THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
279 
July 31.] 
be met with. In truth, the French are fond of display; and 
this taste is probably aided by their climate, which appears 
favourable to the production of brilliant colours. Their gar¬ 
dens form bright spots in the landscape. At one of them I 
noticed a class of Pansies quite different in colour to any 
that I have yet seen in England; they were (if I may use 
the expression) tortoiseshell, and bore much resemblance 
in their tints and markings to our best Mimuluses—orange, 
red, maroon, lilac, and some almost approaching to scarlet, 
variously blended upon yellow grounds, were very con¬ 
spicuous ; the plants were healthy, free bloomers, with the 
flowers large and not deficient in form. Among the multi¬ 
tude of Roses, none produced a richer effect than Geant de 
Batailles and Baron Prevost. The Persian Yellow Rose was 
more closely pruned than with us, and its energies being 
concentrated, the foliage and flowers were decidedly finer. 
Among the annuals, few were more dazzling than Viscaria 
oculata and Schizanthus retusa; they were in clumps or 
patches, the former covered with rose-coloured blossoms, 
rising about a foot high; the latter displaying large obtuse 
spikes; but the three great drawbacks to French gardens are 
their straight walks, stiff symmetrical beds, and the absence 
of good gravel. 
At Tours, in one of the nurseries, was a large bed of 
Sweet Williams, quite a march upon those hitherto grown, 
they were of nearly all hues, and the flowers, instead of 
being flat on the top, assumed the form of the Normandy 
Candy-tuft, having large round heads inclining to be spiked, 
each head being double the usual size. The owner had no 
seed left, and to use his own phrase in reference to the col¬ 
lection, they were “ Le premier choix." 
In the vicinity of Paris, few villages offer a more enchant¬ 
ing display of hill and dale, vineyards and orchards, fields 
and gardens, interspersed with small detached country 
houses, than Fontenay aux Roses ; oblique paths to the tops 
of the different hills conduct the loiterer through a succes¬ 
sion of well-cultivated allotments; these are without hedges, 
and acres of strawberries and other fruits appear unpro¬ 
tected. It was a beautiful summer evening when I wan¬ 
dered through them, and conversed with the labourers; files 
of women and girls, with heavily laden baskets of fruit upon 
their heads, were wending their way to the village, or the 
railway station; and numerous merry groups were seated 
under the trees enjoying their evening meal, whilst parties 
of pleasure strolled in the distance towards one of the public 
tea-gardens, from whence issued sounds of music. The 
vines appeared remarkably healthy, and though not more 
than three feet high, were thickly covered with bunches of 
fruit, and gave promise of an abundant vintage. 
Of the flower markets of Paris, I would only say that 
there are five, and each is held twice a week. No provincial 
horticultural exhibition in England that I have yet seen 
pleased me so much as these markets ; the best, perhaps, is 
that near the Madelaine. Flowers in endless variety, and 
of nearly every form and colour, together with rich bouquets, 
attract numerous purchasers; the former are brought 
mostly in pots, and each is partially enclosed in a neat 
white paper envelope. But there were two descriptions of 
flowers to which the French appeared very partial, and one 
of them I had been waging war with for the last fifteen 
years to keep out of my garden; it was what we call the 
White May Weed, and the French the Summer Chrysanthe¬ 
mum ; they are usually grown in large pots, make a great 
show, and serve to enliven the dark inner courts of many of 
the houses. The other was a Myosotis, or Foryet-me-Not; 
very diminutive in its flowers, of a light blue, with a yellow 
metallic eye. These, I was assured, grew to the height of 
two feet, and when in full bloom the masses of little heads 
are cut off, with about three inches of stem attached, and 
inserted in pots, so as to form a round ball resembling innu¬ 
merable pins stuck in a light blue velvet pincushion. If my 
memory serves me, about ,£25,000 a year is taken in these 
markets by the sale of their floral productions. —S. P., 
Rushmere, 
HARDY BORDER FLOWERS. 
Silene compacta. —This is one of the most beautiful of the 
whole genus Silene ; it is a biennial, and a native of Cau¬ 
casus. The whole plant is of a glaucous (milky-green) 
hue, and rises from about eighteen inches to two feet in 
height, depending upon the soil and situation the plants are 
growing in. It flowers from the beginning of June to the j 
middle of July, and a very profuse bloomer it is. The 
flowers are produced in large umbellate heads of a reddish- 
pink colour, and are particularly useful and showy for nose¬ 
gays. The whole plant is strikingly beautiful. 
Silene armeria. —This kind is very closely allied to the 
preceding, the whole plant being of a glaucous hue, and its 
flowers of the same colour; but it is more branching, and 
produces much smaller and looser heads of flowers, though 
equally pretty. It is an annual and an English plant, but 
deserves a place in every garden, for, like compacta, it is a 
useful nosegay plant. It may be sown in the open ground 
at the end of March or beginning of April. 
Silene pendula is a very pretty little bushy plant, and a 
profuse bloomer when grown in a poorish open soil; and 
from self-sown or autumn-sown seed the plants flower very 
early in spring, which makes them very useful. The flowers 
are pink. It transplants readily, and if only a single plant 
is found (at the time of dressing of the borders, whether in 
February, March, or April), it may be taken up with a little 
care, and planted as an intermediate to the other hardy 
border plants. It will branch and flower and be very showy 
for a great length of time, or until it will be necessary to cut it 
away to make room for others. Almost any kind of annual, 
with a little care, may be transplanted in the early spring 
months, when the borders are being dressed off; and from 
their being taken up with a little care, and planted out 
singly, or two or three plants together, in fresh places, such 
plants not only make the best specimens, but come into bloom 
at such a useful season as May and June. The difficulty 
is to know plants in the young state, so as not to cut them 
down with the hoe, or to dig them in with the spade. I 
never allow any person, however well-experienced he may be, 
to either hoe or dig a flower-border until I have had my own 
eye over it, and should I see any young plants or suspect 
something will come up, I, as a warning mark, draw my 
finger round it, or I take up such self-sown seedling plants, 
and pot them into suitable sized pots. Such plants are sure 
to be useful at some season or other. Of the Silene compacta 
I have not sown any seed for many years, but always find 
sufficient of self-sown to take up about the flower-borders 
during the summer months, and pot them into small 
pots, either one or two plants in a pot, and as many pots as 
I think I may like to have of it;—such plants are shifted 
into a larger pot towards September, if they require it, as 
the plants are wintered in pots, and turned out between the 
other hardy plants after the borders are dressed off in the 
spring. I treat many things in this way, whether annual, 
biennial, or perennial herbaceous plants. When any plant 
is taken up in the hot summer months and potted, the pots 
are placed in some cool situation, and in a sheltered situa¬ 
tion for winter. 
Silene Shaflii .—This is a neat little bunchy plant suitable 
to either the rockery or common border. It is a hardy 
perennial, from six to eight inches in height, and bears 
pink flowers in August and September. This plant sows 
itself about, and though it may be increased by root-divi¬ 
sion, yet the best mode of propagation is by seed, which it 
ripens freely. 
Silene alpestris is another pretty little rock-plant, flower¬ 
ing in June and July; colour, red. It is a good rule to always 
have a plant or two in pots for winter protection of many of 
these little Alpine pet sort of plants. The practice is but 
little trouble, to takeoff a bit or two with a little root of each 
kind, which may be done at almost any season, to be kept in 
the cold frame, or some such-like protection during the 
■winter months : such plants are sure to be found useful in 
spring. Even if the winter has not killed the unprotected 
out-door plants, they may become so straggly and unsightly 
as to be better taken up, and a new one planted. By this 
method many choice plants are kept in the same garden for 
many years. _ | 
Delphinium consolida. —The tall, branching Larkspur is 
an invaluable plant in the flower-garden, particularly in the 
mixed flower-border. This plant is of all colours, from the 
deepest blue to pure white and variegated, and is even more 
useful than either of the perennial kinds, beautiful as they 
are, for it transplants just as well as a cabbage. Find a 
