Musk (Mimulus Moschatus).--A well-known sweet-scented, half-hardy
perennial, well adapted for pot culture. A moist, shady position is
most congenial to it when placed in the border. Seed sown in autumn
make fine, early-flowering greenhouse plants. For summer blooming
the seed is sown early in spring, under a frame or hand-glass, at a
temperature of from 55 to 60 degrees. It is readily propagated by
division. Height, 6 in.
Mustard and Cress.--For sowing in the open choose a shady border, make
the surface fine and firm, and water it well before putting down the
seed. Let the seed be sown thickly at intervals of seven or fourteen
days from March to September. As the Cress does not germinate so
quickly as the Mustard, the former should be sown four days before
the latter. The seed must not be covered, but simply pressed into the
surface of the soil. Keep the ground moist, and cut the crop when the
second leaf appears. For winter use it is best sown in boxes and grown
in a frame, the seed being covered with flannel kept constantly moist.
This may be removed as soon as the seed germinates. Gardeners mostly
prefer to grow it through coarse flannel, to avoid the possibility of
grit being sent to table. The curled leaf Cress is the best, and the
new Chinese Mustard is larger in leaf than the old variety, and is
very pungent in flavour.
Myosotis (Forget-me-not).--The perennial varieties of these
beautiful plants grow best in moist places, such as the edges of ponds
or ditches; but they also do well in pots among Alpine plants. Most of
them may be increased by root division, and all of them by seed. The
annuals like a dry, sandy soil, and are grown from seed sown in March.
They flower in June or July. Height, 6 in.
Myrica Gala (Candleberry Myrtle).--This hardy deciduous shrub is
very ornamental, and its foliage is scented like the myrtle. It
will grow in light, rich soil, but thrives best in peat, and may be
increased by seeds or layers. May is its flowering time. Height, 4 ft.
M. Cerifera is treated in precisely the same manner. Height, 6 ft.
Myrsiphyllum Asparagoides.--See "Smilax."
Myrtle (Myrtus).--Will strike readily if the cuttings be placed in a
bottle of water till roots grow, and then planted; or young cuttings
will strike in sandy soil under a hand-glass. They succeed best in a
mixture of sandy loam and peat and on a south wall. Near the sea they
prove quite hardy. Height, 6 ft.
N
Narcissus.--See "Daffodils."
Nasturtiums.--These are among the most useful of our hardy annuals,
producing a display of the brightest of colours throughout the entire
summer. The tall-growing climbers make a gay background to a border,