224 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



single specimen plant, it looks handsome and uncommon in a green 

 glazed pot or small tub. Nothing I grow in pots is more satisfactory 

 than the old-fashioned Calceolaria amplexicaulis ; it does not grow to 

 any perfection with me in the beds, the soil being too dr^^, but potted, 

 it makes a splendid show through the late summer and autumn 

 months. The shrubby Veronica speciosa rubra, and V. imperialis, I grow 

 in pots because they flower beautifully in the autumn, and the drowsy 

 bumble-bees love to lie on them in the sunshine when Sedum specta- 

 bile is passing away. They are not quite hardy with me, as they can- 

 not withstand the long, dry, cold springs. This in itself justifies the 

 growing them in pots ; in mild, damp districts they are large shrubs. 

 The blue Agapanthus everybody grows in tubs. The plants have to 

 be rather pot-bound and kept dry in the winter to flower well, and as 

 the flower-buds form they want well watering and a weekly dose of 

 liquid manure. Hydrangeas I find difficult to grow when planted out ; 

 the common kinds do exceedingly well in tubs in half shady places if 

 they get a good deal of water. Large standard Myrtles I have had 

 covered with bloom in August in tubs. My large old plant, which I 

 had had many years, was killed last spring by being turned out of 

 the room it had wintered in too early, because I came from London 

 sooner than usual. The great difficulty in small places is housing 

 these large plants in winter. They do not want much protection, but 

 they must have some, and the death of large old plants is grievous. 



Woodlands^ Surrey. M. T. E. 



Spray of Myrtle. 



