SUMMER WORK IN THE GARDEN. 
O UR suggestions in the last number of The Cabinet 
in regard to successive plantings in the vegetable gar¬ 
den are equally important for securing continuous bloom in 
the flower garden. Annuals should now be in their glory, 
all bedding plants well established, their flowers large, 
full and fresh. The foliage has not commenced to suf¬ 
fer from summer’s heat and drought, the charm of mak¬ 
ing garden has not worn off and the weeds have not yet 
asserted their strength; therefore the garden is a source 
of pure delight, and will remain so the whole season if 
a little care and attention is daily given to it. It will 
not do to stop work now, simply because everything is so 
beautiful and luxuriant; we must remember the inevit¬ 
able law, “ that all that is fair must fade.” The beautiful 
is the result of labor wisely applied, the recompense for 
the daily care and watchfulness, the earnest devotion we 
pay to the tender objects of our care. We must not 
think because foliage and flowers are all that the heart 
can wish for now, that they are to remain so the whole 
season without further care and trouble, or rather with¬ 
out further joy and pleasure, for such the work should be. 
The garden must be made anew every day, for each day 
some lovely form will fade away, and-a new one must be 
ready to take its place. If not, the garden will put on 
weeds , in evidence of the death of the love that for a sea¬ 
son dwelt there. Eternal vigilance is the price of continu¬ 
ous flowers, as eternal attention is the price of love, 
whether in the garden or anywhere else, and if you don’t 
pay the price you won’t get the article. 
Successive plantings must be made during this and a 
part of the coming month. A few or many, in propor¬ 
tion to the size of your garden, good, strong gladiolus 
bulbs should be ready for planting any time before the 
15th ; these will give such spikes of bloom early in Octo¬ 
ber as you would not suppose the bulb capable of pro¬ 
ducing. It may, possibly, be necessary to protect the 
flower-spikes against the first frost, which usually comes 
with considerable vigor, to show what it can do, and then 
retires for two or three weeks, during which time your 
bulbs will have finished their work, and you will have en¬ 
joyed this noble flower in the full measure of its beauty 
and stateliness. 
Pansies in variety should now be sown in some par¬ 
tially shaded situation, so that you may have plants in 
readiness to fill any empty space there may be in the 
garden. Have sufficient young plants to take the place 
of the early potatoes, unless the place is already set apart 
for something else. Pansies make a far more pleasing 
second crop than ragweed or purslane, which you will 
surely have unless you give the ground some useful work 
to do. Pansies, by common consent, are called spring 
flowers, when, in fact, they can be had in the greatest 
luxuriance and numbers in autumn; and what is more 
beautiful than pansies in the garden during Indian sum¬ 
mer? They are as bright and cheerful then as in June. 
The handsomest pansies we ever gathered were from 
self-sown seed, having hid itself in a lily bed, where it 
grew uncared for, unmolested and unnoticed, until all the 
other flowers had succumbed to the icy hand of frost, 
then their cheerful faces bid us welcome to a rare feast 
indeed. Give the pansies a fair chance and there are no 
plants that will repay so liberally for all the attention they 
have received. There is no flower in the garden that 
speaks to us so plainly as does the pansy ; its broad, full, 
cheerful face is full of expression. 
The mignonette is a fitting companion for the pansy ; it 
is modest, sweet and retiring, it will not crowd itself upon 
your attentions, but will ever greet you with a sweetness 
that is as enduring as life itself. For saucer bouquets 
pansies and mignonettes blend most happily together; the 
contrast they afford tends to repose the eye, and to give 
the impression that there is something more there than a 
mere inanimate existence. Add a little fertilizer to any 
vacant place you may have, work the soil deep, then sow 
the seed, and after your fair-weather friends have been 
frost-bitten, the Frenchman’s Little Darling will show 
you a friendship that the frost only sweetens in order that 
you may more fully appreciate its true loveliness. There 
are many varieties of mignonette listed in the seedsmen’s 
catalogues, as there are of all popular flowers. We prefer 
for outside cultivation the Golden Queen, but you cannot 
go astray in planting any of the popular kinds. One 
thing, however, must not be overlooked, viz.: If you wish 
the best of mignonette, the soil in which it is grown must 
be worked deep, must be very rich, moderately heavy, 
and moist. 
Phlox Drummondii is a showy annual, the seeds of 
which may be sown any time during the month, and 
masses of brilliant flowers in autumn will be the result. 
These flowers are not injured by a moderate frost, neither 
does hot, dry weather discourage them, as it does many 
annuals. Selection and cultivation during the past few 
years has done much in developing this flower. The 
variety known as grandijlora splendens, of which there 
are several colors, is the one that should in all cases be 
selected. 
Reflection as well as observation is in order now ; it is 
well to enjoy what is before you, but it is better to enjoy 
now what you are to behold in the next and in future 
years. In order to do that, you must now make the 
necessary preparations for next year’s garden. 
seeds must be saved 
as well as planted, and do not for a moment suppose you 
can buy as good as you can save, providing you have 
made a good selection at the start—this you must deter¬ 
mine by comparison and observation. If your annuals 
are inferior to those of your neighbors throw away your 
seeds or do not allow them to ripen, and commence 
again. If your several strains are superior to others, care¬ 
fully select the best flowers for seed ; do not choose the 
first, nor the last, as the most perfect forms and positive 
colors will be found in the intermediate stage of the 
