92 
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
able to resist, with any degree of success, the attacks of red 
spider, thrips, and mildew—three most formidable enemies 
they have to contend with. The month of April is quite 
early enough for striking verbenas intended for bedding pur¬ 
poses. The tops of the healthy shoots should be taken off in 
the early part of the month, struck in a brisk bottom-heat, 
and potted into store pots, and carefully hardened off; these 
planted out as early in May as the weather will permit, will 
grow away freely, and the beds in which they are planted will 
soon become a blaze of colour. The compost in which they 
are potted should be rich and nourishing, and for that reason 
nothing suits them better than a mixture of good turfy loam 
and decayed hotbed manure, mixed together, at the rate ot 
two parts of the former to one of the latter, and a sprinkling 
of sand added to keep the compost open. 
In a collection of over a hundred kinds grown in our 
experimental garden in the burning summer of 1870, the 
following were the best:— -Annie, a free-flowering variety, 
prettily striped. Ariosto Improved , rich puce or plum-colour. 
Blue Bing, light blue, distinct and pleasing. Crimson King , 
fiery orange-scarlet with small lemon eye ; the best scarlet- 
flowered verbena we have for bedding purposes. Firefly, fine 
brilliant scarlet, very showy. Grand JBoule de Neige, pure 
white, very large. Iona, rich crimson, very dwarf. Isa Eclc- 
ford , rich puce. King Charming, clear salmon rose, distinct 
and showy. Lady Folkestone , deep rosy purple. Madame 
lefebvre, bright reddish crimson. Mrs. Eckford, white with 
rose centre. Mrs. Peynolds Hole , white with crimson centre. 
Mrs. Bennington, rich reddish rose. Murillo, shaded peach ; 
contrasts well with the crimson, puce, and other dark colours. 
Otago, brilliant rosy crimson, worthy of a place in the most 
select collections. Parsee , bright purple flushed with mauve. 
Polly Perkins , bright rosy red. Purple King, an old but 
most valuable variety. Peine des Poses, deep rosy pink. 
Storm King, rich rosy crimson. Victory, brilliant scarlet, 
strong in growth. 
Viola. —A few pretty violas have been turned to account 
as bedding plants, and have, in this capacity, acquired far 
more fame than they deserve. For flowering in spring and 
early summer they are invaluable, but for summer and autumn 
comparatively useless. The named varieties should be grown 
from cuttings in the same way as recommended for pansies. 
