THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 307 



(ler annual, there is no plant we grow requiring so little trouble, that 

 excites such a lively interest, and yet is cultivated by so few people, 

 as this sensitive plant. Dr. Darwin thus describes it prettily in 

 verse : — 



" Weak with nice sense, the chaste Mimosa stands, 

 From each rude touch withdraws her timid hands ; 

 Oft as Hght clouds o'erpass the summer glade, 

 Alarmer^, she trembles at the moving shade, 

 And feels alive through all her tender form 

 The whisper'd murmurs of the gathering storm. 

 Shuts her sweet eyelids to the approaching night, 

 And hails with freshen'd charms the rising light.' 



E. S. 



sxoAYDEOPS o:n" geass lawns. 



N order to grow the Snowdrop successfully, so as to 

 enable it to retain its place undisturbed for a lonoj series 

 of years, insert the roots into grass lawns. By this 

 method they are completely out of the way of receiving 

 injury — and in no other situation could they be put 

 with more telling eifect while in bloom — the roots better cared for, 

 and less liable to rot during their nine months of apparently dormant 

 condition. If this system were more generally adopted, the flowers 

 might be enjoyed for seven or eight weeks, according to the weather 

 and the distance the roots were inserted into the earth. The method 

 of procedure is to dibble holes into the grass from 12 to 18 or 20 

 inches apart, according to the extent of the lawn to be planted, and 

 at depths varying from 4 to 6 inches, and to drop one, or sometimes 

 two roots into each hole, the small plots in front of villa residences 

 looking best when they are placed at the lesser distance apart. 



Snowdrops might also be arranged round plant clumps when cut 

 in grass, keeping them at a uniform distance from the edge all 

 round, say one row within a foot of the edge at 4 inches in depth, 

 and another a foot or so apart at 6 inches in depth. By this method 

 the shallow-planted bulbs will flower first, and the deeper ones after- 

 wards, thus securing a longer succession of them. Monograms, 

 crests, and coronets, also figures of every description, may be repre- 

 sented on the grass by dibbling the roots in an outline of the form 

 required. As the season advances the leaves decay, and nothing is 

 to be seen of them when the first cutting of the grass takes place. 

 To regulate any arrangement for having them in circular lines, or to 

 represent letters or figures, a small piece of wood may be placed 

 across the dibble at 4 or 6 inches from the bottom, so as to secure a 

 uniform deptli of hole while inserting it in the ground ; but for all 

 lawn purposes irregular depths will be preferable, in order to secure 

 a succession. 



