I 4 6 AUGUST 



be abolished from the gardens of every lover of 

 the beautiful. We could not in these days endure 

 chrysanthemums of such stiff, unpleasing form and 

 crude range of colouring ; why not carry on the 

 healthy feeling of repulsion to the unsatisfactory 

 aster, and get rid of it entirely until growers can 

 improve it out of its present shape and tints? 

 The only tolerable ones are the single varieties. 

 I cannot think why asters should be considered 

 a necessity of the garden ; from the castle to the 

 cottage the summer show is spoilt by them, and 

 when they are displayed in mixed beds they should 

 set on edge the teeth of the gardener of discern- 

 ment. But the years come and go, and still they 

 retain their supremacy in the garden, and better 

 things are neglected for them. 



Few things are lovelier than masses of the half- 

 hardy dianthus chinensis treated as an annual. 

 The colours are good ; the tufts are thoroughly 

 floriferous, and the bloom lasts for months together. 

 Yet one seldom sees them except as isolated plants. 

 They are admirable if sown in February and 

 bedded out under rose bushes, as they carry on 

 the colour scheme of the roses, and keep the beds 

 furnished. 



Zinnias, if used at all, should be chosen with 

 discretion, a general hotch - potch mixture being 

 most displeasing. It is best to get separate packets 

 of the yellows, oranges, and whites, and to mix 

 them for one's self, omitting entirely all of a pink 

 or magenta shade. Gardeners go wrong over these 

 even more often than over petunias, godetias, and 

 clarkias. Most of the shades of these two last are 



