THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 3 



Arabis, and the white evergreen Candytuft, the smallest leaved and 

 dwarfest growing kind being the best. All these are treated in the 

 same manner; they are grown in the field in company with the 

 trial crops, and they come home on a visit when wanted, and go 

 away again when the visit is at an end ; and there are no pots used 

 at all, they are just planted into beds and borders of cocoa-nut fibre, 

 and left until they have done flowering. This is an expausion and 

 simplification of the plunging system, and it will suit everybody who 

 can find room to grow the plants during the eleven months or so 

 that they are not particularly wanted, and even all that time they 

 are interesting, and will afford abundance of flowers for cutting. 



But so far we have dealt with only four sorts of spring flowers. 

 The reason is, that those four are capable of bedding effects of the 

 most splendid kinds, and we require tbem to follow masses of cro- 

 cuses, hyacinths, and tulips ; and, moreover, they bear with perfect 

 equanimity the treatment they are subjected to, and lift with good 

 balls, so that the roots suffer but little. ISTow for a few more. In 

 the home garden we have a couple of borders in front of a plantation 

 of roses, which are appropriated entirely to hardy herbaceous plants. 

 Here we revel in spring flowers. Here we have a grand mixture 

 of all sorts of things — primroses double and single, and of half a 

 dozen colours, wallflowers double and single, rockets, forget-me-nots, 

 dog's-tooth violets, and many more of early-blooming gems. TVhen 

 the true spring flowers are past, the summer flowers " take up the 

 pleasing tale," and when the Irises have finished, the Delphinium, 

 the tall varieties of Lobelia, the hardy Geraniums, many sorts of 

 Dianthus, the Campanulas, and a host of others, follow; and then 

 come the Grladioli, from bulbs planted in March and April, the 

 Phloxes, the Pentstemons, and the Anemone Japonica — loveliest of 

 autumn flowers — etc., etc. ; through all the year there are flowers in 

 plenty. Now I will just suppot^e that many of our readers have 

 such a border, or would like one, and will therefore suggest a course 

 of procedure likely to,render it a pleasure every way and a triumph 

 of floral art. A sound sandy loam, and a quite open breezy position, 

 are the best conditions for this kind of gardening. On a quite 

 sandy soil in the open country wonders may be done ; but let us 

 consider first the common loam which is found almost everywhere, 

 and for spring flowers what shall we do with it ? Pirst, then, dig it 

 deeply ; if it is good for a depth of two or three feet, have it 

 trenched, as if carrots were to be grown on it, and left for a time to 

 be mellowed by the frost. Then lay on a heavy coating of good 

 rotten manure, and have it well dug and broken up again. Many 

 people never manure for flowers, but really, if you want them fine, 

 you must feed them, strong-growing kinds especially. ■ When made 

 somewhat fine by thorough good digging, you may plant, and when 

 you plant the ground must be rather dry, and every plant must be 

 closed in next the collar carefully, so as to be left firmly in its place. 

 The proper time to plant a herbaceous border is the month of Octo- 

 ber, but every one cannot plant at that season, and the fact is, they 

 may be planted at any time except when the ground is frozen. 

 Suppose any of our readers are now thinking of making a start in the 



