Auriculas

In years gone by the Auricula was a great pet of the florists, and was grown in pots for exhibition. There were two great classes, the Stage and the Alpine. The varieties in the former were subdivided according to the prevailing colour near the margin of the petals - Green-edged, White-edged, and Grey-edged - and as Selfs. The following are popular representatives of each class:

Green-Edged

General Neill Rev. F. D. Home Sir John Moore.

Grey-Edged

Alma.

George Rudd Leah.

White-Edged

Acme.

Heather Bell Maggie Lauder.

Self.

Heroine Mrs. H. Potts Sunshine.

The Stage Auriculas are declining in favour, but the Alpines are holding their own, because they make such charming dwarf plants for spring beds. The flowers are not more refined than those of the Stage Auriculas, but they are larger and the colours are richer. They may be raised from seed in summer, the same as Polyanthuses and Primroses. Those who still grow Stage Auriculas in pots should repot them in summer in loam with a little decayed manure and some sand, and put them in a frame which is shaded during the hottest part of the day.

Propagating Bedding Plants

Those who grow perennial non-hardy plants, such as Zonal Geraniums, shrubby Calceolarias, Marguerites, Verbenas, and Heliotrope, in beds will have the question of propagation before them. The Calceolarias may be left till autumn with advantage, but the other four may be propagated now, by means of cuttings, the Geraniums in an open, sunny place out of doors, the remaining kinds in sandy soil in pots, which can be placed in a frame or on a greenhouse shelf. The Geraniums can be inserted in the ordinary garden soil if desired, but it must be made firm; it is perhaps better to insert them in very sandy soil in shallow boxes, and stand these in a sunny place. The cuttings should be taken from thick sturdy shoots, cut off just below a joint, the lower part divested of leaves to permit of inserting the cuttings half their depth, and made quite firm at the base. Verbenas strike readily, but the plan of propagating from seed sown in winter is now preferred by most growers of this old plant. Heliotrope makes better plants from cuttings than from seed.

Fig. 63. - Propagating Marguerites.

a. Main stem, cut off below a joint.

b. Basal leaves to be removed.

c. How to insert cuttings in pots or boxes.

Chrysanthemums In Pots

Most of the varieties show their crown buds (see remarks in Chapter VII (July. The Heart Of The Year).) in the second half of August, and they should be "taken" (to use the florists' phrase) at once by removing the cluster of growths which break below them. Attend to watering carefully. Dryness at this period would do great harm. The plants are almost certain to need water once a day in dry weather, and may even require it two or three times.