THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 
216 
and convenient, that, in spite of the pleasant fireside 
and family gatherings together of winter, vve do not 
cordially hail its approach. The first bunch of fading 
leaves on the lime-trees always gives me a kind of 
mental overthrow for two or three minutes; and 
when the harvest is gathered in, it seems like the last 
boat quitting tire departing ship. Yet, how good is 
every season in its turn! How mercifully are they 
adapted not only to our wants and necessities, but 
even to our comfort! Winter, with all its cold and 
discomfort, could we part with it? Would not the 
very sunshine weary us, if it lasted the whole year 
round ? And where would our cottage gardens be if 
we dwelt in perpetual summer? There are no cot¬ 
tage gardens within the tropics, where winter is un¬ 
known. No, let us gratefully receive each wholesome 
change of season: some are less pleasing than others, 
but all are good; and even this very month dis¬ 
plays to us one of God’s tender provisions for our 
winter pleasures, to cheer and beautify the months 
in which flowers cease to bloom. Those beautiful, 
wonderful plants, the Everlastings, blossom in this 
and the two next months, and their flowers, in all 
their richness of shape and colour, become dry, and 
remain totally unaffected by decay. We do not, per¬ 
haps, sufficiently consider this remarkable quality, 
so very opposito to the nature of every other flower, 
and so singularly suited to the tastes and enjoyments 
of man. The winter nosegay may, thus, be always 
pleasing. These lively flowers placed among the 
leaves of evergreens, and interspersed with any other 
bud or blossom we may chance to meet with in our 
usually mild winters, will give a bright and summer- 
like air to the dark and cloudy days when fire and 
candle chiefly prevail. The everlastings have no 
English name; their botanical name is Helicliry- 
suin, from Greek words, meaning ‘ sun’ and ‘ gold.’ 
There are a great many varieties, and they are all 
natives of hot climates. The yellow variety, called 
“ love everlasting,” grows abundantly on some of the 
Asiatic mountains—on Carmel, and on Lebanon. 
The crimson flowering plant is particularly said to 
grow on the Mount of Olives, that sacred spot to 
which the heart of the Christian ever turns with 
deep emotion. How much may these flowers, then, 
tell us even of scriptural things ! Of Carmel, so 
full of remembrances of the prophet Elijah; of Le¬ 
banon, whose forests supplied the timber for the first 
splendid temple, “ the figure of the trueand of 
“the mount called Olivet,” which witnessed, and shall 
witness, scenes which no thoughts can image or pen 
describe, but which every eye shall see and every 
heart believe. The helichrysum also flourishes in 
..-e southern parts of Africa; the wavy-leaved species 
grows wild in New Holland; and one beautiful white 
variety, tipped with pink, is brought from Swan 
River. Our winter bouquet, therefore, speaks of 
many lands, and seems to unite us to many sons and 
daughters of our own dear British soil, tilling and 
toiling in those distant regions; some, perhaps, very 
dear’ to us; and all, as fellow countrymen, claiming 
an interest in our hearts. There is another genus 
of these everlasting flowers, called Zeranthemums: 
they are all natives of the south of Europe, and the 
different varieties have purple, white, or red flowers; 
only one is yellow. Zeranthemums retain then’ 
beauty for several years. The globe amaranth, too, 
may be called an everlasting; and has been, from the 
earliest ages, used as a funeral decoration. In France 
and Portugal, I have read, they still wreathe it with 
other flowers, to adorn the tomb. This plant is a na¬ 
tive of the island of Sumatra. There are a great variety 
| of amaranths cultivated in England ; that which is 
| called “ love lies bleeding” has vanegated leaves: it 
is a wild flower of China, Persia, and India. The 
Prince’s Feather is an amaranth; its long floating 
plumes are very elegant, but I'have scarcely ever 
seen it; it is in flower now, and so is the three- 
coloured amaranth, which is a very pretty variety: 
it also comes from the burning east, but adapts itself 
very socially to our cool climate, and blooms from 
June till September, which makes it a very useful ad¬ 
dition to our borders. 
During this month we may collect seeds from 
many plants. The safest way, in case a lady lias no 
intention of altering or fresh earthing her borders, is 
to dig or tread the seeds in immediately. Self-sown 
annuals are always the earliest and the hardiest, and 
most frequently the handsomest. I have known 
sweet peas planted late in the autumn, and they 
have thriven extremely well. If we could keep our 
borders quiet, it might be worth while to consider 
whether autumn-sowing would not be always the 
better way; but the spring raking, and weeding, and 
putting to rights, would probably disturb and uproot 
the tender young plants. A friend of mine always 
sows her seeds of every kind in large pots or boxes, 
filled with good soil; there the seedlings from them 
remain, in a suitable situation, till old enough to be 
pricked out. This might be done in autumn, and 
they would then be ready for spring planting when 
the beds and borders are all put into proper order— 
thereby avoiding the risk of destroying the seedlings. 
Perhaps some lady may, like myself, undertake this 
experiment; and if we are, by the blessing of God, 
spared till another spring, we may, perhaps, in our 
simplicity, throw a light upon this branch of cottage 
gardening, as seedlings raised in common soil always 
transplant with less injury than those taken from a 
hotbed, whose tender habits suffer from so complete 
a change. Seeds when gathered should be tho¬ 
roughly dried in the sun, and then kept in brown 
paper bags in a very dry place. If we save our own 
seed, we are sure of its being good, which is not 
always the case when we buy it; and it is rather an 
amusing occupation to dry, and sift, and fold it up. 
It is a useful occupation too, as it reminds us of 
much by which we may profit. As we separate the 
broken seed-vessels and all the worthless particles 
that have mingled with the “ good seed,” a deep mid 
awful parable unfolds itself; and, even by our own 
simple action of scattering “the chaff'” to the winds 
or into the lire, we are reminded of the sure and 
dreadful fate of the ungodly. In how many ways 
wisdom “ uttereth her voice!” how unweariedly “ she 
crieth at the gates !” 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S SHOW, 
July 11th. 
We now conclude our notices of this exhibition. 
Tall Cacti were exhibited in plants of much less 
altitude than at the June show. First prize, Mr. 
Stanley, gardener to FI. Berens, Esq. In this collec¬ 
tion were several w T ell-bloomed dwarf plants, particu¬ 
larly Epipliyllum anneslyanum and Gereus speciosus. 
Second prize, to Mr. Green: he had several nice 
plants well-flowered; one, named Epipliyllum green'd, 
had immense flowers of the richest crimson hue. 
Collection of Fifteen Cape Heaths. —First prize, 
to Mr. Mylarn. Three or four years ago Mr. M. had 
scarcely a heath under his care, and now, by good 
management, his collection is brought to such a state 
