FURNISHING THE GARDEN. 165 



387. The reserve garden is also the proper nursing-place for the whole race 

 of half-hardy annuals. Stocks, asters, marigolds, clintonias, calandrinas, 

 lobelias, mesembryanthemums, portulacas, osnotheras, Phlox Drummondii 

 >{ varieties), salpiglossis, maurandyas, tropseolums, &c., raised on a slight hot- 

 bed, must be gradually hardened off, and planted in rich soil in a warm 

 corner, to be finally moved to their blooming-quarters. Hardy biennials, 

 such as wallflowers, Brompton stocks, sweet-williams, foxgloves, &c. &c., 

 should also be sown here in May or June, and receive their proper culture 

 throughout the summer. Any perennials, such as hollyhocks, that are raised 

 from seed, should likewise be sown in the reserve garden, and treated the 

 same as biennials. Cuttings of any plants that will root in the open air should 

 also be inserted here ; and a corner should be devoted to shrubs that are 

 intended to be increased by layering. Provision should also be made in this 

 ■department for affording temporary shelter, and the means of gradually 

 hardening off the whole stock of bedding-plants. 



388. In places of any extent, the reserve garden should be fui*nished with 

 ranges of cold and partially-heated pits and frames ; and beds of rich soil, with 

 raised edgings of brick, stone, or wood, spanned over with hoops, to sujiport 

 ■mats, canvas, reed coverings, &c., in cold weather. 



389. In most gardens thei'e is a sad lack of means for gradually transferring 

 plants to the open air, and several months of beauty in the flower-garden are 

 often lost in consequence. These raised protected- at-jDleasure beds will also 

 be the best possible positions for growing the choicest sorts of tulips, hyacinths, 

 anemones, and other favourite flowers of early summer. I consider it better 

 to plant hardy bulbs, such as crocuses, snowdrops, and the commoner tulips, 

 say from one foot to eighteen inches deep, and leave them permanently in the 

 flower-beds or borders, than to remove them out of the way of the bedding- 

 plants annually. Those, however, who object to this treatment will of course 

 provide space for them in the reserve garden, and remove them thither when 

 they plant out regular bedding-plants in May. All surplus stock, to fill blanks 

 or repair accidents, should be neatly plunged in pots, ready to be moved when 

 wanted. Others, that root more freely, and bear moving better, may be 

 planted in rich soil for similar purposes ; if not required to fill up gaps in the 

 flower-beds, they will furnish strong early cuttings and cut flowers through- 

 out the season. When the reserve garden is of sufficient dimensions, the 

 whole of the cuttings and cut flowers should be derived from it, thus leaving 

 the flower-garden in full perfection throughout the season. For want of such 

 a reserve to fall back upon, some gardens have no sooner arrived at perfec- 

 tion than they are fearfully mangled, and their beauty marred, by the im- 

 perious demands of the propagator and decorator. Choice collections of pinks 

 and carnations, dahlias, roses, and chrysanthemums, for show flowers, should 

 also be grown here. The arrangements and special culture that some of these 

 flowers require to produce them in the highest perfection, are hardly consistent 

 with the high finish and refined enjoyment which sbiauld be the leading 

 characteristic of every well-kept garden. When the flower-garden is furnished 



