186 
GLASS EDGINGS FOR FLOWER-BEDS. — THE LILY OF THE VALLEY. 
Tropceolum mcijus, (common Nasturtium.) 
— Flowers large, orange-coloured ; from July 
till September. 
Vlscaria oculata, (Dark-eyed Viscaria.) — 
Height H feet ; flowers lilac, with dark eye; 
July and August. 
Xeranthemum annuum, (Purple Everlast- 
ing.) — Height 2 feet; flowers purple; August. 
GLASS EDGINGS FOR FLOWER-BEDS. 
TnE cheapness and durability of glass suggests 
its application to many purposes for which it 
has hitherto been too expensive, and among 
other subjects to which it would be well 
applied, garden ornaments are not the least 
important. There is but one objection to its 
application to a thousand things, and that is, 
the fragile nature of the material ; yet the 
cheapness of it will enable the manufacturer 
to apply it in such quantity, that sufficient 
strength may be given to it for almost any 
purposes. The edgings of flower borders, for 
instance, could bo made with great facility in 
a variety of patterns, and they may be so con- 
trived as to be easily placed round the beds in 
circular' or square, or any other form, by 
making the pattern not too large, and each 
separate piece under a foot in length of pattern. 
By these short lengths, or even shorter, any 
figure can be made without difficulty, and the 
mode of fixing them could be by spikes of its 
own material. These ornaments could be 
cast in moulds, and supplied at a cheap rate, 
and a neat design is all that would be required. 
It would not be desirable to have them cast in 
great lengths, because the chances of breaking 
would be increased ; and in case of a break a 
longer portion would be damaged. On every 
account, then, we recommend the short single 
ornaments, of at most a foot in length. It is 
easier to manage any figure ; they are less 
liable to damage, and, when spoiled, cost less. 
In geometrical gardens they should be still 
narrower, because the figures of the beds are 
more contracted, and even a foot length of 
pattern would be found unmanageable. With 
regard to colour, they need hardly 
be any other than that of wine- 
bottles, for scarcely any colour 
would be more in keeping with 
the beds and their contents. The 
efficacy of these glass edgings, and 
their superiority over the best 
edging that could be grown, will 
be manifest, because, once made, they remain 
in the same state for an age ; in fact, until 
they are disturbed ; and their advantage over 
wood, or any painted material, is 
obvious, as they are not affected by 
weather or wear. They would always 
look bright and clean under any cir- 
cumstances. Upon the whole, then, 
we can hardly imagine a subject more 
likely to be worth the attention of 
glass-workers ; for a little fancy exercised in 
the pattern would at once render the material 
and its general application popular. The 
annexed sketches are rough, and are only 
intended to give an idea of our notions as to 
pattern. 
THE LILY OF THE VALLEY. 
Whether it be referable to the simple 
elegance, or to the agreeable fragrance of this 
little native plant, or not, certain it is that 
there is scarcely any flower more universally 
admired. At the natural period of the year, 
they are plentiful enough in their native loca- 
lities, growing in copses, woods, and thickets 
on a loamy soil ; and occasionally in shady 
places, in shrubberies, and amongst clumps of 
trees, we meet with them in tolerable profu- 
sion in a cultivated state. Where there is a 
moist loamy soil and shade, there is little dif- 
ficulty, if, indeed any, attending their growth; 
and, therefore, this part of the subject may be 
passed over, with the hint, that they might 
much oftener be met with in situations sucli as 
those alluded to, without being liable to offend 
the eye : in a word, much as they are admired 
and cultivated, there is yet room for greater 
admiration and more extensive cultivation. 
But this refers to May and June. Lilies of 
the Valley all the winter ! Ay, then they 
are doubly valued, because, added to their 
other recommendations, they are less common 
then. They may be had in flower during all 
the winter, and that by the aid only of a 
forcing-house and a little management. It 
matters little whether the forcing-house be a 
single garden frame, or a more imposing erec- 
tion : the management required is not such as 
may be called difficult ; it is better charac- 
terised as attentive. 
With the blossom of the Lily of the Valley 
— in scientific language called Convallaria 
majalis — every one must be familiar ; but it 
may be useful in pointing out its proper treat- 
ment, to explain the general character of the 
plant. Beneath the surface, then, this Conval- 
laria consists of slender, wiry, creeping stems, 
and long, branched, matted fibrous roots : the 
underground stems throw out at intervals 
whorls of these fibrous roots, which spread on 
all sides; and upwards from the same point 
