FLOWER-GARDENS AND THEIR ORNAMENTS. 
255 
that the two circular flower-plots c, c, might, if desired, with great propriety be 
converted into small rockeries, and the flower-garden would then contain every 
necessary or desirable feature to render it complete. 
The great number of flower-beds which form the central part of the garden, 
will furnish the means of grouping some of the most ornamental border plants ; 
and, by a judicious selection of sorts, so as to have an interesting combination as 
well as variation of colours, — -such a system will produce a most engaging effect. 
In modern flower-gardens, the old practice of having a variety of plants in one 
large bed, and arranging them according to their height and colour, has been 
entirely superseded, and the system of grouping plants of one sort in small beds 
substituted for it. That the latter method possesses many advantages over the 
former, although it is not so extensively adopted as it deserves to be, needs little 
argument to prove ; and we shall now enter briefly into the mode of effecting it. 
We propose banishing entirely from the flower-garden all such plants as are 
perfectly hardy, or, in other words, those which are generally termed hardy her- 
baceous plants, and supplying their place with the more showy and favourite kinds 
which require protection during the winter. We would not, however, exclude 
those sorts which are ornamental, and especially the dwarfer ones, but only those 
tall, straggling, uninteresting, or rather less interesting species, which are much 
better adapted for the borders of shrubberies, or other parts of the pleasure- 
grounds, and which would exhibit themselves much more advantageously in such 
situations. 
A number of garden frames or pits are essential for the purpose of preparing 
young plants for the flower-garden ; but no artificial heat will be required, except 
in one frame, which must be devoted to the work of propagation. Early in the 
autumn this latter operation should commence, and Pelargoniums, Petunias, Ver- 
benas, Calceolarias, and all the splendid train of et-ceteras, should then be struck 
in large quantities. Immediately on their appearing to have formed roots, they 
should be potted into small pots, and removed to the cold frame or the open air, 
to make way for a succession of others of a similar nature. This process should 
be continued till the commencement of frosty weather, or till a sufficient number 
of plants has been obtained ; and the young stock thus procured may be protected 
through the winter in cold frames, with due care in watering them, admitting air, 
and preserving them from frost. 
A small and well-sheltered piece of ground in a retired part of the garden is 
likewise necessary, in order to raise a succession of the more hardy, but not less 
showy annuals, biennials, and perennials. In this spot, seeds of the more hardy 
kinds of annuals may be sown in the autumn, and these will be ready for removing 
to the flower-garden early in the spring, where they will speedily flower. Many 
dwarf and charming perennials might also be propagated in this department, either 
by seeds or otherwise, to be transplanted to the flower-beds a short time previous 
to their flowering, and returned to their parent soil when the flowers have faded. 
