The Speedwells (Veronica)

The Speedwells (Veronica) may be raised from seed, and Gentianoides, with its bright blue flowers, is one of the best known. There is a larger variety of it named Major, and one with variegated leaves.

Violas And Tansies

Violas And Tansies may be raised in summer, although florists' named varieties are generally grown from cuttings. Pansies that are sown under glass in late winter bloom the same year, but seeds may be sown outdoors in summer for yielding plants to flower the following year. Many of the large seedsmen have their own special strains of show and fancy Pansies, but the majority offer such strains as Cassier's and Trimar-dean, which are very good.

Wallflowers

Wallflowers must be raised in quantity for spring bedding, their evergreen foliage, bright colours, and delicious perfume rendering them universal favourites. Several named varieties, such as Belvoir Castle, a dwarf yellow of brilliant colour; Cloth of Gold, yellow: Blood Red, dark red; Eastern Queen, chamois; Harbinger, early red; and Tom Thumb, a dwarf yellow, come true from seed. The double Wallflowers are also fine plants. If care is taken to grow Wallflowers thinly, and to set them out a foot apart in summer, they make sturdy, bushy plants, and bloom abundantly in April and May. They do not give half their beauty when allowed to stand thickly in the seed beds for several months.

The long lists of plants given shows what a vast amount of beautiful material can be raised in Nature's own way - through the medium of seeds - for the decoration of flower gardens. The great majority may be raised in early summer and planted in autumn.

The purple mullein, Verbascum Puoemceum, a handsome border plant.

Planting Dahlias

Early in June is not too late to plant. With deep, well-worked, manured soil, and sturdy plants, success will follow. The plants should be made quite firm in the soil and given a good watering. Put them at least a yard apart, and give them their stakes at once.

Potting Chrysanthemums

Florists' Chrysanthemums, raised from cuttings in winter, repotted, hardened in an unheated frame, and deprived of their first buds, must be placed in their flowering pots soon. Growers for exhibition use large pots, and a compost the principal component of which is fibrous loam. The pots should not be smaller than eight inches across at the top, and need not be larger than nine inches. A fourth of leaf mould and a liberal, dash of coarse sand should be added to the loam, and the whole well mixed. The pots should be well drained with crocks protected by moss or flakes of leaf mould. The compost must be well rammed round the ball, so as to be made quite hard. A space of two inches should be left at the top for holding water. The plants should be shaded for a few days, but after they have started growing again they may stand on a bed of cinders in the full sun. It is not a bad plan to shade the pots, however, as if the sun is prevented from striking directly on to them water will not be wanted so often. Great attention should be devoted to watering throughout the summer, as if the soil gets absolutely dry, and breaks away from the side of the pot, the plants are sure to suffer.

Seedling Cinerarias and Primulas, raised by sowing seed a few weeks previously, may be getting crowded now, as they will have formed rough leaves. Any time after that stage has been reached, they may be pricked off three inches apart in other boxes, or, if 3-inch pots are available, singly in these.