00 THE CHRONICLES OF A GARDEN. 



soon, require to be thinned out. What I call ' planting pro- 

 perly,' is that the M'hole surface be as much covered as possible 

 at the first planting, and more particularly the sides, which 

 can hardly be planted too closely. When the stock of plants 

 is too limited to allow of this liberal planting, the next 

 best mode is to have recourse to spring-sown annuals, and 

 to fill up in rows, or in broad patches, between the perma- 

 nent plants; and as the latter are now spreading freely, 

 these temporary helps must be removed gradually, that is, 

 a few at a time. . . . The proper way to act when summer 

 half-hardy plants are scarce is this, and even where no 

 scarcity is known it is a good plan. The beds being 

 ready in April or May, let the summer plants, as verbenas, 

 petunias, &c., be planted in regular rows, and at such dis- 

 tances as will allow of their getting too crowded before the 

 end of July, and particularly the last row next the grass or 

 gravel ; the least spreading plants should have a free space 

 of at least nine inches between them and the edge of the 

 bed, and a foot is not too much for most of them. Then, 

 the beds being so far planted, let regular rows of annuals 

 be transplanted from the reserve garden in the intervening 

 spaces. These will flower and look very gay from the end 

 of May til] this time, when the permanent plants will be 

 so far spread as to require a thinning of the annuals. 

 Virginian stocks in full bloom will easily transplant for this 

 purpose, and so will Sphenogyne speciosa, the prettiest 

 of all yellow annuals while it lasts, navelwort, white, 

 with the purple and white candytuft, Calendula hyhrida, 

 white ; all the Clarkias, Collinsias, Godetias, with Euchari- 



