THE VERBENA. 
173 
Maurandcia Barclayana, blue, June, September 
alba, white, June, September 
Passiflora coerulea-racemosa, purple, June, September 
Pharbitis Learii, blue, June, September 
Wistaria Sinensis, blue, May, June. Editor. 
THE VERBENA AS A SHOW FLOWER. 
Allow me, through the medium of your excellent work, to call 
attention to this highly deserving family of plants, which appear, 
to me at least, peculiarly fitted for the exhibition table. To speak 
of the vast improvement effected of late in the Verbena, or of its 
importance in a gardening point of view, and hence the propriety 
of extending that improvement, would be a mere waste of words, 
for all these considerations must have forced themselves upon the 
mind of any one who ever took the trouble to think at all upon 
the matter; what I would urge is, therefore, their adaptability as 
show flowers, the attractive feature they would form in any col¬ 
lection of plants, and the manner in which they should be 
exhibited. It must be conceded, when the matter is duly thought 
over, that the Verbena is as well suited for display as even the 
Pelargonium or the Rose ; indeed it has rather an advantage over 
either of these, in its more compact habit, and the profuse manner 
in which it produces flowers. The straggling character of the 
former when unrestrained, and the paucity of bloom so frequently 
to be complained of in the latter, are objections which the skill 
of the florist is able to combat with and overcome, though at a 
great expense of trouble ; how much more beautiful, then, must 
these objects become with the same care and skill, which are 
naturally dense, and ever ready to yield a complete mass of flowers 
in return for but a moiety of attention! besides which, there is 
the additional advantage which these plants possess in the much 
more numerous and varied shades of colour than can be found in 
either of the favorites mentioned. 
It really seems to me as though the committees of societies, 
and those interested in the getting up of floral meetings, have 
