nothing of strictly sea-side origin, excepting some kinds of the wild brambles or black berries, which grow almost as well, and fruit as abundantly among briars and sloe-thorns, on rocky shores, as they do on inland banks or in field hedges; and all of which deserve much more cultural care than has yet been anywhere bestowed upon them. But it would be of immense benefit to many, were means taken through local horticultural societies, or otherwise, to ascertain what varieties of our hardy fruits were most suitable for growing in sea-side localities, and especially in the predominating descriptions of sea-side soils; where, for instance, some kinds of strawberries will thrive well, while others will scarcely exist. And the same remark is applicable, in a somewhat modified degree, to gooseberries, currants, apples, pears, and stone fruits. Among culinary vegetables, the cabbage family, beet, sea-kale, and asparagus, are in their original state strictly sea-side inhabiting plants, and their different varieties should consequently be fully represented at all coast horticultural shows. The two last are no doubt unfit for table use in autumn, but even then their good cultivation might be shewn by the appearance of full-grown plants. Few articles, even at a flower show, will surpass in beauty and elegance fine stalks of asparagus, loaded with their scarlet berries; and, were prizes offered for these, we might soon see considerably improved varieties of this most valuable ornamental as well as culinary plant in general cultivation; for its great diversity of growth is most marked when the plants have attained to full size, and not at the period of its usefulness when the young ender shoots shew almost nothing in their appearance, whereby one variety or sub-variety can be distinguished from another. addition to the above-named, there are several really useful sea-side vegetables which have been almost entirely neglected by British cultivators, notwithstanding that in their native localities they have been eagerly sought after and highly appreciated. First among these stands that most excellent of pickle and alad plants, the true samphire (Crithmum In maritimum), which might be grown to as great perfection in a neat garden rockery as it naturally does on the dizzy sea-cliffs, where— "Half way down Hangs one who gathers samphire; dreadful trade." Then there is the golden samphire (Limbarda Crithmoides), which is used in a similar manner with the last, and is so essentially marine as to be occasionally found in situations where it is covered by sea-tides. Next, the marsh samphire (Salicornia herbacea), which is a common inhabitant of salt marshes, and is also used like the last two. The wild sea-beet (Beta maritima), makes a good salad, and is an excellent substitute for spinach, as is also the sea-orache (Atriplex littoralis) which is common on most of our sea coasts. The scurvygrass (Cochlearia officinalis), and the star of the earth (plantago coronopus), form more delicate and tender salads when cultivated, than when gathered on exposed coasts, and are frequently grown in some continental countries for this purpose. The seeds of the sea pea (Lathyrus pisiformis), a rather pretty perennial, have been used as substitutes for garden peas, and might be similarly improved under cultivation. And the sea lovage (Ligusticum scoticum), like the garden lovage, is used as an ingredient in salads and as a pot herb. Prizes might also be offered for the best cultivated plants of that essentially sea-side plant the true Caper, which, when grown in seaward localities, is much hardier than is generally believed; and for that remarkably hardy variety of it which grows naturally on the rocky shores of the Crimea, where "once in some few years it happens that there comes a fortnight or so of Russian cold, of such a degree that if a man touches metal with an uncovered hand the skin adheres." Sea-side plants, such as the samphires before mentioned, and the edible sea-weeds, and even home-grown caper buds, in a manufactured or prepared state, would form excellent adjuncts at horticultural shows in coast localities, as would also herbariums of coast plants and marine algæ, more especially the latter, the preparation and preservation of which would not only form a delight ful and instructive pastime, but, forming as they do the most beautiful as well as intricate and interesting specimens furnished by the vegetable kingdom, their after inspection, as well as exhibition to friends, would become pleasing occupations in leisure hours. Ladies, when at sea-side residences, might find an agreeable change from sewing, knitting, crochet, and other light work by imitating those of antient Tyre, in dying fine linen and like articles of dress with the inimitable purple of the very common white whelk (Purpura lapellus), in destroying which they would be contributing to the removal of the worst enemies of that highly useful of shell fish, the common mussel; and the beautiful floral or other fancy designs which might be produced in this manner would certainly not be out of place when exhibited at a seaside flower show. OUT-DOOR PRESERVATION OF TENDER PLANTS IN WINTER. A1 T the present period of the year, when flower-beds are still gaily decorated with tender and half-hardy bedded-out plants, many cottagers, villa residents, and others who have not greenhouse accommodation at their command, find their floricultural enjoyments much marred by the consideration that some frosty morning will soon deprive their most cherished favourites of their loveliness, and that all must shortly perish under the biting frosts and chilling blasts of winter, leaving the ground to be refilled next season with young plants of whatever kinds can be culled from the over-abounding stores of more fortunate friends, or purchased from plant No great hardship this last, some may be disposed to argue, as, for the requirements of small establishments, bedding plants can generally be purchased in spring cheaper than they can be wintered; but those who argue in this manner do not take into consideration, or make allowance for, the pleasing occasional recreations associated with in-door plant management in winter. At present, however, we have only to do with those to whom such recreations are denied, and who may yet wish to preserve some of their cherished favourites, and to grow them to greater sizes than they can attain to in a single season. From among tender plants, to which outdoor protection may, in general, be successfully applied in our climate, we may exclude geraniums, verbenas, heliotropes, petunias, and a few others of less note; to which such protection is only applicable in mild winters, approximating in temperature to the last, when, in many places, some of the hardier varieties of all these stood out without any protection whatever. But even after these are discarded, there remains many which may be effectually protected, with but little trouble and expense, and which, when so preserved, will amply recompense any care which may have been thus bestowed, by their increased size, and the consequent highly augmented display of their flowers. We do not mean to insinuate or deny that the outdoor protection of tender plants in winter is either altogether neglected or not pretty well understood; but there is good ground for believing that it is not sufficiently practised, and that it is too frequently applied in such a slovenly and unsightly manner as to be simply obnoxious, if not disgusting, to winter residents who have the least pretensions to gardening taste. "Protect the roots by litter, and the tops by straw, mats, or evergreen branches," is the stereotyped Gardener's Kalendar instructions for preserving tenderish plants out of doors; and the littery mess employed, while objectionably unsightly in itself, is generally rendered more than doubly so in consequence of being scattered abroad by birds, winds, or otherwise, while the top appliances of straw or mats, however tightly and tidily tied, invariably offend the eye, which experiences but Tender and half-hardy plants, which can be thus wintered out of doors, may be classified as follows: 1. Bulbous plants. 2. Deciduous herbaceous and subshrubby plants. 3. Evergreen herbaceous and sub-shrubby plants. little relief when turned to a close, besom- the branches should be taken away. Any like, bound-up bunch of enveloping ever- other kinds, of evergreens may, however, be greens. Litter of all kinds, unless concealed, employed, and if a good variety of pines and is objectionable in flower gardens, and should other conifers, laurels, hollies, &c., having not be tolerated even in the most obscure their lower ends stuck into the earth, are parts of the kitchen garden. Some descrip- tastefully applied, the whole may be made to tions of it are, however, highly useful for present the pleasing appearance of a wellroot protection of flowers, and of these the arranged winter garden. Evergreens require best is Sphagnum or other moss, which has a somewhat different adaptation of their been sufficiently dried to destroy all intermixed coverings, inasmuch as any close enveloping weeds; next are the dried or dryish chopped should only be applied to their stems and or broken down tops of that common fern, or the bare parts of their branches, while the rather braken, the Pteris aquilina; and after evergreen branch covering should be such as it come the leaves of forest trees, but more to admit of light reaching to the foliage, and especially those of the beech and the oak, then the whole might have an extra supplementary dryish half-decomposed tree leaves-rough portable covering for being applied only in stable and byre dung being only admissible hard frosty weather. when none of these others can be had, Before applying litter of any kind the surface earth should be made to slope gently from the base of the plant, and be firmly tramped; then 3 or 4 inches deep of tramped litter will generally suffice, which may extend outwards from 18 to 36 inches, according to the size of the plant; and the whole should be covered by good grassy turf, with its surfaces. also sloping outwards, so as to prevent the lodgment of rain water, and any spaces left about the neck of the plant should be filled in with finely-broken charcoal, reduced coal cinders, or rough sand. But in the event of turf being unattainable, spruce or silver fir branches may be spread over the litter, of sufficient thickness to cover and secure the latter, keeping, of course, their natural face up. Then the top protection may be applied by, in the first place, driving in a strong stake, to which the plant should (supposing it to be deciduous) be pretty closely fastened; next, a covering of dry ferns, matting, or straw, concealing the whole by neatly disposed evergreens with the points inclining outwards in a natural-like manner, in place of being tightly bound in. In some instances the internal enveloping of ferns, straw, or matting may be dispensed with, and evergreens only used, of which none are more suitable than branches of the common spruce, in consequence of its leaves dropping gradually as the season advances in spring, so that they are generally all fallen by the time when 4. Deciduous shrubs. 5. Evergreen shrubs. 1st, Tenderish bulbs-such as the Japan lilies, Tigridias, Ixias, &c.-may be grown in beds sloping to both sides, and covered over with litter and turf, as before described, taking care that the rows of bulbs are carefully marked, so that an inch or two of turf may be cut out along the sides of each, when the bulbs begin to push, and a little earth filled into the spaces. The remainder of the turf may lie till its growth becomes too coarse; or even longer if it is neatly mown. 2d, Tender deciduous, herbaceous, and subshrubby plants-of which the tall lobelias (Lobelia cardinalis, L. fulgens, L. splendens, and their now numerous varieties), several of the Salvias, &c., are good representatives-may be protected in the same manner as the last, but when their young shoots begin to push in spring, it may, in most cases, be advisable to remove a portion of the litter along with those of the turf, then top-dress the surface with fresh soil, and protect the young points from snails and slugs, which are often worse destroyers of these late vegetating plants than the frost is. 3d, Tender evergreen herbaceous and subshrubby plants, such as the Cineraria maritima, Centaurea ragusina, the so-called shrubby calceolarias, &c., require more stem and top than root protection, so that a narrow turf laid around them, and filling in between the stems with rough sand or charcoal, after all decayed or decaying leaves and leaf stems have been carefully removed, is only requisite. Then a circle of evergreens should be stuck in pretty thickly around, and extending at least 6 inches above the top of the plant, but so as to leave it somewhat exposed; and, as a greater security from wind, these branches should be tied near their tops to a strong willow withy, or wire hoop. 4th, Tender deciduous shrubs, including most of the fuschias, many of the finest teascented roses, the old-sweet scented verbena, hydrangeas, &c., are well adapted for the root and top mode of protection previously described; but in the case of the hydrangeas, as their flower buds are formed on the extremities of the stronger shoots, these should be more carefully defended than those of the other kinds named, and at the same time kept more apart or less crowded, by having dry ferns or the like placed between them; and it is especially desirable that their branches, and particularly their upper ends, be kept dry. 5th, Tender evergreen shrubs, such as myrtles, Eugenias, camellias, some of the rhododendrons, &c., have been already alluded to. When grown on walls these are not unfrequently closely enveloped in mats, or their foliage otherwise excluded from light and air, by which it is as effectually destroyed as if it had been exposed to the hardest frosts. In such situations protection from hot spring sunshine is as essential as from frost; and a covering of well-secured open branches is far more suitable than one of mats, or, if the latter are used, it should only be temporarily and in extreme cases, when they would be much improved both in appearance and usefulness by having evergreens laced over their outer surfaces. There is yet another class of tender plants used in bedding-out, which those who have no winter accommodation for growing them may perpetuate by seeds, such as the blue and other dwarf lobelias, the finest varieties of Indian cresses, mimuluses, herbaceous calceolarias, &c., which, if sown in a cool glass frame, or even in the open border in early spring, will produce a fine display of autumn bloom. But where is all this turf to be got? and how is it to be disposed of after it is no longer needed for plant protection? are questions which will occur to many. A numerous class of flower growers will have little if any difficulty in procuring turf, the quantity of which requisite for a moderate sized place will not be nearly so great as may at first sight appear; and when no longer required it it is easily disposed of in the compost heap, where, if intermixed with cow dung, it will form in the first season an excellent medium for the growth of vegetable marrows, gourds, hardy cucumbers, and New Zealand spinach, while afterwards it will assume the form of turfy loam, which no garden should be without, and with which few are ever over supplied. |