NEW ZEALAND GARDENING. 143 



display during the Summer months, and in the Autumn 

 they may be treated in the same manner as Dahlias, or the 

 tubers may be left in the ground all Winter, care being taken 

 to mark with a stick or label where each plant grew, so that 

 they may not be disturbed when digging the borders. 



Verbena. Characteristics of a Show Flower. ist. The 

 flower should be round, with scarcely any indenture, and no 

 notch orserrature. 2nd. The petals should be thick and flat, 

 and bright. 3rd. The plant should be compact, the joints 

 short and strong, and distinctly of a shrubby habit or a close 

 ground creeper ; those which partake of all are bad. 4th. 

 The trusses of bloom should be compact, and stand out 

 from the foliage, the flowers touching each other, but not 

 crowding. 5th. The foliage should be short, broad, and 

 bright, and enough of it to hide the stalks. 



The colours should be perfectly clear and distinct in selfs, 

 no shade should prevail, and in stripes the line where the 

 colours separate should be well denned. The form of the 

 truss should be as nearly flat as possible, so as to show off 

 every individual flower to advantage. 



Soil. The best is a mixture of old turfy loam, leaf mould, 

 and peat in equal parts. If vegetable mould cannot be had, 

 use the loam and sand, and about a sixth part of very rotten 

 manure, but almost any kind of light friable soil will answer. 



Situation. Verbenas thrive best in an open, airy situation, 

 provided they are sheltered from high winds. The bed or 

 beds should be long, and not more than four feet wide. 

 This sized bed would contain two rows, allowing them space 

 to spread out a little every way. 



Plants in Pots. Verbenas grow so luxuriantly out of 

 doors in this country with the most ordinary treatment, that 

 few persons care to take the necessary trouble to grow them 

 in pots. Still as some may be desirous of doing so for 

 the purpose of exhibition, the following directions will be 

 found useful : The pots should be kept in a pit or frame 

 deep enough to keep them at least nine inches from the 

 glass when in bloom, standing in three or four inches of 

 ashes. 



Potting. The plants must be healthy, clear of insects, 

 well furnished with leaves, low, bushy, and with numerous 

 branches close to the soil ; and the kind such as produce 



