230 
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
proprietors of gardens of limited extent, we cannot err in ad¬ 
vising the adoption of a few of the most strikingly handsome 
and most easily managed plants for subtropical and picturesque 
effects, to the exclusion of a myriad of so-called “ subtropical 
plants” that have been employed in Battersea Park and else¬ 
where, under circumstances far more favourable to success 
than we dare to hope for in the average of well-kept private 
gardens. In a comprehensive review of suitable subjects, we 
naturally divide them into two classes—those that must bo 
wintered under glass, and those that are strictly hardy, or so 
nearly so that a little rough protection suffices to carry them 
through the winter safely. 
Picturesque Plants of Tender Constitution. —The best of 
these for the decoration of a small garden are acacias, agaves , 
cycads, solanums, wigandias , caladiums, jpalms, draccenas , musas , 
araucarias , all of which are of the greatest value for the adorn¬ 
ment of the conservatory during winter. Those of soft quick 
growth, such as solanums, wigandias, and caladiums, would 
do best planted out, but the slow-growing plants of hard tex¬ 
ture would, as a rule, be more safe if plunged in pots. 
It often happens that where stove and greenhouse plants 
are grown, a certain quantity of surplus stock burdens the 
hands of the cultivator from time to time, and it is a con¬ 
venient way to get rid of it, without any shock to the feelings, 
by planting it out and leaving it to perish. It would of 
course be better to throw the plants on the rubbish-heap in 
the first instance, if they do not happen to be suitable for the 
embellishment of the garden, but in the case of a few sur¬ 
plus musas, begonias, and draceenas, for example, which may 
occasion a little perplexity, the difficulty is disposed of by 
planting them out about the end of June, to make a few 
novel and dashing effects in the flower garden until the chill 
of autumn disposes of them, and saves their owner the pain 
of stamping them under foot. In many places where sub-tro¬ 
pical gardening is not systematically followed, occasional essays 
in that direction may be made, and irrespective of surplus 
plants one may wish to get rid of, many of the most valued 
inhabitants of the conservatory and greenhouse may be bedded 
out on the plunging system to enrich the lawn, and be vastly 
benefited by exposure in the open air during the most favour¬ 
able season of the year. Viewed from this point merely, there 
is simply no end to the possible selection of plants for the 
