THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[September 25. 
31)8 
when the said curtains were closed behind them, and 
the room lit up, our pets then stood out in bold relief 
against the bright back-ground, and had the appearance 
of nothing less than frosted silver. I must mention 
that the plant is extremely good-natured, and will stand, 
without grumbling, almost any amount of close custody. 
It is better, however, to take them out occasionally, and 
give them a few days rest in a habitat more congenial to 
vegetation than is that of a dwelling-room.” 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
Comparing Notes.— A gentleman not long ago ex¬ 
pressed his surprise that the different writers of The 
Cottage Gardener should, upon the whole, steer so 
free of each other’s craft, inasmuch as the departments 
run so much into each other. I confess, that not seldom, 
after my mind was made up to a certain subject, the 
arrival of the Thursday’s issue has placed me much in 
the same position as a dog leisurely and agreeably con¬ 
templating a juicy marrow-bone, when suddenly a canine 
brother whisked past, and with tail and head erect, 
strode off with the prize. If, from a coadjutor starting 
the identical matter I had proposed for a text, a spice of 
regret was felt, from the necessity of looking out at the 
eleventh hour for another, the slight disappointment was 
generally exchanged for pleasure, from the coincidence 
of view, or the superior information unfolded. Let me, 
then, just glance in a random manner at a few topics 
alluded to by other friends, or which deserve noting. 
Planting-out in Pots. —This, so far as I recollect, was 
the mode employed when first the plants of the green¬ 
house were made subservient to flower-garden decoration. 
Gaps formed from the cutting-down of herbaceous plants 
out of bloom, were supplied with pots of Myrtles, Ge- 
raniurtrs, Calceolarias, &c., which were again to be taken 
up and replaced in snug quarters before the frost came. 
The beauty which such plants singly presented, gave 
rise to the idea of combining them in groups, and thus 
changed the whole style of flower-gardening. When 
first attempted, so far as I can judge from recollection 
and experience, the system described by Mr. Beaton, as 
adopted by Mr. McTntosh, was almost entirely followed. 
In low situations, much north of the Forth, in Scotland, 
it is the only plan that can be adopted with success, in 
the case of all the finer and tenderer plants, whether 
used for the flower-garden or the balcony. The late 
spring and the early autumn fogs and frosts, give less 
time for growth than in the south, and there is even, 
during the summer, a greater disposition to the pro¬ 
duction of leaves than of flowers. I found, from several 
first-rate gardeners, that the change of the seasons had 
been so great within a few years, that, unless with the 
hardier plants, they could do little with the grouping 
system. Here, in the south, the vast numbers em¬ 
ployed would render pots a serious consideration, and 
the room necessary for wintering them still more so. In 
the case of our balcony friends, these are matters of less 
moment. Both for inside and outside the window, I 
have previously recommended grouping the plants in 
baskets and vases, instead of exhibiting them singly in 
pots; and I would like, if I could, to tell whether it was 
preferable to turn out plants into baskets or vases, or to 
plunge them in, or at least cover them over with, green 
moss. Each method has its advantages, and counter¬ 
poising disadvantages. By planting - out, you save 
trouble in watering:—by keeping in pots, you can 
easily remove an exhausted decaying plant without 
disarranging the others. When the basket or vase is 
small, to obtain the greatest maximum of success at the 
least minimum of trouble, I would recommend to plant 
in the basket or vase. When the basket, or vase, or box, 
is large, say three or four feet in diameter, or as much in 
the square, the most successful mode will depend, first, 
upon the plant employed, and, secondly, upon the cha¬ 
racter of the season. For instance, plants that require 
free growth to bloom freely, such as most of the shrubby 
Calceolarias, will thrive best if planted out. On the 
other hand, plants whose free flowering depends in some 
measure upon checking their luxuriance, such as most 
of the succulent Geraniums, will succeed better in pots, 
but will require more water, unless plunged firmly in 
moss, or any other absorbing - of- moisture substance. 
Then, again, in a dry bright summer, whether in beds 
or boxes, these plants will do well planted out; while in 
dull and damp seasons, the more cramped they are at 
the roots the better. As a whole, then, even for beds on 
a balcony, planting-out will save trouble in watering; 
but if the soil is very rich, or the plants are free grow¬ 
ing and succulent, or the season should be dull and driz¬ 
zling, you will have to check luxuriance by cutting the 
roots, by inserting a sharp knife into the soil at a few 
inches distance, less or more, from its collar, and accord¬ 
ing to the size of the plant, cutting half-way round at a 
time ; or, what would be preferable for the uninitiated, 
removing a considerable portion -of the larger succulent 
leaves, and any unnecessary young shoots. The latter 
is quite as effectual for checking luxuriance and induc¬ 
ing a flowering habit, as the former. I first learned this 
notch, many years ago, by seeing a very low wall, under 
the care of Mr. Caie, at Bedford-lodge, so smothered 
with the bloom of the common Nasturtium, that scarcely 
a green leaf was to be seen. Such wholesale disleafing 
would be ruin to many plants, but in the case of those | 
with succulent herbaceous stems, and growing rather 
freely, the operation, resorted to in moderation, checks 
luxuriance, and promotes flowering. I have been 
obliged to remove leaves pretty freely from vases of 
Scarlet Geraniums this season, though planted in soil 
none of the richest. One advantage of turning out the 
plants in pots, in the case of those who do not grow on 
a fresh stock, is, that the plants are more easily kept 
afterwards than if taken up out of the soil and repotted. 
Where a box or vase of the Scarlet Geranium exists, 1 
and the plants have been planted out, and the vase can : 
be dispensed with during the winter, the best mode of 
all is to place vase, Geranium, and all, into some 
snug, out-of-the-way, dry corner, where frost will not 
reach them; and, provided the surface of the soil is 
covered with something to prevent the soil being 
thoroughly dry, never think of slaking their thirst until 
the stems begin to bud afresh, as spring again comes 
round. In all such cases, preventing the drying of the 
soil is much preferable to any watering at all in winter. 
Whether planted out, or plunged out, wc hope that, 1 
before long, small numerous red pots will be banished 
from balconies and the front of mansions. Some¬ 
times we come upon beautiful gardens, everything 
managed well, a magnificent mansion, splendid groups 
of beds over a lawn at no great distance from the 
doors or windows, while, as a burlesque upon the 
whole, by the unseemly contrast between the grand 
and the lowly, there is a little heap of small plants in 
small pots, clustered together at the entrance, or what 
is more unseemly still, elevated and stilted upon a little 
green-painted stage in a similar place, constructed for 
their particular reception. 
Failures.—Salvia Patens .—I have several times spoken 
of these in the admiring strain, for specimens and beds. 
As a blue we have got nothing to equal it; and though 
the individual flowers- arc of no long duration, there is 
such a succession of them, that the plants generally 
present a furnished appearance. My specimen plants 
have not been so good this season as usual, though, until 
the other day, they have been very fair, from the begin- 
