310 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



spermums, and maurandyas are useful, and so is the pretty, but little- 

 cared-for Linaria cymbalaria, a common, hardy, ivy-leaved snap- 

 dragon, which grows on old walls almost everywhere. Mr. Salter 

 has a variegated variety, which I have not seen, but believe to be 

 very pretty. Most of the tropa?olums are good for the same purpose, 

 and especially the old canariensis, if mixed with a few sprigs of dark- 

 leaved ivy ; but beware of this old-fashioned canary climber, wher- 

 ever you use it ; it gets naked in the legs, and should be carried 

 across or round a basket before being allowed to drop over, then its 

 eighteen inches of naked stem will not be visible. Fuchsias of droop- 

 ing habit make good centres. Banks's Glory is a beauty standing 

 alone in a fancy pot or vase, but mixed with geraniums and calceo- 

 larias, fuchsias are sure to suffer from the strong masses of colour to 

 which their delicate outlines are exposed. For single specimens, 

 yuccas are charming, especially Recur va, filamentosa, and Filamentosa 

 variegata. The common savin, junipers, and Picea Canadensis are 

 pretty conifers that look well in baskets ; and the summer baskets 

 may be planted with them when cleared out iu autumn to keep their 

 places until those containing bulbs are in flower. People fond of 

 decorating should grow plenty of hardy flowering and evergreen 

 shrubs in pots, to be shifted about and used as required for furnishing. 

 Azalea amcena, which has the habit and beauty of a myrtle, is one of 

 the best ; Berberis darwinii is another beauty, most valuable in win- 

 ter. Arborvitas, phyllyreas, box, laurels and rhododendrons are 

 others that should be grown in quantity, and when not wanted for 

 decoration, be plunged in a bed of coal-ashes and have all the atten- 

 tion that potted plants require. 



INVADERS, VISITORS, AND SETTLERS IN OUR 



GARDENS. 



(Continued from page 2S0.) 



[iE should be neglecting to notice a large portion of the 

 living creatures which are to be found in our gardens, 

 were we not to tell something about the curious and 

 beautiful beetles, some of which are settlers, and some 

 only visitors to us, but of which many species may be 

 met with even in the course of a single summer's day. It would, 

 however, take the whole of our space were we to describe even the 

 appearance of many of them, so greatly do they vary in shape, form, 

 colour, and size, though in their habits and mode of life there is so 

 great a difference. 



Beetles belong to the class of insects to which is given the name 

 of Coleoptera, a word which means iving-sheathed, owing to their 

 having, besides the wings used for flight, another pair of hard, 

 opaque outer wings or wing-cases, which cover the former from 

 sight, except when the insect is flying. The pair of light gauzy 

 wings are folded up when the beetle is at rest, and the thick sheaths 



