APBIL. 123 



a laudable, if not a virtuous habit of mind ; and leads him to look 

 from " Nature up to Nature's God." 



Among the various demands on a gardener's time, those of the 

 flower garden are not the least. Great is the change which of late years 

 has taken place in flower gardening. Instead of the herbaceous plants, 

 annuals, &c., which were its usual tenants in our boyish days, we have 

 Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, Verbenas, Petunias, and a long catalogue of 

 other things too numerous to name here. To provide annually a 

 sufficient stock of this " bedding stuff," is oftentimes attended with no 

 small degree of labour. And yet, if we fall short of anything at planting 

 time, and are not able to fill every bed with the colours we intended, 

 the effect will be anything but pleasing — even one bad bed spoils the 

 whole effect. Some persons advocate bedding out about the beginning of 

 June, and not before; they say, plants do not grow if bedded out before. 

 They may not grow much at top if bedded earlier, but they will be 

 making roots, and when they begin to grow, they push stronger and 

 more rapidly than late-planted. " Bedding out " should never, if pos- 

 sible, be deferred until June, because the days are then nearly at their 

 greatest length, and if dry weather prevails, it causes a great deal of 

 watering, and half the summer is over before the beds have any effect. 

 We always like to " bed out'' as soon after the first week in May as 

 the weather permits. Last May was unusually cold up to the 20th, 

 but after that the weather was most beautiful for planting out. I have 

 seen in this county (Yorkshire), scarlet Pelargoniums planted out as 

 early as the 24th of April, and I have myself planted them out several 

 times as early as the first week in May. 



I would not lose a day after the 10th of May, if the weather was 

 favourable, for though the plants do not grow much at head, they will 

 require little or no watering ; and if the soil is in proper condition — as it 

 ought to be — they will make roots fast, so that, when warm weather 

 comes, they push away strongly and rapidly. I also like to plant the 

 beds pretty full at first, for it is very easy to cut and thin away as 

 they grow, and much better than not having the beds half filled nearly 

 the greater part of summer. The great point is to have plenty of 

 plants. There ought always to be a good stock struck in the autumn, 

 and either potted off", or wintered in cutting-pans or boxes. Most 

 gardeners winter their "bedding stuff"" in Vineries, Peach-houses, 

 pits, &c. ; but, when these are wanted in spring, the difficulty is then 

 — when the plants require potting off", and consequently more space — 

 to find a place for them until planting time. There are a great many 

 things which, if properly managed, may be put out of doors the begin- 

 ning of April, protecting them a little at night and during frosts. 

 A dry, sheltered situation should be selected — if a hard road, so much 

 the better ; but if it be a border, cover it with boards, slates, or tiles, 

 and on these place a compost of rotten leaves, sand, and a little loam, 

 from four to six inches in depth ; turn the plants out of their pots and 

 plant in the compost ; when planted, stretch some rods over them, so 

 that they may be covered at nights and during frosts with mats or 

 boughs. They will not require any watering, so that there is no more 

 labour attending them than if kept in houses or pits, when they would 



