MONTHLY CALENDAR. 669 



C075. When the beds are cleared, trench them up; manure and add new 

 soil where necessary, and plant the bulbs for spring flowering. Hardy annuals 

 sown last month, if large enough, may be transplanted at once to their perma- 

 nent beds, with pansies, alyssums, phloxes, primulas, and other herbaceous 

 plants from the reserve-garden. 



2076. Where alterations are contemplated, they should be determined on 

 without delay, and proceeded with when the plans are thoroughly matm-ed, — 

 not before. To render the grouping system permanently interesting, occa- 

 sional changes, both in form and arrangement of beds, are necessary ; and a 

 retrospective glance, with a view to future arrangements, will be useful now, 

 while the whole effect is fresh in the memory, and when next j^ear's bloom is 

 about to be provided for. In the selection of plants, it is to be borne in mind 

 that duration of flowering should be the first consideration, for few gardens will 

 afford the time or the cost necessary to carry out the plan of a changeable 

 flower-garden, in which the beds are decorated in early spring with scillas, 

 bulbocodiums, erythroniiims, hepaticas, sanguinarias, and other precocious 

 flowers, to be succeeded by autumn-sovsTi annuals, in masses, in the summer 

 months, and autumnal bulbs, dahlias, hollyhocks, and chrysanthemums, 

 bringing us again to the verge of winter. This system of gardening, however 

 attractive when attended with high keeping, is too costly and entails more 

 trouble than proprietors of the ordinarj'' run of gardens will incur ; therefore 

 the gardener must have an eye to the means as well as to the end, and arrange 

 his plans accordingly. In the survey recommended, he will probably remember 

 that, in proportion as the prevailing colours were warm or cold, — that is, 

 scarlet or purple, — so was the distance which separated the beds apparently 

 diminished or increased. " Warm colours," according to Mr. Caie, " like light, 

 irradiate the atmosphere to a greater distance with their peculiar hues ; of some 

 colours, as those of the verbena called Hamlet and Campanula cai-patica, it 

 may be said that subdued light is the condition in which they are seen to the 

 greatest advantage, since they become really beautiful as the sun passes the 

 horizon." If the distribution of colour has engaged the attention of the 

 cultivator, many expedients will probably occur to him by which the angu- 

 larity, which is now the distinguishing feature of the flower-beds, may be 

 rectified. Erythronium Dens canis. Allium Moly, Anemone apennina, San- 

 guinaria canadensis, Scilla italica, Phlox verna, and a vast number of other 

 hardy plants intioduced now, will add interest to the flower-garden by- 

 and-by. 



■2077. Now is the best time to collect leaves from lawns and drives, and to 

 stack them in some out of the way place for use. Oak and beech are the 

 most valuable to the gardener, affording the most durable heat. Tread them 

 firmly in the stack, and afterwards thatch them to keep them dry ; the 

 remainder may be thrown together for rotting, when they form a valuable 

 auxiliary for potting and composts. The pi*incipal lawns should be swept 

 when leaves are numerous, as well as to remove worm- casts, &c. An occasional 

 rolling will keep the surface in good order. 



