Though the 'Gardener' has kept to the front in giving practical information on hardy flowers, and the different ways they may be employed with the best effect, yet there are always readers who desire information just at one particular time, and to whom previous papers on this subject have been of no use from their having no interest in them at the time they appeared. Therefore I find my apology for the following remarks in the fact, that those who are commencing the culture of these want information just at present above all other times. You will doubtless have heard the threadbare tale, how that borders of mixed hardy flowers are always interesting; how, day by day, from the time the Christmas Roses and Snowdrops brave the horrors of snow and hail and rain, with much darkness and little sunshine, till the Michaelmas Daisies close the floral year amid as much darkness and less sunshine, there are floral treasures unfolding their beauties without intermission. Before you plant a Daisy, do not believe in it.

Your master and your mistress and yourself may be a little inclined to be sentimental until the novelty has worn off, and you may all have a slight return of the feeling every spring; but do not trust in it to last, and above all, do not trust it so much as to allow the flush of summer flowers to pass without having a reserve to come on throughout the autumn. If you do, instead of the "Oh, how sweet!" "Oh, charming!" "What a pretty dear!" of the springtime, - you may expect, "Don't you think, Macbriar, that it would be worth while to stick something in these bare places?" and, " Mightn't we have a few flowers to brighten the borders up a bit?" If you commenced with sentiment, you have at that particular day and hour come down to fact, and have to acknowledge the requirements pointed out. But, alas for the means of filling the "bare places," and the power to brighten up ! And you may be infected with that unfortunate feeling which unconsciously draws a line between "border" flowers and flowers which have been utilised as "bedders." Do not let that feeling cause you to exclude flowers which would be of the greatest service in making your borders effective.

Because you have " bedded out" Salvias, and Gladioli, and Sedum spectabile, do not let that be a reason for excluding them from a place in the mixed borders. What we want in these is as big a display of flowers as can be had, and for as long a period as possible : how foolish it would therefore be to discard some of the best for our purpose, for no better reason than the above! Utilitarianism has got fast grip of gardeners. Weeding out of fruits which do not pay, and growing only a limited number of stove and greenhouse plants which yield the best and surest returns, is now the order of the day, and the principle must be recognised in the planting of these borders. I would therefore advise that such beautiful flowers as Salvias (patens and splendens), the various sections of Dahlias, early flowering Chrysanthemums, Gladioli in variety, Lobelias of the cardinalis type, or any other flowers which, though not strictly hardy, are nevertheless of great value during the season they remain out, should have a place in these borders from the very first. Then we have what are known as florist's flowers to add greatly to the beauty of these borders.

These are Hollyhocks, Pinks, Picotees, Carnations, Phloxes, Pentstemons, Pansies, Pyrethrums, Potentillas, Antirrhinums, Mimuluses, Sweet-Williams, Delphiniums, Ranunculuses, Anemones, Moss and other Roses, Paaonias, and German, English, and Spanish Irises. Then there are genera of plants, every individual member of which can be employed largely with the best results. 1 name the following : Campanulas in great variety, Alstrcemerias, Lilies, Spiraeas, several Geraniums, Michaelmas Daisies, Saxifragas, Globe-flowers, Primulas, Delphiniums, Pentstemons, Crocuses, Narcissi, common Pinks, Oenotheras, Lychnises, Hepaticas, dwarf Phloxes, Irises, Funkias, Day Lilies, Veronicas, Erigerons, Scillas, Achilleas, Aconitums, Aquilegias, Cyclamens, Wallflowers, Fritillarias, Sunflowers, evergreen Candytufts, St John's Worts, Lupines, Lythrums, Forget-me-nots, Poppies, Statices, Verbascums, some Sedums, Foxgloves, and Tradescantias. I also note some species which cannot be dispensed with. These are - Dielytra spectabilis, Sida malvaeflora, Arabis albida, Aubrietia purpurea and A. graaca, Double Rockets, Thalictrum minus, Heucheras, Doronicum caucasicum, Hieracium auranticum, Tritomas, Polygonum Brunonis, Pyrethrum uliginosum, Polemonium caeruleum, Rudbeckia Newmanii, Phygelius capensis, Corydalis solida, Double Chamomile, Monarda didyma, Linum per-enne, Libertia grandiflora, Everlasting Peas, Harpalium rigidum, Geum coccineum fl. pl., Gentiana acaulis, Erinus alpinus, Eranthis hyemalis, Sisyrinchium grandiflorum, Epimediums, Dodecatheon ele-gans, Dracocephalum speciosum, Colchicum autumnale fl. pl., Cheiran-thus alpinus, Stenactis speciosa, Asclepia tuberosa, Anthericum lili-astrum, Japanese Anemones, - all sorts which should be largely planted.

If the greater space of the borders be filled with these, there will be no harm in giving others, which may turn out mere botanical curiosities, a place here and there amongst them; but these of themselves will make a border of great beauty throughout the seasons of growth.

As regards managing the plants in a mixed border, a good deal must be left to individual taste, and without doubt we will see some startling arrangements as the capabilities of the several plants become better known - ribboning, parterres, &,c. But I would simply recommend a mixed arrangement as always being in good taste, and always effective. We have two long borders, each 450 feet by 13 feet, to plant this spring, and the arrangement will be Hollyhocks, Dahlias, and some of the tallest perennials in the backmost, 4 feet; then will come Phloxes, tall Campanulas, Salvias, and other perennials, about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 feet in height; Gladioli will come immediately in front of these. Then a row of Roses will divide the back section from the front, which will have nothing taller than Pyrethrums, Antirrhinums, Sweet-Williams, down to the dwarfest plants at front. Then, as a spring display is of importance, many dwarf spring-flowering subjects will be mixed with the taller plants well back in the border. Before commencing to plant, a catalogue should be consulted, and the heights of the several plants carefully noted. The necessity for this is apparent, if we take the Campanulas, which contain species from 4 inches to as many feet in height.

If the border has been well prepared, the plants make great progress the first year; but some of them - as, for instance, Pinks and Carnations, and bulbous plants - should be planted not singly, but in clumps.

I commenced by saying that the 'Gardener' took a foremost place in pushing the claims of hardy flowers. I have now to state that these claims have always been honestly put before its readers. When it has been said, "Do away with some of your 'bedding,'" you have at the same time been cautioned that to keep these borders in tolerable order you would not save in labour. Hardy flowers have been recommended on their own intrinsic merits without running down others, or holding out the hope that if "bedding" be curtailed, and hardy flowers put in their places, then so much labour would be available for other departments. It is only on the understanding that such a border as I have just given hints towards furnishing is recommended because it is a feature of great beauty and interest and use when well managed, though at the same time calling for a great amount of labour, without which its interest will sink very low indeed. Well, then, you may make up your mind for a certain amount of transplanting every year; a certain amount of preparation of the ground for such plants as Dahlias and Gladioli; a certain amount of propagation every season - such flowers as Pentstemons, Pinks, Carnations, and some others, requiring to be propagated often.

Then you will find the necessity of periodically lifting the whole of the plants, dunging and trenching the borders, and subsequent rearranging of the plants. Then you have the ordinary routine work always on hand - hoeing, clearing off decayed flower-stems, staking and tying the plants to the stakes : this alone is no light matter. You will understand that if we plant 200 or 300 Dahlias, 300 Gladioli, 500. Carnations and Picotees, besides a Phlox every third yard, Pyrethrums the same distance, and other tall fellows about 4 to 6 yards apart, the staking alone means something. Of course, some readers may be in a locality where the wind does not disport itself unseemly, - where zephyr alone ever breathes on the flowers. If so, just excuse these remarks, for the wind occasionally behaves very rudely here. But there are two ways of staking a plant. If you have a Gladiolus, for instance, which will reach 4 feet in height when the flower-spike is fully opened, there is no necessity to employ a stake to the out-top of the spike : if the stake is 2 feet out of the ground, it is quite long enough; and this applies to most flowers requiring stakes.

Do not be in too great a hurry to get the plants into their places. If the weather is drying, wait till it gets showery : much faster progress will be made. R. P. Brotherston.