m AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
ortiniltural JJqrartment 
THE LADIES’ FLOWER GARDEN. 
We wish it were possible to transfer every 
lover of flowers among our fair countrywomen, 
for a few moments to England, to gaze upon the 
exquisite gardens and ‘parterres which adorn 
that beautifully cultivated land. They would 
find many of these to be exquisite pictures, 
whose tone and coloring were kept up from 
the beginning to the end of the season; for as 
fast as one flower fades and gets out of season, 
in their lovely parterres , another is transplanted 
from an open pot in a garden out of sight, to 
take its place ; and thus they are kept perfect 
and blooming during the whole season. But we 
have not yet arrived at this high state of art 
and luxury in this country, so we will forbear 
further remarks on things of such high finish, 
and proceed to notice such flowers as are within 
our reach, and which are easy of cultivation. 
A few years since we passed some pleasant 
hours with Mr. A. J. Downing, at his charming 
home on the Hudson, and we noticed that his 
finely-laid-out grounds were interspersed with 
little patches of brilliant flowers, with scarcely 
an annual among them. He told us he had 
mostly discarded these, and in place of them 
substituted a few bedding plants, which he 
obtained every spring from the florists, such as 
a half dozen each of verbenas and petunias, 
with a smaller number of geraneums, salvias, 
and heliotropes, and some nice beds of portu- 
laccas in variety. We have since learned the 
wisdom of this plan, and have found that a good 
selection would afford a succession of flowers 
during the season. 
It is difficult to tell which names to take from 
the long lists, but we have found each of the 
following to give satisfaction, viz.: 
Verbenas —The Defiance Heroine, Satellite, 
Magnificent, America, Rein de Jour, and the 
Madame de Gournay. 
Petunias —Prince of Wales, Enchantress, 
Eclipse, Yorkville Beauty or Smithie, and Hebe. 
Geraneums —Scarlet Defiance, and Princess 
Alice. 
Salvias —Splendens Major, and Speciosa. 
Heliotropes —Souvenir de Liege, and Corym- 
bosom. 
Double Fever fcio. 
Climbers —the Canary-bird flower, and Cobea 
Scandens. 
We love flowers so well, we should add all 
the varieties of Portulaccas, a few of the choicest 
German Asters and Paris Balsams, and a few 
Dahlias, such as Belle de Paris, Elizabeth, Sir 
F. Bathurst, Liebliche Yon Elstenthall, Toison 
D’or, and Indispensable White. Also Lantana 
Ewingi, and Madam Sontag or Pearl of England, 
Fuschias, and perhaps others. 
We have but one piece of advice to give about 
flowers, and that is cultivate no more than you 
will cultivate well. There is no sadder sight 
in a garden than neglected, half-starved flowers, 
while it gladdens the sight of the old as well 
as the young, to see them healthy and well 
developed. 
-»« - 
A wealc solution of guano (or even of poultry 
manure) is an excellent preparation for watering 
the roots of plants, either in pots or beds. 
We present above an engraving of this beau¬ 
tiful rose, which we have had engraved at con¬ 
siderable expense for the pleasure of our Horti¬ 
cultural readers. The original drawing is found 
in the London Florist, which paper has given 
us five articles describing the method of culture 
under the head of “Autobiography of a Pot 
Rose.” Two of the more practical articles will 
be found on pages 114 and 134 of our last vol¬ 
ume. The Florist informs us that the Prince 
of Gardeners at the great Chiswick Show, de¬ 
clared the specimen from which this drawing 
was made to be the finest he had ever seen. It 
received the gold medal of the London Horti¬ 
cultural Society. 
We present it to our readers as a model of 
what good cultivation and skilful pruning can 
accomplish; and hope the time is not far distant 
when our floral friends will become so familiar 
with the whole process, as to approximate in 
the training of their plants to the specimen here 
presented. 
A handsome shaped tree, or bush, or plant is 
always attractive, while the finest varieties if ill 
shaped are repulsive. A little knowledge and 
a little care will combine the excellent and the 
beautiful in the same plant, and thus afford a 
double source of pleasure. 
A few months ago we were attracted to a 
florist’s window by a very handsome Pompone 
Chrysanthemum, which on account of its beau¬ 
tiful form readily sold for ten dollars, while an 
ordinary grown plant of the same variety could 
bo easily obtained for fifty cents. This plant is 
only an illustration of the idea we wish to im¬ 
press, and that is, that whatever is worth doing 
at all, is worth doing intelligently and well; it 
pays best. This plant would sell for twenty-five 
dollars, while one of the same variety and age 
would not command more than half a dollar, and 
this difference mainly arises from good pruning. 
“Good pruning!” says a reader, “we do not 
know how to do that, neither can we learn from | 
the directions we receive from books. We are 
told to cut off and pinch back the shoots, until 
the tree or shrub assumes a handsome, conical 
form, but never having seen or learned the pro¬ 
cess, our attempts would only result in failure.” 
True it is that so simple an art as pruning is 
not often learned even by an amateur, except 
he is favored with a practical demonstration by 
a florist in the garden, with a knife in hand. 
Yet if it makes a fifty cent plant worth from 
ten to twenty-five dollars in the market, it is 
well worth making a special effort to learn, par¬ 
ticularly when this whole process of pruning is 
to the amateur one of the most agreeable things 
connected with the care he bestows on his 
plants. 
We hope our readers will take in hand some 
young roses and other plants, and by a coura¬ 
geous and thorough system of pruning, and 
pinching back the ends of the too vigorous 
shoots, check their growth until the feebler parts 
gain strength as well as beauty; we hope, we 
say, our readers will thus succeed in approxi- i 
mating if they cannot rival this beautiful Pot I i 
Rose. 
