90 
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
Though, the Tom Thumb section, which are improved va¬ 
rieties of the a dwarf nasturtium” of days gone by—the 
Tropceolum minus of botanists—have been referred to above as 
u of no real value in the flower garden,” we must bestow a few 
words upon them, because they still retain a shadow of the 
favour with which they were regarded in the early days of the 
bedding system. With all their faults they are extravagantly 
showy while they last, and may be employed to advantage in 
beds that are to be managed on the “ chameleon ” principle, 
the object of which is to present in one and the same spot a 
succession of masses of colour throughout the season. It is 
a good plan to put them rather far apart in the beds, and 
plant some of the tall-growing asters between them. The 
asters will not produce such fine flowers as when planted in a 
bed by themselves, but they will flower freely and take the 
place of the Nasturtiums as soon as they begin to present a 
shabby appearance. To prolong the flowering season as long 
as possible, the seeds, before attaining half their usual size, 
should be picked off, because the plants will certainly not 
flower freely if they have to perfect a crop of seeds. The 
seeds will pay for the cost of gathering, as they make a most 
acceptable pickle when gathered green. The best varieties are 
Scarlet King of Tom Thumbs and Golden King of Tom Thumbs . 
The seed should not be sown until the end of March, or the 
plants will be too forward. The simplest and best way of 
dealing with them is to sow four or five seeds in five-inch 
pots, and then thin the plants down to two or three to each. 
Verbena. —There is not in all the catalogue of bedding 
plants one that more perfectly answers to the requirements 
of the garden colourist than this. Its trailing habit, forming 
a close carpet of vegetation, its well-sustained umbels of 
brilliantly-coloured flowers glittering above the suitable 
groundwork of dark green leaves ; and the continuousness 
of its intensity of colour, are qualities that will insure it a 
place in the select list of first class parterre plants. And yet 
the verbena has been steadily declining in popularity during 
many years past, in consequence of frequent failures, and the 
consequent disfigurement of the gardens where it has proved 
unequal to the demands and expectations of the cultivator. 
It must be confessed that in exceptionally hot, dry seasons 
like those of 1868 and 1870, verbenas unhappily situated, 
shrink away to dust ere the season is half gone. It must be 
