February C. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
351 
This nicety is a kind of knowledge which few attain to, 
and which the great bulk of the gardening world never 
think about at all; theynever can have too many plants; 
they can always disposo of the “ overplus,” as they think, 
and as they certainly do; hut in how few cases can 
one see, in the autumn, that the best use has been made 
of supernumeraries at the time of planting-out. Take 
a case, and say that you are short of five old plants of 
Tom Thumb. We all know that a cutting of Tom, which 
was struck last August, cannot he made to stand in the 
place of the old plant from which it was taken, in a 
row, or bed, or basket, or vase. If you plant a row of 
Tom Thumb along the side of a walk, short or long, all 
the plants in that row ought to be as nearly as possible of 
one size; a very large plant here and there, and small 
ones, with three, four, or five big ones between them, 
would make the row look like a pig with one ear, 
neither one thing nor the other; if they were planted in 
the middle of the bed they would look worse; and if in a 
vase, they would look worst of all, unless they were 
exactly of the very same size, and continue, or made to 
continue, so all the season. Now the first consideration 
is to see that the loss of five old Tom Thumbs is not felt 
in any of the vases, or baskets; the next, to make sure 
that the centre of abed did not show the deficiency; 
and the last question is, shall we make the outside row 
of that bed, or the row along the walk, like a pig with 
one ear, through this want of proper-sized plants? 
We shall do neither the one or the other. You see, by 
our list, that we have more of number “50” than we 
require, and if you take five of them and put them in 
the middle of the Tom Thumb beds, no one will ever 
make out the difference. 
Now, in a list of sixty or seventy kinds of bedding 
Geraniums, does it not require a great nicety to make 
sure of the one out of the number which will do in 
place of another? When we come to some hundreds of 
kinds of plants in a first-rate flower-garden, and find too 
many of some kinds, and too few of others, either by 
deaths, or by having made a different disposition of 
them since last autumn, the nicety and practical per¬ 
ception, so to speak, that can tell which to put for 
which, without blot or blunders, is, indeed, of the first 
water, and few attain to it, as I have just said ; yet, 
without a good share of this knowledge, I hold it 
to be impossible for any one living to make a good 
telling disposition of an overplus of bedding-stock, so 
that instead of being fortunate in having so many 
plants to spare after the “planting” is finished in May, 
the chances are, that the planting suffers very much 
through the contrast between it and the planting of the 
spare stock. 
I may as well say, that “No. 50 ” Geranium, alluded to 
above as matching Tom Thumb, is one of my own 
seedlings, which I never named, but some one who had 
cuttings of it called it Shrubland Dwarf, and there is 
plenty of it about by that name; the consultation is 
supposed to be between Lady Middleton and her old 
gardener. Whether by a system of book-keeping, or by 
rough guesses, every one ought to know, early in Feb¬ 
ruary, bow the stock of plants for the ensuing summer 
stands as to numbers, and prepare, accordingly, what 
plants failed to give satisfaction last year, and what are 
to be tried this season. 
in a very few weeks, if you send to the Nurseries for 
stock plants of any kind, of which you are in want, you 
will receive little morsels, from which no cuttings can 
be had for weeks to come; whereas, if you find out your 
wants in time, and send for them at once, you may 
expect old stock plants from last summer, which will be 
ready to put into heat when you receive them, to make 
a new growth for cuttings. Meantime, your own stock 
plants should now be put into some warmer place for 
the same purpose. 
BLUE AN AG ALLIS. 
Since we had the little blue Lobelias, the blue Anagallis 
has not been so much planted as formerly ; but a little 
bed of them makes a nice change, and where the soil 
suits them, they are always gay and cheerful in sunny 
weather, and no plants root easier from cuttings, from 
this time to the end of April, in a Cucumber-frame. 
One clear joint below the top knot of a shoot is all that 
is necessary to take, and nine or ten days is the time 
they ought to take to root, if the frame is in a good 
state. The smallest pots are the best for the cuttings, 
and bell-glasses of the same size as wine-glasses will do 
to cover them. When glass was dear, I have known 
the pantry being rumaged for broken glass tumblers, 
and all for propagation, but now there is little occasion 
for this; still, in such hard times, 1 would not throw 
away any chances of getting things done as cheap as is 
possible. 
DOUBLE AMERICAN GROUNDSEL. 
The Double American Groundsel, of which there are 
two distinct shades of purple, is the next plant, after the 
5 Anagallises, that I would put into heat, as old plants of 
1 it do not do to be trusted in beds; every little morsel of 
them root as freely as anything all through the spring. 
The third is the variegated Alyssum, the best white 
edging plant of that size and style in the country; but 
somehow or other it never makes a nice bed by itself; 
it must have some contrast, and that from some dark 
purple flower is certainly the most telling contrast for it. 
A small circular bed, five feet through, and planted with 
the darker variety of Senecio, or American Groundsel, 
with a border fifteen inches wide, of this variegated 
i Alyssum, would make the very richest bed of the kind, 
because the two grow exactly alike, running their shoots 
into each other in all directions, yet keeping a uniform 
surface throughout, and their relative growths never 
lose or gain all through the season, but the purple is 
over by the middle of September. However, a lot of 
the Purple King Verbena should be kept in pots, to be 
plunged or planted as soon as the Senecio looks seedy, 
then both would last till the end of October. But why 
not plant the Verbena in May, to save this trouble ? 
That notion about trouble I shall never give in to— 
no, never—in the flower-garden, as long as I live. I hold 
it to be one of the greatest charms of flower-beds, and 
smart dresses, to be changed as often as one’s means 
will allow of. If I could manage it, I would alter the 
! arrangement of my own flower-beds every month in the 
year; but as that cannot be done, we must be satisfied 
with as many changes as are practicable. In the old 
style of mixed planting one could have a little of every¬ 
thing, and nothing could come amiss, therefore that 
style will never go altogether out of fashion ; but if we 
would allow ourselves to provide for and take the 
| trouble of renewing many of the flower-beds, as often 
! as plants, suitable for that purpose, could be depended 
on, many of the flower-gardens might be made far more 
j interesting than we see them. “The beauty of this place 
never flags; because, come when you will, you will never 
see it twice alike,” would be the highest compliment that 
you could pass on the best flower-gardener in England. 
BEDS OF PURPLE VERBENAS AND DAHLIAS. 
The best purple bed of Verbenas which I have seen 
was filled with King of Purples, a new kind last season, 
which may not be as well known yet as it deserves to 
be. A couple of plants of it put into heat just now 
would work off enough for a tidy bed. Andre is the next 
best I know; and the third is Emma; and the variegated 
Alyssum would make the best edging for cither of them. 
1 lately bad a good introduction to a French lady, who 
is particularly woll versed in all that is dono in flower¬ 
gardening in this country, and she told me, that the 
