WINTER. 1 25 



f orethoiiglit in summer and autumn is necessary ; as, if our 

 seeds are not sown, and our bulbs not planted, at the 

 right season, we shall look in vain for this pleasant em- 

 ployment when the dark days come upon us. Thinking in 

 time is a most necessary part of gardening work, though 

 not always easy ; for in the full blow of summer we are apt 

 t(.) rest satisfied with the present profusion of beauty, and 

 can scarcely realise the dead, deserted feeling of winter, 

 and so neglect to make the arrangements we might for 

 brightening up some of its hours wdtli tending growing 

 plants. One of my fiivourite winter flowers is the tree 

 mignonette, both from its sweetness when grown, and the 

 work it gives in training and tying it up. Many people 

 lift a plant of this flower in autumn, before it has done 

 flowering, and pot it, wiien the blossoms linger long, if the 

 seed-pods are cut off as they form ; but the little trees I 

 mean are different from this, and yet are so easy of culture 

 that no one who has even a window to set the pots in 

 need be without these plants. I got the receipt for making 

 them in the Cottage Gardener, and have never been with- 

 out several in the greenhouse since ; they are easily trans- 

 ferred thence to the drawing-room or to a sick friend's 

 window, and come into flower before hyacinths and sj^ring 

 bulbs, though they last in bloom longer than these, if 

 managed rightly. About the end of April is said to be 

 the best time for sowing mignonette for this pur^Dose, and 

 the soil should be a good rich compost, two-thirds mellow 

 loam and one-third very rotten cow-dung, with a little 

 sand and a few^ bits of mortar the size of peas. For those 



