JUNE. 
125 
Two small boxes of Tulips are left me—tlie sole remaining representatives 
of one of my most cherished spring pets. They are mostly Feu Rouge, a very 
strong single variety ; colour scarlet, flamed with yellow; and here and there a 
White, and here a Yellow, is seen among them. When they are out of flower 
(and the recent bright weather has left its marks on them), I shall remove the 
impoverished soil and replace it with some fresh compost, which I shall plant 
with dwarf Chrysanthemum-flowered Asters. The pots that contained the Hya¬ 
cinths, Tulips, &c., will also have dwarf annuals, and other kindred subjects, 
for their occupants, in so far as I can successfully produce them. By this 
means I hope to keep up a succession of bloom through the summer ; and, 
added to the pleasure their culture will impart, will be that of having some¬ 
thing to “ chronicle” in the pages of the Florist and Pomologist. Fired 
with the success of my experiment last season, I have potted-up in the largest 
of my pots six bulbs of Japan Lilies, one root in each pot. Three smaller 
bulbs are also planted in a box. I have adopted the same mode of cultivation 
as last year ; I trust to exhibit the same gratifying results. 
Up to this point I have planted and cultivated entirely what I have 
“gossiped” about. I have been forced to all sorts of shifts to find accom¬ 
modation for my numerous tenants, putting a few in this corner, placing a few 
on that shelf, introducing another batch into an odd cupboard, but inevitably 
getting them into unavoidable and critical juxtaposition with household con¬ 
cerns ; and sadly discomfited and ill-used would they become in the fray. I 
have often smiled at the elaborated instructions of the bulb catalogues, that 
treated of a cold pit, a greenhouse, a conservatory, a warm shelf, &c. Glorious 
floricultural institutions are these. I wish I had them, but, being without 
them, I must adapt my mode to my appliances. Such instructions could not 
be a law unto me, or, if so, but very partially indeed. I have to follow the laws 
dictated by circumstances, and hostile and crooked circumstances they some¬ 
times were; but these very opposing circumstances, with the shifts and 
expedients they entailed, helped to build up a good share of the pleasure that 
I have reaped hitherto, and hope to reap yet in the future of my “ In-door 
Gardening.” 
A kind friend sent me, a day or two ago, a few nice plants of French 
spotted and Fancy Pelargoniums. They will form a nucleus, round which 
shall be drawn a few other window plants, that will help to make up the 
summer’s display. Their treatment shall be duly “ chronicled.” I cannot 
raise Geraniums and such like, but I can grow and bloom them, and the flowers 
they yield, and the health they enjoy, will be exactly commensurate with the 
attention bestowed upon them. 
And then a small piece of front garden has been broken up and laid out. 
Small, indeed !—14 feet by 7. A Privet hedge has been planted by the iron 
railings on the roadside; a narrow border has been formed on three sides of 
this mimic oblong parterre; and a narrow gravel walk runs down the centre, 
edged with one of the many tasteful patterns of Rosher’s excellent garden 
tiles. Creepers are planted by the dwelling-house; so are bulbs of Gladiolus 
in the borders; and annuals, to form an edging, are also sown. The box in 
the window, occupied by decaying Crocuses, will also soon be refilled with 
some plants suitable for the purpose. Of this division, in the array of events, 
more anon. 
“ The Hawthorn white bursts into sight, 
’Mid forests green arraying ; 
And perfume rare breathes on the air, 
Hid Violets betraying. 
We brook no more delaying ! 
Up ! up 1 away ! while breaks the day ! 
And let us go a-maying— maying— 
Let us go a-maying ! ” 
Quo. 
