FLOWEIt GARDEN. 
537 
garden, to be entirely made up for the winter 
with evergreens, the different clumps should 
be planted with only one kind of evergreen, 
precisely after the same fashion as in the 
summer time they are with flowers. Thus, if 
three of the clumps, at equal distances, would 
have one sort of flower, let them during the 
winter have one sort of plant. However, 
there is plenty of room for the exercise 
of taste on the part of the gardener ; all we 
need say here is, that such planting puts 
on a cheerfulness in winter time, and will 
repay the labour and cost in any respectable 
establishment. By keeping the evergreens in 
pots, they naturally continue stunted, and this 
disposition should be promoted by occasional 
checks with the knife. When the pots are 
taken up, in the spring, they should be bedded 
out again very close in some spare part of 
the garden, and young ones should be raised 
from seed, cuttings, or layers, to succeed these as 
they become too large. When they have grown 
out of size for winter planting in the flower 
garden, they may be planted about the pre- 
mises, where they may be useful and ornamen- 
tal.. Whatever general planting, alterations, 
improvements, gravel walk making, box- 
edging, turfing, &c, be not done, should be 
done without delay, The danger of a frost, 
which might close up all kinds of work for 
weeks, should always be kept in mind ; for a 
few weeks' frost at this time throws neglected 
work so far into the spring, as to be a serious 
drawback to its success. Advantage should 
be taken of every kind of plant that produces 
flowers in winter, and the main borders should 
always be well filled with such subjects. 
Perpetual and China Roses, unless actually 
stopped by hard frost, will frequently give 
bloom^ nearly through the winter, especially 
the China Roses. The Pyrus japonica, when 
once reconciled to its situation, and doing well, 
will show bloom all through the winter, and 
a few fine days will always bring out enough 
to make them interesting. A great diversity 
of flowers in the main borders will always 
give us something in mild weather ; and there 
are some very pretty subjects that nothing 
but frost will stop from flowering. Pansies, 
for instance, will bloom in a few days of fine 
weather, even in the depth of the winter. 
Wall-flowers, that lay forward, begin to throw 
a few blooms in autumn; and, out of a quantity, 
some are sure to be blooming, if a few days' fine 
weather help them. Then we have some of 
the Hellebores, Winter Aconites, the Amaryl- 
lis lutea (so called at the nurseries), and the au- 
tumnal Crocuses, which, if planted in judicious 
quantities and places, will, in mild winters, help 
the beauty of a garden very much. The 
borders should be now well looked to ; all 
decayed stems, and dead leaves and flowers, 
removed ; suckers removed from Roses and 
Pyrus japonica, branches (of shrubs) which 
are growing too vigorously should be checked, 
to throw strength into the general growth. 
Rake all the surface clean, and when you cut 
down and remove the perennials that die to the 
roots, place labels with names to them, written 
plainly, and let the labels be of a size too 
large to be trodden in, or raked off. 
Pinks and Pansiks in beds should be 
examined after every frost ; for it will be found 
very often that the ground has been com- 
pletely disturbed and made like a sponge ; and 
sometimes the roots half exposed: they require 
to be pressed down into their places, and the 
beds smoothed again. But if there has been 
proper litter thrown over the beds at the 
proper time, they will not have been disturbed 
at all. A few inches thickness of well-saved 
Peas-haulm loosely laid on the top of Pink 
and Pansy beds, saves them from a very hard 
frost ; and although they may be called very 
hardy subjects, their tender age renders them 
liable to be injured by alternations of frost 
and thaw. If among the Pansies any are 
throwing out blooms, you have to consider 
whether you want them or not ; and if not, it 
will strengthen the plants to pick off every 
bud as it comes. If, however, they are in 
clumps, borders, or ornamental portions of 
the garden, let them bloom as much as they 
like. Seedlings in pans must be protected; 
very young plants of the most hardy things 
cannot stand frost, wind, and wet, like those 
matured. Pinks and Pansies in pots should 
be in frames, kept pretty dry, and though they 
should have as much air as possible, they must 
not have it with north-east winds, nor in very 
wet, nor very cold weather ; when it is mild 
the lights may be taken off altogether, but 
when boisterous, or wet, or cold, they are bet- 
ter nearly closed. They should be kept pretty 
dry too, for watering is never good when 
things are not growing. If Pansies and 
Pinks are intended to be grown in pots, they 
should be removed into size twenty-four, with 
good rich compost of loam, leaf mould, and 
cow-dung mould, in equal parts ; or, if the 
loam be that from rotted turfs, the decayed 
turfs will be of themselves leaf mould, so 
that two-thirds of this rotted turf and one- 
third cow-dung mould will be good. In these 
pots, if the weather continue mild, they will 
grow rapidly, and if not mild, they must be 
kept moderately warm ; they will be making 
strength until blooming time. 
Auriculas. — These beautiful plants are 
showing the probable strength of their blooms, 
so that they can be selected with something 
like certainty ; and those who value strong 
plants, or wish to make a selection, should not 
drive it off longer. Select those which, when 
