48 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
of the latter, is at once striking and beautiful. Planted alone it is 
also very effective. 
It may be raised from seed with the same facility as the com- 
monest of the half-hardy annuals, and a packet of seed sufficient at 
least to produce enough plants for a large bed, may be had at any 
of the seed houses for threepence or fourpence. It is simply 
necessary to sow the seed in pans or pots early in March, to place 
them in the propagating pit along with other seeds and cuttings, 
and in due course to pot off the seedlings in the same manner as the 
general stock of bedders. They should also be planted in precisely 
the same manner, and at a similar distance apart. 
Verbena venosa differs from the other verbenas in general culti- 
vation, in having thick fleshy roots, not unlike those of the mint. 
In the early part of the winter, when left out-of-doors, they die 
down to the ground level, and in the spring following they break 
freely, and the young shoots make their appearance quite thickly all 
over the beds. The proper course is to lift the plants from the beds 
in the autumn, lay the roots in boxes, and cover them with soil ; 
they may then be put in a cold frame or shed, until the early part of 
the spring, when the roots can be removed from the boxes and put 
into pots. This course is recommended for convenience of planting, 
and if five-inch pots are employed, and a few roots put into earth, 
and then covered with soil, and in a cold frame, strong tufts will be 
available for planting immediately the beds are cleared of the spring 
flowers. 
VERBENAS IN THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
BY GEORGE SMITH. 
giHOUGH Verbenas do not enjoy a very large share of 
popularity as bedding plants, there can be no gainsaying 
the fact that a more beautiful class of plants do not exist ; 
or one, after the geraniums, better adapted to the re- 
quirements of the amateur. They have a neat dwarf 
habit, they bloom freely, produce an even surface of flowers, and 
there is certainly a sufficient variety of colour amongst them to 
satisfy those who do not like to be tied to one or two colours. We 
have amongst them flowers of the purest white, deepest purple 
and crimson, and the most brilliant scarlet, in addition to an endless 
number of shades of rose and pink. With an excellent habit, 
attractive appearanc?, and a wealth of colour quite unequalled, it may 
well be asked why they have declined in popularity, and an inquiry 
instituted into the cause of their not being cultivated so extensively 
as in past years. Those who have not paid very close attention to 
the matter would doubtless experience some difficulty in giving a 
satisfactory explanation of this seeming anomaly. But the observant 
cultivator who has studied their habits and peculiarities for any 
length of time will experience no such difficulty, and in a few words 
IT shall be able to show why failures occur, and by so doing indicate 
the means by which they may be prevented. 
