MARCH. 79 



THE LADIES' PAGE. 



" Here's flowers for you ; 



The marigold, that goes to bed with the sun, 

 And with him rises weeping ; 



daffodils, 

 That come before the swallow dares, and take 

 The winds of March with beauty ; violets, dim, 

 But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes, 

 Or Cytherea's breath ; pale primroses, 

 That die unmarried ere they can behold 

 Bright Phoebus in his strength ; . 



bold oxlips, and 

 The crown-imperial ; lilies of all kinds, 

 The flower-de-luce being one." Shakspere. 



From the beautiful language of Perdita we learn what flowers were 

 favourites with the ladies in the days when Shakspere wrote ; and it 

 is worthy of note, that the plants named in the above extract still 

 hold a prominent 'place in our esteem, notwithstanding the num- 

 berless kinds which, since that period, have been brought to this 

 country from all parts of the world by enterprising nurserymen and 

 private patrons of gardening. 



Amongst all these modern introductions, there is not a greater 

 acquisition to the flower-garden as a decorative plant than the Ver- 

 bena ; — not the shrubby fragrant-leaved plant frequently called by 

 that name (which is Aloysia citriodora) , but those beautiful things 

 with " flowers of all hues," that have been produced by the skill of 

 modern gardeners by means of hybridising some few natural species 

 originally brought from America. 



Last summer I had an opportunity of inspecting the extensive 

 collection of sorts cultivated for sale in the nursery of Messrs. Hen- 

 derson, Edgeware Road, London ; and the following is a selection of 

 what appeared to me to be the most distinct and desirable kinds for 

 planting in masses. As, however, the purchasing of a sufficient 

 number of plants of each variety to fill an entire bed, would amount 

 to a considerable sum, those to whom expense is an important ob- 

 ject might procure one plant of each sort, which would make a 

 mixed bed ; then in autumn any number of the colours which are 

 preferred can be struck from cuttings. In the matter of colour, I 

 must claim the kind indulgence of those to whom this page is 

 more especially addressed ; for none but a lady or a painter can cor- 

 rectly designate the multitudinous tints with which the Verbena is 

 adorned. 



Chauviere's John Salter, vivid scarlet, crimson centre, and whitish eye ; Due 

 de Gazes, purplish carmine, with darker centre ; Barker's Duchess of Northum- 

 berland, salmony pink ; Smith's Duchess, pale pink, or blush ; Smith's Psyche, 

 rosy pink, Avith whitish eye ; Dufoy's Favourite, dark blue, with white eye; 

 Bell's Vulcan Superb, crimson, with darker centre ; Andrews' Magniflora, 

 purplish rose, darker centre, and light eye ; Dufoy's Apollon, dark purple, with 

 still darker centre ; Ramona, maroon, distinct whitish eye ; Meillez' Loui^ 



