THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
145 
November 24. 
FLOWER-GARDEN PLANTS FOR A LATE 
DISPLAY. 
While the fiowor-gardener has been straining every 
| none to obtain a good display in bis beds in the early 
I P al 'k ot the season, but little attention has been paid to 
what was likely to hold out to the end. The general 
j answer given to any enquiring on such matters is, that 
j lf early flowers can be obtained there is no fear but late 
ones will be forthcoming. However, late ones, like 
early ones, are not all of equal merits ; and it is to call 
attention to the difference they present in that particu¬ 
lar that I now forward you a few stray notes on the 
subject. 
In the first place, it is almost needless to observe, 
that the present season has been an extraordinary one 
for bedding-out plants, as well as many other things. 
The usual complaint of a dry planting-out-time has not 
been applicable to this season, for the cold rains of 
spring, following in quick succession the melting snows 
of March, kept the ground so cold, that the season was 
far advanced ere it attained that genial warmth so 
necessary to vegetation, the consequence was, that the 
progress of every thing was slow, especially of such 
tilings as the generallity of bedding-plants usually 
ate. Now this completely prevented the more tender 
from making the necessary progress towards flower¬ 
ing, which, in finer seasons, they were wont to do; 
but as I shall, probably, on another occasion, describe 
its effects more generally, I will, in the present paper, 
confine myself to the few plants, which, bv the pecu¬ 
liar construction of their flowers, have" been able 
to withstand the bleaching rains with which we have 
been visited; and as such qualities are not to be found 
in all flowering-plants used for bedding purposes, they 
cannot be too generally known. 
Calceolaria.— Numerous and important as this fa- 
I mily is, there are but few of its members capable of 
withstanding the drenching rains of autumn, while 
some are easily shaken off by a slight shower in summer. 
Now, this is a sad drawback, as, iu a season like the 
piesent, when for several weeks it was scarcely ever ten 
consecutive hours without rain, and that often heavy, 
it soon was evident which could, and which could not, 
withstand it; and the best of the whole lot was a bright, 
clear, yellow one, of rather a tender, delicate habit, and 
rambling growth, but a large truss, and remarkable 
clear colour; it resembles Amplexicaulis in all points, 
except the foliage is less reflexed and of a deeper green! 
I have had it for some years, and have generally grown 
it mixed with other kinds of a stiffer habit, which keeps 
it up, and this season I have it grown so, but, somehow, 
the continuous wet has been beneficial to it more than to 
others, so that it has, in a measure, overrun them, and 
at the time I write (the first week in November), is as 
full of bloom as it has been at any time during the 
summer, and the flowers appear almost purer and fresher 
I from the frequent ablutions they have had. This is 
■ a great point, for the shrubby ones amongst which it 
j is planted have lost their flowers long ago, and present 
I nothing but the foliage, and dead or decayed flowers, 
I cut off without their even being showy or useful. This 
Calceolaria is also an excellent one for bouquets, having 
long firm stalks, and, as 1 have said, a good head of 
bloom. It resists the rain better than Amplexicaulis, 
| which, in other respects, it resembles, This plant I call 
j my best for late flowering; besides which it is orna- 
| mental even at an early period; for, though the harder- 
| wooded kinds will flower sooner, and endure more frost, 
I yet they must all give it the palm for enduring autumn 
rains, and maintaining a degree of gaiety in November 
which would grace a September display. 
Next, in point of ornament and general utility, is the 
j Salvia fulgens, and its variegated offspring. This, 
which at best, is a late flowering plant, has this season 
kept on later and more freely than on former occasions, 
so that its flowers now present a degree of brilliancy 
which it does not excel at an earlier period: in this 
respect, this Salvia differs from most high-coloured 
flowers, as Dahlia, &c., which become paler as the season 
advances; the continued wet, and absence of sunshine, 
bleaching them, so as to alter them very much; but 
■ Salvia fulgens seems to resist all this, and its florets, like 
so many horizontal tubes, remain firm to the effects of 
lain and otner casualties. Another feature I may 
mention, is, that the variegated kind (I mean the one 
with variegated leaves) flowers quite as freely as the 
plain one, which is not the case with some other plants 
having a similarly altered foliage, (a variegated Coronilla 
glauca being a very shy flowerer). These Salvias have 
been very gay, and even the blue one ( patens ,) has 
continued to exhibit its flowers quite as plentifully as in 
a more favoured part of the season. Of course, frost 
would destroy them, but as early frosts are more likely 
to occur iu a fine, dry autumn than in a wet one, the 
utility of the Salvia, as an ornamental plant, is in no 
way diminished ; it is true, it does not flower so early as 
some things; but it might be planted with the view of 
autumnal display, which many gay objects in August 
do not present now. When planted tolerably thick 
they support each other; and I often surround them by 
a dwarfer plant, as an intermedial one between them 
and the edge—the Heliotrope being very good that way. 
I, therefore, have no hesitation in recommending the 
Salvia as a useful plant for autumn decoration. 
Ccphea strigillosa. —This herbaceous plant, which 
is with me quite hardy, is not much of a favourite until 
late in the season, when the heavy dews and rains have 
washed its numerous little tubular corollas into a 
brighter colour than they at first appeared to possess, so 
that it presents a more decisive colour, or feature, than 
is given to it, when, in the earlier part of the season, it 
is put in comparison with other more gay objects; 
however, it stands the autumn rains well, and seems to 
improve by them, and its uniform growth, and other 
good features, point it out as one of the best and easiest 
cultivated bedding plants we have. I have beds of it 
which have remained for two or three years without a 
single plant being lost; in fact, the bed is run over with 
j the roots, each sending up flower-stalks in abundance; 
but the beds are very dry, as I find it does not thrive so 
well on cold, wet soils, and is usually lost during the 
winter. I may observe, that I have occasionally planted 
the Zauschneria Galifornica with it, but the latter never 
answered satisfactorily; and this season less so than 
most others, so that I do not much admire the last-named 
plant, except for rock-work, or a mixed shrubbery, in 
which case it is very useful. The Gupliea platycentra is 
also showy in the early autumn, but its flowers being 
auxiliary and pendant are of but little use, except on 
close inspection, when the strigillosa exhibits a dis¬ 
tinctive spike, &c. 
Pentstemon. —The scarlet, white, and pink varieties 
of the Gentianoides breed are very useful autumn 
flowers, when they have been grown so as to bring them 
into bloom about September, for the first time, as old 
exhausted plants, which have been bearing flowers dur¬ 
ing the season, cease doing so before the autumn fairly 
sets in; when, therefore, a late display is necessary, 
young plants, from cuttings of the autumn of the year 
before, but kept outside and planted out at the usual 
time, will be most suitable, and few things, at this 
season, make more display than do the scarlet and 
white kinds mixed; and here, again, their tubular con¬ 
struction enables them to throw off water, so as to en¬ 
dure heavy rains without injury. Solitary plants, in 
mixed borders, are equally useful, only it must be borne 
in mind that they must be young ones; old worn-out 
