tables--as well as the homely kinds,
which grow in the open borders by the hundred. The Polyanthus is
eminently a flower for English gardens; and this country is noted for
the fine sorts here raised, our humid climate suiting the plant in every
way; its flowers offer a variety of colour, an odour of the sweetest
kind, full and rich, reminding us not only of spring time, but of
youthful rambles and holidays.

As an "old-fashioned" flower for garden decoration it is effective and
useful, from the great quantity of bloom it sends forth and the length
of its flowering season; from its love of partial shade it may be
planted almost anywhere. Its neat habit, too, fits it for scores of
positions in which we should scarcely think of introducing less modest
kinds; such nooks and corners of our gardens should be made to beam with
these and kindred flowers, of which we never have too many. Plant them
amongst bulbs, whose leaves die off early, and whose flowers will look
all the happier for their company in spring; plant them under all sorts
of trees, amongst the fruit bushes, and where only weeds have appeared,
perhaps, for years; dig and plant the Polyanthus, and make the
wilderness like Eden.

Flowering period, February to June.

Polygonum Brunonis.

KNOTWEED; _Nat. Ord._ POLYGONACEAE.

This is a dwarf species from India, but quite hardy. It is pretty,
interesting, and useful. The flowers are produced on erect stems a foot
high, and formed in spikes 3in. to 5in. long, which are as soft as down
and smell like heather. The colour is a soft rose. These flowers spring
from a dense mass of rich foliage; the leaves in summer and early autumn
are of a pleasing apple-green colour, smooth, oblong, and nearly
spoon-shaped from the narrowing of the lower part; the mid-rib is
prominent and nearly white; the leaf has rolled edges, and is somewhat
reflexed at the point. Let the reader closely examine the leaves of this
species while in their green state, holding them up to a strong light,
and he will then behold the beauty and finish of Nature to a more than
ordinary degree. This subject is one having the finest and most lasting
of "autumnal tints," the dense bed of leaves turn to a rich brick-red,
and, being persistent, they form a winter ornament in the border or on
rockwork. The habit of the plant is creeping, rooting as it goes. It is
a rampant grower, and sure to kill any dwarf subject that may be in its
way.

It may be