FEBRUARY. 41 



weeks. Use light soil and small pots for this purpose, and return 

 them to the propagating frame, or other close and warm place, for 

 a fortnight or so, till they get established ; afterwards they must 

 be removed to a more airy situation, to be gradually inured to bear 

 exposure. If a sufficient number of cuttings were put-in in autumn, 

 the young plants ought in the course of this month to be separated 

 and potted singly, to make them dwarf and stocky ; for if permitted 

 to occupy the store-pots till the proper season arrives for planting 

 out, the plants will get long and attenuated, and, in consequence, 

 much inferior for bedding to those which were potted singly. 



Many of the early-blooming annuals are of great service in a 

 flower-garden, especially in places where there is not extensive con- 

 venience for wintering tenderer plants ; as, if sown thinly early in 

 September, and transferred to the flower-beds in the end of this 

 or the beginning of next month, they will have covered the ground, 

 if they are not quite in blossom, by the time when such things 

 as Geraniums can be safely risked out of doors. It is best, no 

 doubt, to sow the seeds of annuals in the beds where the plants 

 are to bloom ; only at the season when that ought to be done, these 

 beds are generally in their greatest gaiety. If no autumn-sown 

 plants have been provided, seeds might now be sown in pans under 

 glass, for which purpose the following species are suitable : — Nemo- 

 phila insignis, blue and white ; N. raaculata, white with blue spots ; 

 Gilia tricolor, blue, white, and dark brown (there is also a white 

 variety) ; Collinsia bicolor, blue and white ; Eucharidium grandi- 

 florum, red ; Clarkia pulchella, red (also a white variety) ; Viscaria 

 oculata, pink with dark eye ; Leptosiphon androsaceus, lilac ; Ery- 

 simum Perofskianum, orange; Schizanthus pinnatus humilis, varie- 

 gated : Campanula speculum album, w^hite (Venus' s Looking-glass) ; 

 Mathiola annua (the Ten- week Stock), various colours. These are 

 all lovv^-growing plants, which come early into flow^er, and are sufficient 

 for the purpose under consideration ; but there are many other highly 

 desirable annuals, especially amongst these that are now considered 

 old kinds, of which we will take another opportunity to give a des- 

 criptive list. 



Many very beautiful and interesting flowers are also to be found 

 among the early-blooming perennials, well adapted either for plant- 

 ing in masses, that is, entire beds, or for enlivening the borders 

 of mixed plants ; and yet we rarely see these desirable things em- 

 ployed to the extent they deserve, even in gardens of the greatest 

 pretension. The following species are recommended to all who do 

 not possess them : — the Hepatica {Hepatica triloba), all the varieties ; 

 double Primroses {Primula vulgaris), white, yellow, buff, lilac, crim- 

 son, and purplish red; double Daisies (5e///5 j9crc;m/5), many different 

 mixtures of colour ; Arabis alpina, white ; Sanguinaria canadensis, 

 white ; Anemone apennina, blue ; Anemone nemorosa flore pleno, 

 double white ; Veronica saxatilis, blue ; Alyssum saxatile, yellow ; 

 Aubrietia deltoidca, purple. 



Then that universal favourite, the Pansy (Viola tricolor), must 

 not be forgotten ; not the high-priced sorts exhibited for prizes, as 



