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Among 
CYCLAMENS. 
those fortunate sisters who write to tlie 
Cabinet about their window gardens, I find hut few 
who mention the Cyclamen. They are such delightful 
plants and so easily raised, that I feel sure it must he 
only a want of acquaintance with them that prevents 
them from being as common as Geraniums. One of 
my little plants is such a satisfaction to look upon ; it 
is in a tliree-incli pot, which is entirely concealed by 
the pretty spotted leaves, and has four flowers ex¬ 
panded and fourteen buds in various stages of growth. 
The blossoms are white, tipped with red, delightfully 
fragrant, and of an indescribable shape similar to the 
Dodecatheon or Shooting Star of our prairies, except¬ 
ing that they grow singly upon the stem instead of 
being clustered. Each flower remains in perfection a 
month, so I think I am likely to have a durable plant. 
I have also another plant of the same age that has not 
such fine, thrifty leaves, but has fifteen buds. These 
two were raised from the seed. Ten seeds were planted 
in a paper box upon my sitting-room mantel-piece, 
in company with many other things too numerous to 
mention. In the course of two weeks something green 
made an appearance, and they were removed to the 
hay-window, which opens to the floor and is too cold a 
place for seedlings in April, hut it was the best I could 
do for them. Tn the course of another two weeks five 
of something else came up in the pot which I knew 
instinctively were the Cyclamens, so the first arrivals 
were pulled up. 
After the garden was made and everything else dis¬ 
posed of, I potted these tiny little plants, which had 
only two leaves apiece, in three-inch pots, and kept 
them on the flower-stand on the porch' all summer, 
watering when they seemed to need it. In the fall 
they were moved into the house with the other plants 
and placed on the lower part of the flower-stand ( a 
HOW SHALL I LAY OUT MY GARDEN ? 
This is a question often asked. Can I answer it 
satisfactorily ? I will try. It must, however, he 
remembered, that the plan for laying out a garden 
depends a good deal on the size of the grounds, aud 
their exposure to the sun. As practical knowledge is 
considered of greater value, I will describe the ground 
of a small place which I have in mind. The lot is- 
60x100 feet. The house faces the east, is of two 
stories, and measures 22x28 feet. It is located twelve 
feet from the eastern, twenty-six feet from the southern, 
and twelve feet from the northern boundaries. 
On the north side is a driveway twelve feet wide 
This allows space for a bed three feet wide, next the 
house, where are planted Fuchsias, Perns, Begonias, 
and all plants requiring partial shade. Here, too, are 
placed Azaleas, Smilax, Hydrangeas, and other plants 
in pots, preparatory to removing to the house for win¬ 
ter decoration. Ivies and other ornamental vines are 
trained over the house, making a rich green back¬ 
ground. On the opposite side of the drive, against a 
high hoard fence, are trained Clematis, Solanum Jas- 
minoides, Wisteria and Sweet-scented Honeysuckle. 
Farther hack from the street are grapes and black¬ 
berry vines. 
The front door is near the north corner, and faces 
east. A trellis is built around it, over which are 
trained two rosebushes; on the north side a Gem of 
the Prairie, on the south side a Baltimore Belle. 
Opposite, and hut twelve feet distant, is a gate open¬ 
ing upon the street. 
Between the doorsteps and the south corner of the 
house is a flower bed four feet wide and edged with 
turf. On the inside of the bed, and a few inches from 
the edge, is a row of Nierembergia gracilis and rivu- 
laris placed alternately, and a few inches apart. These 
were started in a little propagating bed in the house, 
early in the season, and after they got well established, 
the ends were nipped off to induce them to branch. 
Beyond these, and nearer the house, is a row of varie- 
cold place), where they remained all winter, being gated Geraniums. In the centre of the bed is a half- 
watered very sparingly. They were not very orna- hogshead filled with earth. W ithin this rests a piece 
mental, as there were still hut the two leaves slightly of pipe (colored brown) twelve inches in diameter, the 
increased in size, hut then they did not take up much ' flange end uppermost. This pipe extends twelve 
room, two being given away and one dead. In the inches above the hogshead, and is filled with earth, 
spring they had achieved four leaves, and went out on 
the porch again. I was strongly tempted to throw 
them away they seemed such poky things, hut con¬ 
cluded to wait until fall. In August they took a sud¬ 
den start, leaves came quickly, grew large, and were 
beautifully spotted. The first tiny hud was discovered 
early in September, and on Thanksgiving day it was 
fully expanded. It quite repaid me for waiting a year 
and a half for the bulb to grow. Next summer the 
pots will he sunk in the ground on the north side of 
the house until August, when they will he repotted, 
taking care not to cut oil’ any of the roots, and the 
bulbs set fully half way out of the soil. I find that it 
injures the buds to have water standing among them, 
even for the few moments it takes to soak into the soil. 
I don’t see hut that any one can raise Cyclamens 
w r ho will let them judiciously alone and have patience. 
Those who are not blessed with the latter commodity 
can buy the bulbs, but it is far better to raise your 
own house plants, if possible, since it takes green¬ 
house plants so long to become accustomed to the 
change of atmosphere. I shall try Cyclamens again in 
the spring (they seem so indifferent to heat that it 
don’t seem necessary to start them early), and shall 
hope to- have some red ones if the seed can be obtained : 
they ought to he prettier than the white variety. 
Washington Heights, Ill. Mrs. F. N. B. 
In the centre is planted a Dracena tenninalis, and 
around it Nierembergia, Variegated Ivy-Geranium, 
Lobelia, Alternanthera, Tradescantia and Moneywort. 
In the hogshead, between its edge and the pipe, are 
set ten or twelve Geraniums, of as many different 
kinds. On the hack side, next the house (in the hogs¬ 
head), is planted a Coboea, which, as it grows, should 
he trained around the outside so as to completely cover 
the hogshead. After midsummer, this central orna¬ 
ment is an object of beauty, and attracts a great deal 
of attention. The pipe and hogshead should he 
watered thoroughly twice a day, in the morning and 
evening. On each side of the hogshead, in the bed, 
are planted Deutzia gracilis, Bee Larkspur, and; such 
plants as will hear dryness, as the summer rains do 
not wet this bed much, it being on the east side and 
close to the house. A row of Cannas, mixed with 
Gladioli, is used for a background. 
The side gate is south of the front gate, on a line 
with it, and twenty feet from it. Between these two 
gates, and next the fence, is a bed about twenty feet 
long and five feet wide. The corners next the walk 
are rounded, and the whole bed is edged with turf. 
This bed is filled with shrubs: Spiraea prunifolia, 
Weigela, Tartarean Honeysuckle, Snowberry, and 
Pink, also White Flowering Almond. The higher 
growing shrubs are placed in the centre. Between 
this bed and the one next the house is a walk three 
feet wide. 
Directly in front of the side gate, and five feet from 
it, is a circular bed, three feet in diameter. Tins is 
turfed entirely over, as the walks all around it being 
drained, no plants would grow there on account of the 
dryness. Upon it is placed a stump (made of a barrel 
covered with hark, which is nailed on.) On this stump 
rests a cheese-box (painted brown and ornamented 
with rustic work) containing plants. There is a walk 
all around this bed three feet in width. 
The side door is on the south-south-west corner of 
the house. There is a piazza in front of it (14x4 feet.) 
At the east end of the piazza, and, as it were, a con¬ 
tinuation of it, is a bed four feet wide, which extends 
east far enough to meet the bed in front of, and next to 
the house. The corner is rounded to correspond with 
the bed next the fence. A walk three feet wide, on 
either side of the circular bed, connects the side gate 
with the piazza and hack yard, if desired, the vege¬ 
table garden back of the house may he entirely con¬ 
cealed from view by a Trellis covered with vines on the 
west end of the piazza, and a shrub, perhaps an Althea, 
at the end of the above mentioned walk. 
The remainder of the ground on the south side of the 
garden is all in one bed. The flower garden on this 
side should extend only as far west as to he on a line 
with the hack end of the main house. A row of shrubs 
or tall growing plants (like Dahlias) should he planted 
so as to conceal from view the vegetable garden be¬ 
yond. The edge of the bed next the walk is bordered 
with turf; within, and a foot distant from the turf, is a 
row of dwarf Ins. 
In the centre of this flower-bed stands a pole six 
inches in diameter at the base, and twenty feet high. 
It is surmounted by a bird-house. This bird-house 
is made of a butter firkin, with a conical roof, and the 
whole covered with hark. A plant of Bignonia Kadi- 
cans will in three years entirely cover the pole. 
In this bed are placed Dielytra, Peonies, Spiraea 
Japonica, and other hardy herbaceous plants and bulbs, 
which remain there permanently; hut every Spring, 
Geraniums and other bedding plants are brought from 
the house, and Dahlias, Gladioli, and other bulbs and 
roots from the cellar. Each year one can arrange them 
differently, as, with extended experience and the ad¬ 
dition of frequent novelties, one continually makes new 
combinations. 
With so small a lot, if one wishes a successful gar¬ 
den, few ornamental trees can he allowed, as most 
plants require an abundance of sun, and those which 
do not, cannot hear the drip from trees. Still, one 
shade tree at least, is desirable, and a good place for it 
will he between the front and driveway gates, as there 
is a space of three feet between the two. This is 
placed inside the fence and will cast a shadow only on 
the front walk and driveway. The best tree for the 
purpose is the Rock or Sugar Maple, which has a fine 
form, is free from insects, and its roots do not run in the 
ground so as to interfere with the plants. 
That portion of the ground hack of the house which 
is not necessary for a clothes yard, &c., can he devoted 
to vegetables, peas, beans, com, cucumbers, tomatoes, 
&c. These are'better fresh from one’s own garden, 
hut potatoes, beets and turpips, for which there will 
scarcely he room, can he readily obtained either from 
the market or a neighboring farmer. 
I have thus given a mere outline of the plan for a 
garden on a small scale. It can’he varied according 
to differing tastes, and will perhaps suggest to plaut- 
lovers other plans more appropriate to their respective 
grounds, which, in size, location or exposure, may differ 
from the one I have described. Kitty Clover. 
