166 MORE POT-POURRI 



soil and situation in which they are cultivated, especially 

 if grown in pots. With this list and a careful reference 

 from the things named to the more detailed accounts in 

 the ' English Flower Garden' or in Johnson's 'Gardener's 

 Dictionary,' the requirements of all the plants that are 

 grown in English gardens can be arrived at. The books 

 will tell you better than the catalogue which are the 

 things best worth growing from seed. But a certain 

 amount of experience and natural intelligence can never 

 be left out of this kind of study. Mr. Thompson is also 

 exceedingly obliging about procuring the seeds of cer- 

 tain wild plants which may not be in his catalogue, but 

 which are very desirable to grow in rather large gardens 

 where there is room, such as Tussilago fragrans and Iris 

 fwtidissima. What amateurs find most difficult in ar- 

 ranging herbaceous borders even more difficult than 

 colour itself is to acquire sufficient knowledge of plants 

 to judge of their strength and robustness, and, above 

 all, of their relative height. Putting Mr. Robinson 

 aside, the only book I know that is full of instruction, 

 particularly in this respect, is the one I named before 

 with great appreciation, ' The Botanic Garden,' by B. 

 Maund. 



Gardeners and amateurs who are really interested in 

 the subject are beginning to discover that to grow many 

 plants successfully, especially in light sandy or gravelly 

 soils, you must grow them from seed in the same air and 

 soil in which they are expected ultimately to succeed. 

 For this you must have three or four small pieces of 

 ground given up to the purpose some dry, some wet, 

 some sunny, some shady, and which will require nothing 

 but weeding and thinning. Seed -sowing, like all other 

 planting, requires a great deal of thought and considera- 

 tion. Some grow up in a few days and, every seed having 

 germinated, require much thinning, however much you 



