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THE FLOIJAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



verbenas would be showing good trusses. But the best time gene- 

 rally to propagate it is March, when choice should be made of shoots 

 not entirely white or nearly green, but fully variegated, and with 

 enough green in them to insure vigorous health. Wherever a green 

 shoot appears, it should be cut away to the root, or it will soon war 

 against the variegated shoots by its superior vigour. Once get 

 possession of this useful plant, and it need never be lost, and to 

 keep it true needs only ordinary watchfulness. It is a charming 

 contrast to blue, purple, or scarlet. There is a golden-leaved variety 

 equally beautiful, but of less value for bedding, because the same 

 colour can be so much better obtained from flowers. It is, however, 

 worth having, and is very effective as a ribbon plant. Two plants 

 of the mint and one of blue lobelia, alternating in a row, make a 

 soft bluish-grey, which sets off scarlet to perfection. 



Arabis alpina variegata. — Let us call things by their right names, 

 and, as one step towards it, give up the practice of naming this 

 "Alysaum variegata." There is this difference between them: 

 Arabis is, in all its forms, an herbaceous trailing plant ; Alyssum is 

 a miniature shrub. This variegated arabis grows in close, dense 

 tufts, spreading laterally, the leaves mottled with yellowish-white, 

 the flowers white, and plentifully produced in April and May. It is 

 hardy wherever the scil is dry, but is apt to perish in winter in damj) 

 situations. "We always pot up the whole stock in October, and 

 winter them in frames. If a very close line of clear yellowish-grey 

 is required, this is the best plant in existence for the purpose. It 

 may be propagated at any time, either by putting cuttings into sand 

 in seed-pans from May to August, and again with the aid of a little 

 heat in February or March, or may be increased by division every 

 autumn when the plants are taken up, or in April when they are 

 planted. Like the variegated mint, it is a poor man's bedder, and 

 is truly beautiful when well done. In a rich soil, it has the same 

 tendency as the mint to throw up green shoots, which should be 

 removed as soon as they are perceptible. 



Alyssum dentatum variegatum. — This is a miniature shrub, with 

 narrow silvery leaves and white flowers, easily propagated from 

 cuttings in spring aud autumn, and is very white and attractive as 

 an edgiog to any brilliantly-coloured bed. It is rather tender, rarely 

 lives through the winter out of doors, does not like damp or a fat 

 soil, is most at home on sand and in an elevated position. Never- 

 theless, as a bedder, taken up for the winter, and kept in pots well 

 drained and filled with poor soil, it will thrive almost anywhere when 

 planted out. Some years ago, the most dazzling beds ever thought 

 of were to be seen at the Crystal Palace on the Rose Mount. They 

 consisted of Variegated Alyssum and Flower of the Day Geranium, 

 mixed ; the worst of it is, the mixture is so bright that the eye can- 

 not bear it while the suu shines. It would be still more like fixed 

 lightning by using Alma Geranium, the trusses of which are of a 

 more decided scarlet. 



Scrojihularia nodosa variegata. — This is a novelty of the highest 

 merit. It is quite hardy, grows well in any ordinary good soil ; the 

 leaves match those of geraniums for size, and are densely edged with 



