MONTHLY CALENDAR. 315 



869. In the mixed garden, as in all others, flowers in vases are admissible ; 

 and although no plant surpasses the scarlet geranium for effect, a little variety 

 is desirable. In early spring nothing is more suitable than the Nemophila 

 insignis, maculata, atomaria, and discoidalis. These planted in a rich 

 light soil in the autumn will stand any ordinary winter, and their varied 

 flowers trailing over the surface and pendent from the sides of the vase, present 

 a very gay appearance. Collinsia grandiflora forms a compact tuft of flowers, 

 and contrasts well, in colour, with the bright orange flowers of Splienogyne 

 speciosa. This should be sown in September, and nursed through the 

 winter in a cold frame, or sheltered by matting potted in rather poor soil ; 

 being thoroughly hardened by exposure in March, plant them thickly in the 

 vases in April. Lupinus nanus treated in the same way is also a beautiful 

 plant, as is the lovely little Clintonia pidchella turned out of the pots in April. 

 This little gem should be potted in September in soil rich in vegetable matter, 

 and mixed with a little peat in a rough state, and kept from frost under a 

 frame or elsewhere. The Clarkias also, though strong-growing plants, are very 

 hardy, as becomes their Siberian origin, and very prett}', contrasting well with 

 such plants as Gilia tricolor and G. tricolor alba. Godeiia o-uhicunda, Iberis 

 cineraria, and the lovely little Kaulfussia amelloides, all stand our ordinary 

 winters, with a little protection in the dead of winter, under a frame or 

 matting ; hardening them off by full exposurse before planting. To these may 

 be added German stocks of all colours. Double wallflowers will keep the 

 vases gay from April to the end of June, when the fuchsias, pelargoniums, and 

 the summer occupants of the vases, should be ready to succeed them. 



The Brassic^, or Cabbages. 



870. The Brassiccp, or Cabbages, are the most important product of the 

 garden, whether we look at them as a necessary or a luxury of life. They are 

 also, except under a well-considered system of rotation-cropping, the most ex- 

 haustive class of vegetables under the gardener's care. With such properties, 

 it is not surprising to find that they were well known to the ancients, and 

 that, in all probability, we are indebted to the Romans for theu* first cultivation 

 in British gardens. By Theophrastus and the earlier Greek writers they are 

 called Mapha^ncs, from the seed bearing a resemblance to that of the radish. 

 By later writers it was called Aitici, from its supposed tendency to injure 

 the eyes, a notion entertained at one time by Columella (oculis iiiimica 

 corambe) ; but he afterwards contradicts himself, and declares it to be good 

 for dim eyes. 



871. The Roman Brassica comes, it is supposed, from prcesece, because it 

 ■was cut off from the stem ; but a British or Celtic origin is also assigned 

 to the name, from Bresic. It was also called Caulis, from the quality of the 

 stalks ; and hence the English word cole or colewort, the word by which all 

 the non-cabbaging varieties of the plant are known, 



872. The quaUties of the cabbage seem to have been well ascertained and 



