Floricultural Calendar. 219 



o'clock, if I can avoid it. I now begin to take up the more tender green- 

 house plants, and pot them, and place them in their winter quarters, letting 

 such kinds as will bear a slight frost remain a little longer. Should there be 

 any appearance of frost, I cover at night with worsted netting some of the 

 more choice kinds, such as Fuchsia arborea, Polygala latifolia, Zupinus mu- 

 tabilis var. Cruckshanksi«?ras, and some others that are still in full bloom. 

 By this means I have often kept them uninjured till the end of the month, 

 when the fear of losing them by frost prevents my leaving them out any longer. 

 Georginas are taken up as soon as they are touched by the frost, laid out in 

 the sun to dry, and afterwards packed in boxes, and placed in a dry situation 

 secure from frost. The flower-garden is still very gay ; but I now expect 

 every day to be the last. The nights hitherto have been favourable, and there 

 is now, October 10., a great number of plants in bloom, such as Lobelia lutea, 

 Aellidifolia, bicolor, speciosa, unidentata, caerulea, &c. ; Campanula speciosa; 

 O'xalis floribunda, Deppei, and Bowiei; Z/ychnis vespertina; Potentilla Rus- 

 seWidna, formosa, americana, and Hopwoodiarca ; .Delphinium exaltatum, 

 Gavmerdnum, and elegans ; Magnolia grandiflora, Leonotis Leonurus ; Pentste- 

 mon pulchellus, venustus, roseus, ovatus, digitalis, Richardsoni, &c. ; Ferbena 

 venosa, Lamberti, Aubletk, pulchella, &c. ; ilfimulus glutinosus, Erodium 

 Gussoni, Crotalaria elegans, Sutherlandz'a frutescens, Coronilla glauca, Cata- 

 nanche bicolor, Arctotis aureola and grandiflora ; tfenecio elegans, red and 

 white double-flowered j Linaria triornithophora, alpina, and tristis; Arnopd- 

 gon Dalechampii, petunias and nierembergias, Nicotiawa fragrans, all the kinds 

 of salvias aforenamed, a few kinds of phloxes, eleven kinds of fuchsia, annual 

 Oenotheras and clarkias, China roses and the crimson perpetual. 



November. — The half-hardy and green-house plants being now all taken up 

 and removed to their winter quarters, I proceed to cut away the stems of the 

 herbaceous plants, &c. ; and the borders receive a good dressing of leaf- 

 mould previously to being dug ; which I perform during this month and De- 

 cember if the weather permit. I now screen all the half-hardy plants, such as 

 Amorpha Lewisii, Azalea indica, cistuses, and fuchsias, that are left to stand 

 the winter in the open garden, with furze or baskets of wickerwork, which I 

 find answer much better than close coverings, as the plants are not so liable 

 to damp off, and mats are easily thrown over at night should the weather be 

 very severe. I also cover with coal-ashes or moss the roots of Erythrina 

 /aurifolia, Tagetes lucida, Bouvardia triphylla, Watsonia fulgida; O'xalis 

 Bowiei, floribunda, and Deppeij Zephyranthes grandiflora, Alstrcemerk psit- 

 tacina, &c, to protect them from frost. The turf is now swept over twice a 

 week, and mown once during this month, if it be mild open weather. There 

 are but few flowers to speak of during this month ; still the garden is not 

 without its charms. We have now the large bright red fruit of Crataegus 

 Oxyacantha major and Azarolus, the snowy white berries of Symphoria race- 

 mosa, and the large glossy green hollies, some almost covered with fruit, and 

 others intermixed with a few clusters of Noisette and common China roses, 

 which still continue to expand among their branches. All tend to enliven the 

 scene at this dreary season. 



December. — Very little is doing in the flower-garden during this month. If 

 any borders remain to be dug, they are now finished ; and, to such as are 

 planted annually with lobelias, German stocks, verbenas, &c, I give a good 

 dressing of strong stable manure, and dig them over two spades deep. By 

 thus preparing the beds, the plants root deeper, and produce finer flowers 

 than they would do if the ground were not prepared ; and, should the summer 

 prove dry, they do not require half the watering they would do if the beds 

 were dug only half the above depth. The turf is now mown down close for 

 the last time this season. If the weather is open, I always mow the last time 

 during this month, as I have proved by experience that the later I mow in 

 autumn, the finer the turf always is in the following spring. It may not be 

 requisite in all gardens to mow so late as December, but much, of course, 

 depends on the mildness of the season and the situation of the garden. The 



