184 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



every one will be informed of tliem. An arrangement of this kind 

 has greatly assisted ns to keep our grounds at Lynn in an orderly 

 condition. 



There are a great many who will desire to cultivate flowers on 

 the graves of their friends, and among them some who will ask 

 what they shall plant. Very many have pansies — and with a deep 

 cool soil, kept moist, they will flower long into hot weather. I 

 would recommend setting a Geranium or two among them ; and, if 

 you like, edging with Daisies, or Forget-Me-Nots and Daisies, or 

 Echeveria secunda glauca on the edge, with Alternanthera par- 

 onychyoides nest; and, if there be room for a centre row. Geran- 

 ium Crystal Palace Gem, or Santolina, will look well if the work 

 is rightly done. 



Some may want all hard}' plants ; in such cases the common 

 Ground Myrtle or Periwinkle is most used, and is very satisfactor}' ; 

 the deep green leaves contrasting finely with the delicate blue 

 flowers. The Ivj' is also used ; and when covered in winter and 

 occasionall}" top dressed does verj' well ; this can be edged with 

 the small hardj' Euonymus radicans variegata^ and with a little 

 trimming and care the whole will last many seasons without any 

 transplanting. There is a pretty little Retinospora — plumosa 

 mirea, I think it is — which is very bright, and would contrast 

 beautifully with the Euonymus or the Iv}', and might be used to 

 good advantage. I have not tried it, but observation justifies me 

 in speaking of it. Another hardy plant, which I have read of but 

 do not know, viz., Camjianida i^usilla alba, is highly recommended 

 for planting on graves ; and is said to produce a dense mass of 

 pure white flowers. There undoubtedly are many other plants, as 

 yet unknown to me, adapted for planting on graves ; but I think I 

 have said enough to prove, and trust 1 have convinced you, that 

 our public burial grounds need not be places that people would 

 rather avoid than visit. 



Unless I make some allusion to the use of greenhouse and bed- 

 ding plants, I shall hardly have fulfilled my task. We cannot visit 

 any one of the many beautiful cemeteries in this vicinity without 

 perceiving that the use of these plants adds very much to its 

 attractiveness ; although I am aware that it takes many months of 

 labor to produce a bed which gives pleasure but a few brief weeks. 

 I have both heard and seen in i)rint some very severe criticisms on 

 what may be called our summer mode of embellishment, denying 



