280 FLOWER GARDEN. 



I 



of their hybrid offspring, having perhaps some of the pro- 

 cumbent species on the outside by way of edging, is cal- 

 culated to produce a beautiful effect in the flower garden, 

 continuing in bloom the whole season. Most of the kinds 

 afford offsets readily ; if these be taken off and potted in 

 autumn, in a light sandy soil, they may be kept in a cool 

 frame over winter ; or the entire old plants may be put 

 into large pots, and kept in the same way, the offsets be- 

 ing removed in the spring and forming excellent plants. 



It would lead us too much into detail to speak minutely 

 of Calceolaria, Phlox, Chelone, Pentstemon, (Enothera, 

 and other genera, which approach the character of florists' 

 flowers. To have them in perfection, they should be kept 

 in beds by themselves ; and we are persuaded that, were a 

 moiety of the care bestowed upon them which is lavished 

 on florists' flowers properly so called, they would amply 

 repay the labor of the cultivator. 



The Chinese Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum si- 

 nense), from the peculiar culture which it now undergoes, 

 may be considered to belong to this department of flowers. 

 It is a native of China, and though introduced many years 

 ago, its ornamental capabilities have only recently been 

 brought into notice. Flowering in November and Decem- 

 ber, it fills up, with its many-colored blossoms, the blank 

 of a most dreary season, and affords the means of decorat- 

 ing green-houses, conservatories, and dwelling-houses, when 

 almost all other means of embellishment fail. Forty va- 

 rieties were enumerated by the late Mr. Sabine, in the 

 London Horticultural Memoirs but it is believed that 

 there are several others not yet introduced, flowers of 

 which are represented on Chinese painted screens, in a 

 stiff, but rigidly correct style, and which we may soon ex- 

 pect to receive from China. The Chrysanthemum is 



