498 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 29. 
Another mode of guarding against sameness is to 
make a fresh arrangement of materials and colour 
I every year, so that no bed, or vase, with but few ex¬ 
ceptions, shall have the same appearance two years 
running. A lady lately told me, that even with all the 
groups, as to form, stereotyped fdr years, yet the com¬ 
plete changing of them every year, as respects colour, 
I was as pleasing as passing through an old mansion, 
j and finding the papering and carpeting in each room 
| new and fresh. This can be done well, however, only 
after a great amount of consideration and reflection, ail 
of which are spared to those who place the same things, 
and the same colours, in the same places, year after 
year. When a group has given great satisfaction, it 
becomes a serious question how to alter it, and give as 
j much satisfaction in the following year. The very 
i changing of colour often becomes a perplexing matter, 
| so as to present a group that will constitute, when com¬ 
pletely altered, a harmonious whole. No wonder; 
though many cast upon the arrangement of this year a 
“last sad lingering look.” But not only should the 
colour be changed, but the things themselves should 
also be changed. Have a Geranium garden in one 
place, or a Verbena garden in one place, for a couple 
of years, and everybody expects to see them again— 
takes it quite as a matter of course ; and, however 
beautiful they be, the interest is weakened, because the 
feast enjoyed by anticipation may have far exceeded 
the reality. Much of the pleasure obtained by the 
possessors of flowers, and flower-gardens, arises from 
the means they possess of delighting their friends and 
visitors; and whenever, year after year, these visitors 
know the identical spot where they will find a certain 
plant, the blue-aproners may rest assured that a change 
of position is required. Besides, on the whole, the 
plants will thrive all the better from the regular rotation 
of crops. For these reasons, though I prepared a place 
for a Verbena garden, so as to bring the masses of 
bloom nearer the eye than when growing on the level 
ground, and, to give variety and elevation still more, 
had, for a number of years, poles in the centre of the 
beds, and these poles connected together with wires at 
their summit, up which poles, and along which wires, 
Lophospermums, Maurandyas, Convolvulus, Tropceolum 
pentaphyllum, &c., clambered and dangled, I see that 
now a change is highly desirable, both as respects rota¬ 
tion and novelty. Trouble and thought may thus be 
increased, but these must be minor considerations to 
those who wish to foster and maintain a love for the 
beautiful in flowers. 
Either with or without these separate means of giving 
an interest to our flower masses, it is quite natural that 
we all should feel a deep interest in any novelty that is 
likely to be generally useful, and which, either from its 
habit or its colour, enables us more easily to get what 
we particularly want. And yet, with all our intro¬ 
ductions, it is amazing how few of these novelties come 
to be much used after the first season. Without some 
changing, and mingling, and standarding, as I have 
above referred to, it is quite evident that our gardens, 
individually, will be deficient in freshness, while" most of 
those in the same district will becom efac similes of each 
other. Unfortunately, I can offer no consolation here, 
as most of the comparative novelties I have tried this 
season have disappointed me, and that after previous 
trials. A few of these f feel bound in honesty to 
mention, as I had previously given them a high com¬ 
mendation. I will, merely for this purpose, conclude 
this rambling letter by specifying one or two. 
CALCEOLARIA SULTAN. 
When I last mentioned this, 1 spoke of it as I found 
it. It was then a perfect blaze of beauty. It stood the 
deluge that happened at the Northampton Show well, 
and several other heavy rains that succeeded. That, 
and two beds of Ploxes, were what ladies could not get 
away from. Of all Calceolarias I ever witnessed, it was 
the richest and most massive for nearly two months ; 
but when a sharp wind came, and the blossoms still 
wet with rain, a great portion of the blooms were 
scattered at once. The black disease then began to assail 
a few of the plants, the young shoots did not succeed 
the older ones quickly, and now, though there is a quantity 
of bloom, the beds, as a whole, are thin and lanky, while 
every other Calceolaria, yellow or dark, is a dense mass. 
For flower-gardens near London, where a massive, fine 
display is wanted, before families leave for the country, 
for single plants in pots and in borders it will be highly 
useful; but, I should rather object to its use in a group, 1 
where a continuous blooming is desired until the frost | 
comes. 
The two others I shall mention, are Phlox Thomp- 
sonii and Phlox Maycana; the first, for its rich crim¬ 
son; and the latter, for its stripes of purple and white, 
along with Sultan, took the fancy of the ladies above 
every plant in the garden; and for about six weeks 
very beautiful they looked; but the cold rains were 
too much for them. First the stems got yellow, and 
then the leaves. 1 had tried them before, and had reason 
to be satisfied with them. But I did not treat them the 
same way, as the beds were wanted to be the lowest of a 
group; instead of growing them upright, they were 
pegged down, and that exposed the stems more to heavy 
rains and alternations of temperature. What I tried 
beiore, and what I have heard of since as answering 
well, were allowed to grow in an upright manner. There 
is yet hope of such plants, therefore, for bedding, though 
I would not like to trust them in a prominent place. As 
pot-plants they will always be interesting. R. Fish. 
CULTURE OF THE CROCUS. 
This beautiful, early flower, the herald of the spring, 
is so universally known, that it seems almost superfluous 
to write about it; yet it is a fact, that many cultivators 
scarcely understand how to grow it. Only last week, a 
correspondent wrote for information on this subject. 
Presuming there may be many of our readers that would 
be glad of some instruction in Crocus-culture, as well as 
my correspondent, I shall try to supply that information. 
The Crocus, like the Hyacinth, is annually imported 
from Holland, in great numbers, and certainly we can 
grow them quite as fine and as well as the Dutch, if 
sufficient pains and care be taken of them. Perhaps, in 
the case of the Hyacinth, the peculiar climate of Holland 
suits it so well, that we cannot, without a great outlay of 
expense and care, compete with them. Hence, it may 
be cheaper to buy them of the Dutch than to attempt 
to cultivate them in our unfavourable climate and soil. 
But this is not the case with the Crocus. It requires 
no particular climate, nor is it very particular as to soil, 
and, therefore, I think we might grow them successfully 
here as a commercial speculation, and have the roots 
quite as large as the imported ones. 
Situation. —The proper site for a Crocus-ground, 
whether to flower them finely or to produce large roots, 
should be in the country far from smoke. Close to large 
towns, especially manufacturing ones, with their countless 
long chimnies pouring forth thick black clouds of smoke, 
the Crocus will not live long. The bulbs yearly decrease 
in size, and eventually perish. In gardens so unhappily 
situated, it will be necessary to plant fresh roots every 
year, if fine clusters of flowers are desired every spring; 
but in the pure air of the country the Crocus will thrive, 
if properly managed (which management I shall, in 
this essay, try to describe), for years, and continue to 
