250 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, July 21, 1857. 
will flower well when first planted out, hut the lack of 
after-growth soon makes them cease. Many other plants 
might be added to this list, but enough has been said to 
explain the reason why such plants do not answer. It 
will now be right to turn to those which are more suit¬ 
able, and to make a few remarks on each. 
Geranium, Ivy-leaved. —The scarlet of this class is 
certainly the best plant I have for vases, requiring but 
little room, and not so likely to flag for want of water as 
many others, and its glossy green leaves seem more 
garnished with flowers when in a confined quarter than 
when more at large. I have put it first on the list for 
such purposes. Other kinds of Ivy-leaved ones are also 
good, but none better than the above. 
Geranium, Scarlet. —These do very well in a general 
way when regularly and well watered. Tom Thumb is 
yet a useful member of this class. A rich soil will keep 
them in good order a long time, and they flower well. 
Geranium, Variegated.- —I like Mangles Pink better 
than the more upright-growing ones, and being a free 
grower, and not over-greedy of much room, I think it 
one of the best plants we have for vases and small 
boxes. 
Geranium, Oak-leaved Varieties. —There are few of 
these which do not like a rich soil and plenty of it 
better than a limited space, but they flower better by 
being confined. The White Unique and Shrubland 
Pet, varieties widely different, answer best, the latter 
being, in fact, a very pretty object, one that I often 
make a centre plant of, and I might add that nothing 
makes a more compact, neat bed than this, with an 
edging of white Alyssum round it; but I may at a 
future time explain liow this is managed. 
Cuphea platycentra. — This ornamental plant an¬ 
swers very well in a vase or box, and its flowers seem 
the more pretty by being brought on a level with the 
eye ; its leaves are also pretty. 
Cineraria maritima. —This plant is perhaps the most 
useful one of all, for its silvery white leaves contrast so 
well with whatever is around it, that it is seldom out of 
place. It also stands the winter, and, in fact, looks well 
at all times, a desideratum not to be overlooked where 
there is not the means of exchanging plants so often as 
is done in some public gardens and other places in high 
keeping. 
Mesembryanthemums. — There are several species 
which look remarkably well and flower more freely in 
vases than in the open ground. Tnsigne is one of the 
best I have, but there are several others nearly as good. 
They have also the good property of not suffering much 
if not regularly watered. This is important when per¬ 
haps that article cannot always be insured as forth¬ 
coming. Some window boxes and other places are ac¬ 
cessible only to certain parties whose other duties may 
be such as often to cause them to forget the flowers, and 
many of our most showy ones would perish in conse¬ 
quence, but this interesting section requires but little 
of that elementary fluid. 
Lophospermum. —This certainly thrives best when 
liberally dealt with, but it will do in a cramped place. 
Hendersonii is better than scandens. 
Lobelia erinus and its varieties certainly like 
better treatment than to be crammed into a small com¬ 
pass along with other things more robust than them¬ 
selves ; but where a blue flowering plant is wanted of low 
growth, this is assuredly better than any of the 
Verbenas. 
Alyssum variegatum. —This will do very well, but 
when the vase or box itself is white, or nearly so, it will 
be out of place. It is needless, however, saying that it 
does better in an open bed. 
In giving the above short list I by no means aver that 
they are the only ones adapted to vases, &c. My pur¬ 
pose is only to assist those who have some of these orna¬ 
mental appendages to fill, and have not time or plants to 
fill them oftener than once during the summer. This is 
a different thing from stocking them as often as they 
get shabby from an ample store or reserve. In the latter 
case plants only flower in their ornamental quarters, and 
are grown elsewhere; but an amateur having no such 
means wishes for a something that will last a long time 
without further trouble. I may also add that the ex¬ 
posed, and, in some cases, difficult-of-access places in 
which many of these ornamental objects are situated, 
render it no easy matter to furnish them with water in 
sufficient quantity to meet the wants of all plants that 
might otherwise do. Thus it is not advisable to plant 
such as will take harm by its occasional neglect; and, 
though hanging, drooping plants look well where they 
can be introduced, it is next to impossible to get them 
to look well in exposed, windy situations: one side, the 
leeward, may possibly escape, but uniformity is not 
maintained by so doing. Inside a house plants can be 
coaxed into any position; outside they assume a certain 
amount of independence of action in spite of all the 
skill and management brought to bear in the matter, 
although it must be admitted that well-directed industry 
has done much to counteract certain tendencies in plants 
which have been pronounced defects in their character. 
J. Robson. 
NOTES FROM THE CONTINENT.—No. 6. 
BERLIN. 
The Society for the Promotion of Horticulture in Prussia 
gave their principal Exhibition of the season on Sunday 
and Monday, the 21st and 22nd of June. Tickets were, as 
usual, free, and to be obtained only from the members of 
the Society. The highest prize offered was twenty dollars, 
equal to T3 English money. The Show was held in the Royal 
Riding School, which was fitted up for the occasion. In all 
matters of taste—from the decoration of a city to the making 
of a simple bouquet, from the erection of a monument to the 
designing of a brooch — the Germans are decidedly in 
advance of the English; and the first glance on entering 
the Flower Show gave a proof of this assertion. The floor 
was laid with turf, and a sanded walk ran round by the 
stages, which occupied three sides of the place. In the 
centre was a pretty little brass fountain, which, through the 
senses of both sight and hearing, gave a freshness to the 
scene which was very refreshing alter a walk in the hot, dry 
streets. Tasteful groups of plants stood at intervals upon 
the turf, and splendidly-composed bouquets stood here and 
there upon marble pedestals. At the end of the room was a 
platform a few steps above the level of the floor, behind 
which, rising shelf above shelf, were arranged Palms, Ferns, 
Philodendrons, large Myrtles, Dracaenas, &c., producing, by 
the variety and contrast of their foliage, a most charming 
effect, which was heightened by three pure white marble 
busts of members of the royal family which stood among 
them. Above the door hung a large basket of rustic-work, 
in which was a fine plant of Polypodium Reinivarettii, whose 
drooping fronds were five or six feet long. There were some 
fine healthy standard Orange trees from the palace garden 
of Charlottenburg, and most of the best gardens in the 
neighbourhood, including the Botanic, had sent collections 
of plants; but, instead of each contributor’s specimens being 
kept distinct, they were arranged rather for the general 
effect. There were some Ranunculus flowers from Holland, 
and Mr. Linden, of Brussels, had sent a dozen new plants, 
among which was a new Begonia well worth a journey of 
some miles to see; it was called B. rex, and was introduced 
last year from Assam. Its leaves are shaped like those of 
B. xanthia, but have more substance in them ; they are 
also of nearly the same colour, with the addition of a well- 
defined greyish-white zone running round each leaf inter¬ 
mediate between the midrib and the margin ; it was not in 
flower. It would appear to be, like B. piefa , a stemless 
species. A new species of the plant from which the Chinese 
manufacture their celebrated grass-cloth, called Bcehmeria 
