xxil INTRODUCTION. 



large - growing Grasses, Bocconia, and Veratrums, are 

 some of the subjects of this class. 



Their capabilities for Spring Flower-gardening. — It may, 

 I think, safely be affirmed that the flowers of spring are at 

 once the most chaste and brilliant in colour, the most 

 sweet and attractive, of those of all other seasons. It may 

 be that the comparatively dreary circumstances under 

 which they appear has by contrast the effect of height- 

 ening their beauty and worth. While Flora's other sub- 

 jects are yet unstirred, these, her hardy children of spring, 

 come forth in the short dark days, almost forbidden by 

 nature's rude influences, bringing with them a renewal of 

 precious promises, and fresh hopes and thoughts pleasant 

 to ponder, but often unutterable. Spring-flowering peren- 

 nials, whether of the flbrous-rooted or bulbous kinds, 

 are exceedingly numerous, and abound in varied and 

 bright tints, and the majority are very profuse, and many 

 are deliciously fragrant. The summer and autumn 

 flowers that deck the parterre in the fashionable flower- 

 garden may be pointed to with some exultation by the 

 "bedding" gardener as the perfection of brilliancy, dense- 

 ness, and duration in flowers ; but they cannot compare 

 with the flowers of spring for individuality, sprightliness, 

 delicacy, and simple grace. 



The great defect long ago felt in "bedding-out" is the 

 sharply-defined and comparatively brief period during 

 which it is possible to enjoy it in this climate. This is 

 inseparable from it, so long as the main or any consider- 

 able portion of the materials used in it is of too tender 

 a nature to endure the low temperature and variable 

 weather that prevail during spring, and even in early 

 summer, in many parts of the country. Where families 



