THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[Mat 16. 
I 06 
fails to convince, then faithfully to carry out the desires 
j of those who employ him. In the case before us there 
was but little danger of dissent. Gardeners are as much 
if not more fond of variety than other people. It cost 
t them but little to give up their old friends—the Balsams, 
and the Cockscombs, and Egg-plants, &c.—to make way 
in their greenhouses iu summer for Achimenes, Gesneras, 
Gloxinias, &c.; though we think that a combination of 
the beauties of all would have rendered the groups more 
pleasing. Many of the hardy annuals, that used to lend 
such a grace to our conservatories in the winter and 
spring, are now seldom seen; but we question if their 
. absence, because they were cheap and common, has 
enhanced the attraction of those structures, which are thus 
too often rendered merely and truly ymm-houses. For 
instance—will the Scarlet Salvias, and the many-coloured 
Chrysanthemums, in the beginning of winter bo more 
dazzling because there are no large specimens of Ager- 
. alums, with their light blue flowers, to blend and con¬ 
trast with the others, line plants of which could easily 
lie obtained from a pinch of seed sown in May or June, 
I or cuttings taken in July? Or are the flowers of Epa¬ 
rr iscs, Azaleas, and Camellias, rendered more lovely 
: because no such annuals as the Collinsia Incolor, with 
its delicate purple and white racemes of blossom, are 
now to be seen in their vicinity? We recollect having 
single plants of this two feet in height, and wide in 
j proportion—a dense cone of blossom; and so delicate in 
; their appearance, from the protection of glass, that some 
i of the knowing ones imagined they were looking upon 
| some splendid new plants; though all the care bestowed 
upon them was the dropping a few seeds, the value of 
the fractional part of a farthing, into a three-inch pot iu 
September, thinning out the plants to one, pinching out 
the points of its shoots when three inches in length, 
transferring it to a six-inch pot, so as to fill it with roots 
before winter, protecting it from frost, and shifting again 
into rich light soil in January or February. Among 
many others that are worth recording, we cannot avoid 
mentioning that gem the Nemophilla insignia, which, 
under similar treatment, except the stopping of the shoots, 
will furnish fine masses if trained as a bush, but will 
look more splendid still when suspended as a basket, the 
trailing shoots studded with their inimitable blue flowers 
hanging in festoons for more than a yard in length. 
Spring and autumn are the periods for seeing this flower 
iu perfection ; the summer is too hot and bright for it, 
even out of doors. Great care i9 required in the water¬ 
ing of this and other succulent-stemmed annuals; and 
a good plan to prevent the possibility of rotting them j 
with moisture is, in shifting them to leave them in their 
first small pot, after breaking its bottom and part of the 
sides, and then elevating the unbroken part, and that 
part of the ball inside, above the level of the new soil, and 
| never watering the elevated part after the roots have 
i taken possession in their new quarters. A smilar method 
should be adopted when used for the centre or the sides 
| of vases out of doors. 
The discarding of annuals from the balcony and the 
flower-garden became even a more acceptable affair. 
The employing of tender plants for this purpose, that 
used to be seen only in pits and greenhouses, became 
j not only fashionable, but the shrewd gardener at once 
saw, that in places in which his employers were absent 
during the spring months a great saving of labour 
would be effected; as, could he only manage to keep a 
portion over the winter, and then propagate from them 
iu the spring, the chief part of his toils, as respects floral 
decoration, would be over by tbe month of June, and 
| thus a breathing time of something like three months 
would take place before propagating time should again 
arrive. Besides being fashionable and aristocratic look¬ 
ing, it must be confessed that there is a compactness iu 
beds of geraniums, calceolarias, verbenas, See., which 
few kinds of annuals as generally cultivated could imi¬ 
tate. Much as the heart of the gardener might cling to 
his old favourites, he could at length listen composedly 
to tradesmen and farmer’s daughters styling them 
wecdy-looking things. Even our cottagers pass by as 
worthless what they once would have coveted as a 
treasure. If we wish, therefore, to see our old favourite 
annual flowers in the best perfection, we must go to 
some fine place, where the family reside in the same 
mansion the most of the year, and where the presence 
of flowers is at all seasons deemed an essential of com- | 
fort. There annuals cannot be dispensed with, either 
in doors or iu the open air ; and the sight of them when 
grown in perfection—either in spring, summer, or 
autumn—whether in pots, beds, or borders—would elicit 
the feeling, that in discarding them we were depriving 
ourselves of an element of pleasure. 
We plead guilty to the not doing much with them 
ourselves of late; but we often think that the want of 
them, and the usingfor our flower-beds, balconies, &e., no¬ 
thing, scarcely, but the hardier compact greenhouse plants, 
is fast giving to our flower structures and our flower- 
gardens something of a stereotyped appearance: the va¬ 
riety produced being more a diversified combination of 
limited materials than that more pleasing and natural 
variety which is the result of combining and contrasting, 
iu harmony, a great number of species dissimilar in 
colour, form, and manner of growth. In a small flower- 
garden, which consisted chiefly of a number of small 
circles cut in grass by the side of a walk, and in another 
place, where flower-gardening was confined to a sort of 
go-between a balcony and a terrace, and which was set off by 
vases at equal distances from each other—in both cases, in 
beds and vases, scarlet geraniums, kept with great care in 
a hay-loft dining winter, were almost the sole decorative 
plant used. I could see the proprietors in both cases re¬ 
spectively expected to be congratulated for their skill and 
attention, both for preserving their plants during the 
winter and the beautiful appearance they then presented, 
which feeling I could cordially gratify; for let wise men 
say what they will, one of the best stimulants for renewed 
exertion is the receiving a little praise for what has been 
already done, provided that praise has been judiciously 
imparted, and not pitched on. But I could not con¬ 
gratulate them on their taste in having no other colour 
to sober down the flaring regimental-looking scarlet. 
Did these respectable people differ with me in opinion? 
No; they perfectly coincided, and allowed that edging 
their beds with different colours—or even having beds 
and vases of yellow, blue, orange, and purple—would 
not have detracted from but enhanced the brilliancy of 
their favourite scarlet; but they told me that they were 
alike young in gardening and meagre in finances—that 
they could afford a little time and labour, but they could 
not afford to lay out money in purchasing plants. Now, 
these are the very people who should patronise tbe des¬ 
pised annuals. For a few pence—supplied with the 
commodities of time and labour, and, in addition, a 
little judgment—they might have beds and vases to rival 
the finest geraniums, calceolarias, &c., or which, at any 
rate, would contrast and harmonise well with them ; 
not only so, but they would be doing something to pro¬ 
mote in themselves, and in their visiting friends, a supe- j 
riority to that silly prejudice, that can see no beauty in j 
a flower unless associated both with the distant in loca- j 
lity and the costly in money. 
So much has already been stated respecting the height, 
colour, and Habit of the prettiest of these flowers, that a 
list at puesent would be needless. We shall, therefore, 
sum up what farther we have to state in a few words ; 
and first, as respects 
Sowing. —To obtain early flowers, the most of the 
North American annuals, the Candtufts, &c., should be 
sown in the beginning of September, if in a cold exposed 
