244 JOTTINGS OF A GENTLEMAN GARDENER 



will do well to study his plants, together with their fads 

 and fancies, even though they may not be new varieties, 

 and irrespective of the fact that he does not wish to describe 

 them. Much can be learnt by the study and comparison 

 of plants and flowers. 



" He should first study the plants themselves their 

 leaves, stems, flowers, and even their roots, though this 

 can only be done in the autumn. He will then obtain many 

 interesting facts. As his interest becomes the greater, he 

 will divide flowers and vegetables into groups, and will, 

 by that means, learn a good deal of botany. Naturally, 

 he will group all, or nearly all, the plants of the cabbage 

 family together, even cauliflowers, radish, turnip, and kohl 

 rabi with them ; and, if he adds to this list the following 

 flowers, he will then have in his mind some of the members 

 of the order Cruciferae, or cross-bearers. The flowers I 

 refer to are : Stock, Rocket, Honesty, Wallflower, and 

 Isatis. Then, as he looks over his Carnations, etc., 

 he will make them head the following list of plants : 

 Carnations, Picotees, Pinks, Dianthus, and Viscaria. 

 Among the Chrysanthemums he will place Asters, 

 Marguerites, and the maximum sorts ; among Poppies, 

 the annual sorts, i,e. Shirley and other named varieties ; 

 the perennial kinds, and also the Eschscholzia. These 

 classifications are rough and ready, possibly not very 

 accurate, but still convenient in the long run. No 

 attempt has, of course, been made to give complete lists of 

 any of these groups, or to divide them up into botanical 

 sections. This would take us too far. And there are 

 many other groups into which garden plants fall ; but 

 these the reader must find for himself. 



" When the plant has been studied, or even before it is 

 itself studied, its habits may be observed, I mean here 

 its likes and dislikes. Many of us have plants in very varied 

 positions in our gardens, it is interesting to see where they 

 do best. Some plants are extremely fastidious, and will not 

 grow in all positions, so we find out by observation, and 

 perhaps by experiment, where they will, or will not, thrive, 



