HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 253 



quaintness of form is deserving of attention : and on this 

 principle, Allium fistulosum (the common Welsh onion) 

 may be allowed to figure in a flower border. At the same 

 time, it must be admitted that such expedients should be 

 employed with reserve. No handsome plant should be re- 

 jected because it is common, nor any ill-favored one intro- 

 duced merely because it is scarce. The flower-gardener 

 should have a small nursery frame for the propagation of 

 the finer plants, so as to have at hand a stock, to be trans- 

 ferred into the borders as often as required. 



Numerous specimens of such showy plants as Verbena 

 Brillii, atro-sanguinea, and Mont Blanc Phlox Drummondii, 

 with Scarlet Geraniums, Petunias, Salvias, and Fuchsias, 

 may easily be kept over winter, in a green-house or vinery, 

 in the very small pots called " thumbs," ready to be 

 plunged in the open borders in May ; where they uniformly 

 bloom with much greater vigor and brilliancy than under 

 glass. 



We shall here enumerate merely the names of a few of 

 the most ornamental flowers, adapted to the British flower 

 garden,* 



Vernal Herbaceous Plants. Helleborus niger, lividus ; Eranthus 

 hyemalis ; Hepatica triloba, var. ; Primula vulgaris var., veris, elatior, inar- 

 ginata, helvetica, nivalis, viscosa, integrifolia, cortusoides ; Cortusa Ma- 

 thioli ; Soldanella alpina, Clusii ; Viola odorata double-flowered, tricolor, 

 biflora, altaica ; Dodecatheon Meadia vars. ; Orobus vernus ; Adonis ver- 

 nalis ; Omphalodes verna ; Corydalis lutea, longiflora ; Sanguinaria cana- 

 densis ; Iris pumila ; Anemone apennina, Halleri, pulsatilla ; Sisyrinchiuin 

 grandiflorum. 



Vernal Plants. Gentiana verna, acaulis. Saxifraga oppositifolia. 

 Genista Scorpius. Hepatica Americana. Dondia epipactus. Orobus ver- 



* It must be borne in mind by the American floriculturist that the times 

 and seasons here referred to are those of England, and will be found not pre- 

 cisely to correspond with the precise times of planting in any one part of the 

 United States. 



