VERBENA. 
145 
preferable shape, as the flowers will appear to the best 
advantage. The strongest kinds should occupy the 
centre of the bed, and the smaller sorts be put round 
the margin at a foot from the edge, and there should 
be as many varieties of color as possible in the same 
bed. Verbenas are also very pretty when planted out 
in the borders in any vacant spot, where they will soon 
spread and exhibit their gay flowers. 
This plant propagates itself so readily that it requires 
but little art in its cultivation. The following is the 
best method. In August or September, take as many 
small pots as you wish plants, and plunge them in the 
ground near the extremities of the shoots, filling them 
about two-thirds full of soil, and pegging the shoots 
into the pots, cover them with a little soil, and in a 
few weeks they will have struck root, and may be 
separated from the parent plant, and shifted into a 
larger pot; after which they can be removed into the 
Greenhouse or room windows. They may also be 
raised by cuttings taken off in spring, which, if plan- 
ted in pots of sandy soil, and placed in a moderate 
hot bed or cucumber frame, will root freely. 
New varieties are obtained from seed, which should 
be carefully looked after, for as soon as it is ripe, the 
capsules open, and the seed falls to the ground. It 
should be sown as soon as gathered, except it be near 
the end of September, in which case it is best kept till 
the following spring, and then sown in the garden. 
