FLOWER-GARDENS. 



107 



FLOWER-POTS. 



pegged down and kept low ; and other 

 beds are filled with low evergreen 

 shrubs, or with deciduous shrubs 

 which have conspicuous flowers, such 

 as Rhododendrons, Azaleas, &c. For 

 every garden of this kind there is, or 

 ought to be, a basin of water, as well 

 for effect, as for watering the plants ; 

 and if the garden be on a large scale, 

 there may be statues, vases, open and 

 covered seats, rustic baskets contain- 

 ing plants, rockwork, and a variety of 

 other objects ; but these require to be 

 introduced with great caution, and 

 afford an excellent opportunity for a 

 lady to exercise her taste in their 

 arrangement. In fact, these orna- 

 ments, if not well managed, destroy 

 the simplicity and elegance of the gar- 

 den, and do more harm than good. 

 When flower-gardens are close to the 

 house, and are intended to be very 

 highly kept, the beds are often sur- 

 rounded with a low frame-work of 

 wire or trellis-work, so as give them 

 the effect of baskets of flowers ; and 

 this has sometimes a very good effect. 

 Very often handles of wire-work are 

 appended to these baskets, over which 

 are trained beautiful climbing plants, 

 such as the Maurandias and Lopho- 

 spermums, which flower abundantly 

 during the whole summer. 



The architectural flower-garden, or 

 Italian garden, always adjoins the 

 house, and it is bordered and separated 

 from the rest of the pleasure grounds 

 by an architectural parapet or wall 

 (see Fences). It consists of beds 

 symmetrically arranged, with gravel 

 or pavement between ; and the beds 

 are bordered or edged with stone. 

 In other respects, these gardens are 

 treated like the old English flower- 

 garden. 



Terrace gardens are merely archi- 

 tectural gardens, formed on platforms 

 adjoining the house, on one or more 

 levels, each level being supported by 

 a terrace-wall ; but as they are chiefly 



adapted for mansions and places of 

 considerable extent, where of course 

 a regular gardener must be kept, it 

 does not appear necessary to enlarge 

 on them here. 



Flowering Fern. — Osmunda re- 



galis A native of Britain, and one 



of the largest and handsomest of the 

 British ferns. 



Flowering Raspberry. — Riibus 

 odoratus. — See Rc'bus. 



Flowering Rush. — Butomus 

 umbellatus. — A British aquatic 

 plant, producing pink flow 7 ers. When 

 cultivated, the seeds should be sown 

 in loamy soil at the bottom of the 

 aquarium or pond where it is to 

 grow, or in a pot plunged to a con- 

 siderable depth ; or it may be in- 

 creased by dividing the root. 



Flower-pots are commonly of a 

 red porous kind of earthenware, which 

 is much better for the plants than 

 the more ornamental kinds sold in 

 the china shops : which from being 

 glazed, and consequently not porous, 

 are apt to retain the moisture so aa 

 to be injurious to the roots of the 

 plants. When china flower-pots are 

 used, they should have the bottom 

 pierced with several holes instead of 

 one ; and they should be particularly 

 well drained, by being filled to, at 

 least, a quarter of their depth with 

 pieces of broken tiles. Glazed pots 

 are most suitable for plants kept in 

 balconies, where they are much ex- 

 posed to the air, as they do not admit 

 of transpiration from the sides, and 

 consequently the earth contained in 

 them does not so soon become dry. 

 There are ten sizes of pots in common 

 use in British gardens, varying from 

 two inches in diameter to a foot and 

 a half, which are distinguished as six- 

 ties, forty-eights, thirty-twos, &c., 

 diminishing twelve every time, from 

 sixties up to the largest size which 

 are called twos ; the same quantity 

 of clay, called a cast, being used for 



