If the stems of any of the 
plants are much exposed it will not be advisable to force them 
down, but to remove the soil, and lay them aslant; it is important 
that they should not stand much out of the ground, as the frost 
at night, and the sun by day, at this time of the year, frequently 
act on the unprotected stems and affect the juices of the plants, so 
as to prove fatal after they have withstood the more equal severity 
of the winter. It is, at least, of equal consequence that the 
plants, at this season , should be protected from the increased action 
of the sun, as from the diminished action of the frost; they should, 
therefore, be again covered at night, if frosty, and the pots re¬ 
moved only for an hour or two towards evening. The same 
treatment should be observed if rainy days are likely to be suc¬ 
ceeded by frosty nights: which, in this changeful climate, is often 
the case in the month of March. 
At the latter end of March the beds should receive a top 
dressing of rotten dung and well-decayed turf or fresh maiden 
soil ; this dressing should be at least an inch thick, and the plants 
left with merely their heads uncovered. During the prevalence 
of the usual dry, cutting easterly winds, the garden pots may 
again be used with advantage, but should be removed occasionally 
for a few hours, to give light and air. These minutiae may ap¬ 
pear tedious, but it is principally by attention to trifles that the 
persevering and industrious florist ensures success ; and as it is 
my aim to enable the admirers of the Heartsease to cultivate it in 
perfection, I would omit nothing calculated to produce the desired 
result; but if, during the winter or early spring, the plants are 
suffered to become unhealthy, all the after care and attention that 
may be bestowed will most probably fail, and disappointment con¬ 
sequently ensue. The appearance of the plants on my principal 
bed—which, up to the present time, have been subjected to the 
treatment recommended—compared with others planted at the 
same time and not so treated, is highly satisfactory. 
