MONTHLY CALENDAR. 879 



gives satisfaction when shaded ; but to many other plants such a situation 

 is the natural habitat. Ferns grow naturally in the woods. Many sorts of 

 herbaceous plants also feel quite at home so shaded. Anemones, Arums, 

 Hypei-icums, Sedums, Saxifrages, Primulas, and various bulbous-rooted plants, 

 as Crocuses, Galanthus, Ornithogalums, Narcissus, are among these. It is 

 thus quite necessary to ascertain, before laying out money on plants, that 

 they are adapted to the situation. In a north aspect most of the above will 

 thrive, and, if clear overhead, most of the deciduous flowering plants 

 also will do well; but as a rule, bright-flowering plants prefer a sunny 

 aspect, although in the summer time flowers last much longer in the shade. 

 Again, something is due to the natvire of the soil. In a good retentive loam, 

 plants will bear the fiercest rays of the sun without injury, and most of 

 the rhododendrons and other American plants will do well. If the soil be 

 loose and porous, a continuous application of water will scarcely keep them 

 in health. As a general rule, wherever grass gives a short, close, lively, and 

 verdurous appearance, almost any plants will grow satisfactorily. In arrang- 

 ing a small garden, one particular class of plants should predominate. Avoid 

 a crowded and heterogeneous mixture of habits and characters in plants, and 

 give each individual plant room to grow. In a small compass, if roses are 

 planted, let them have a fair chance, by giving them plenty of space, light, and 

 air. The queen of flowers deserves the first place, from its beauty and fragrance, 

 but others have their merits. Ehododendrons, planted either in a mass or 

 singly, are splendid objects in the flowering season. The hardy hybrids are 

 best for general purposes, they being ornamental as evergreens, besides the 

 beauty and variety of the flowers. Hardy azaleas also produce a fine effect 

 when planted in masses ; both these and rhododendrons do best when planted 

 in peat-earth ; but they do very well on a stiff clay subsoil, with proper stations 

 for the plants — should be sunk a trifle lower than the level of the garden, and 

 they require a deal of water from the time of blooming till they have set their 

 buds for the next season. The object in sinking the bed is to give water 

 more efiectively. Choice hollyhocks, herbaceous plants, ferns, pansies, tulips, 

 dahlias, in clumps or beds, when tastefully arranged, are all admissible ; but 

 in small gardens a few plants, or even one kind well grown, are better than 

 a host of indifierently-grown plants. It is this separate gi-owing of particular 

 plants that originates superiority in the culture of each ; and although exclu- 

 siveness in this resiDect ought not to be carried to excess, it nevertheless 

 gives a greater interest than when the attention is divided amongst a great 

 variety. 



iiiS. Arranging flowers in small gardens being a matter of taste, must bo 

 left to the proprietor. Our object is to give such general directions as may 

 assist the amateur in carrying out his particular views. In planting beds with, 

 half-hardy plants, which is usually done about the latter end of May, the 

 plants should be in a condition to start into flower. Much time is lost by 

 planting small or late-struck plants. In arranging them, the most brilliant 

 effect is produced by massing ; every bed being planted with one distinct class. 



