Coltsfoot is both an important medicinal plant and a weed of loamy and clay soils, found growing in ditches alongside field paths and in freshly dug excavations.

Dead-nettle or Urtica mortua (the name by which it was often known in mediaeval Latin) is a hardy plant. The temperature only has to rise slightly above freezing and it comes to life. It is one of the overwintering weeds of field and fallow land, though it also grows in large numbers in gardens, waste places, and along field paths.

As far as colour is concerned, the general colour scheme of the house will have a great bearing on the choice of material; rather dull coloured rooms, for instance, are an ideal setting for the scarlet hued varieties and the brilliant yellow and orange shades, while pink and salmon shades look exceptionally well in the light modern rooms in which the decorations are of a neutral tone or consist of pale greens and fawns and so on.

For one thing the beauty of the garden is somewhat spoiled, as many of the choicest blooms are hidden beneath a variety of shading materials. But the chief deterrent is a general loss of colour in a number of varieties. Whites- and yellows are completely unaffected, reds relatively little, but most of the true pinks and lavender tints lose quite a considerable amount of colour under shades, particularly if these are completely opaque.

The basic elements required for plant growth are usually regarded as potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen, and most proprietary brands of balanced fertiliser quote the percentage of these contained. Although these are of special importance all plants require, in addition, fairly considerable quantities of sulphur, calcium and magnesium, lesser, but still appreciable, amounts of iron, manganese, sodium, and minute quantities of other chemicals such as boron, zinc and so on, usually referred to as trace elements.

No two dahlia growers ever agree on this subject but assuming that it is considered necessary to feed, and ignoring the type of fertiliser used, the treatment will vary according to whether the fertilisers are applied as a dry top dressing or in liquid form. If applied dry it is as well to apply prior to watering, and to give a thorough soaking immediately afterwards.