134 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN 



Qu'as-tu fait, O toi que voilA, 



Pleurant sana eesse — 

 Dis, qu'as-tu fait, toi que voili, 



De ta jeunesse ? 



July 15th. — July is a very busy month in all gardens. 

 The borders must be cleared and replanted, the seeds 

 of perennials have to be gathered and sown, and many 

 other things require attention. The Delphiniums may 

 bravely be cut down after flowering; it does them no 

 harm, and they often break agaia and have stray 

 flowering sprays in the autumn. Some of the best seed 

 should be sown every year. The same with the Ver- 

 bascums ; if cut down, they flower again, in rather a 

 different way, but very charmingly, in the autumn. July 

 is also the great time for sowiag perennials, or perennials 

 that are treated as biennials ; and when you have fine 

 flowers or good colours, it is quite worth while to mark 

 the flowers by tying a piece of bass or coloured wool 

 round the stalk. These little white ties are recognised 

 and respected by the gardeners while clearing the 

 borders, a work which it is essential to do in July. 

 I sow a great many things every year, and find them 

 most useful — Gaillardias, Coreopsis lanceolata, Snap- 

 dragons (Antirrhinums). Oh, how useful and beautiful 

 are the tail yellow and the tall white Snapdragons ! 

 They can be played with in so many ways : potted up in 

 the autumn, grown and flowered in a greenhouse, cut 

 back and planted out in the spring to flower again, 

 admirable to send away; in fact, they have endless 

 merits, and in a large clump in front of some dark 

 comer or shrub they look very handsome indeed. They 

 are lovely picked and on the dinner-table, especially the 

 yellow Snapdragons, but, like many other things, they 

 just want a little care and cultivation, which they often 

 do not get ; and they ought to be sown every April, and 



