Jan.] flower GARDEN. 79 
The Flower Garden. 
A commodious piece of good ground, for a flower-garden, situat- 
ed in a convenient and well sheltered place, and well exposed to the 
sun and air, ought to be allotted for the culture of the more curious 
and valuable flowers. 
The form of this ground may be either square, oblong, or some- 
what circular; having the boundary embellished with a collection 
of the most curious flowering-shrubs; the interior part should be 
divided into many narrow beds, either oblong, or in the manner of 
a parterre; but plain four feet wide beds arranged parallel, having 
two feet wide alleys between bed and bed, will be found most con- 
venient, yet to some not the most fanciful. 
In either method, a walk should be carried round the outward 
boundary, leaving a border to surround the whole ground, and with- 
in this, to have the various divisions or beds, raising them generally 
in a gently rounding manner, edging such as you like with dwarf- 
box, some with trift, pinks, sisyrinchium, 8cc. by way of variety, 
laying the walks and alleys with the finest gravel. Some beds may 
be neatly edged with boards, especially such as are intended for the 
finer sorts of bulbs, 8cc. 
In this division you may plant the finest hyacinths, tulips, poly- 
anthus-narcissus, double jonquils, anemones, ranunculuses, bul- 
bous-irises, tuberoses, scarlet and yellow amaryllises, colchicums, 
fritillaries, crown imperials, snow-drops, crocuses, lilies of various 
sorts, and all the different kinds of bulbous, and tuberous-rooted 
flowers, which succeed in the open ground; each sort principally 
in separate beds, especially the more choice kinds, being necessary 
both for distinction sake and for the convenience of giving such as 
need it, protection from inclement weather; but for particulars of 
their culture, see the respective articles in the various months. 
Likewise in this division should be planted a curious collection 
of carnations, pinks, polyanthuses, and many other beautiful sorts, 
arranging some of the most valuable in beds separately; others may 
be intermixed in different beds, forming an assemblage of various 
sorts. 
In other beds, you may exhibit a variety of all sorts, both bulbous, 
tuberous, and fibrous rooted kinds, to keep up a succession of bloom 
in the same beds during the whole season. 
Here I cannot avoid remarking, that many flower gardens, &c. 
are almost destitute of bloom, during a great part of the season; 
which could be easily avoided, and a blaze of flowers kept up, both 
in this department, and in the borders of the pleasure-ground, 
from March to November, by introducing from our woods and 
fields, the various beautiful ornaments with which nature has so 
profusely decorated them. Is it because they are indigenous, that 
we should reject them? Ought we not rather to cultivate and im- 
prove them? What can be more beautiful than our Lobelias, Orchis', 
Asclepias' and Asters; Dracocephalums, Gerardias, Monardas and 
