Are we dependent upon the Europeans for all of our. best Verbenas? I answer, emphatically, No.. Notwithstanding, it is a notorious fact that nothing will command a good price in our market, unless it has a " European opinion" stamped upon it. Why is it so? Are we not capable of judging of the merits of a flower without having it sent to England, to be there judged, and have their stamp put upon it, before we can introduce it to the public as worthy of their notice? or are we such "humbugs" that the public are afraid to trust us when we recommend a " bantling" of our own to their favor? or is not John Bull aware that we are a gullible people, and that he can sell us any thing that has a good name attached to it, with a Lord this, or Duke that, or Lady somebody? for they have plenty such names, and can beat all creation in high-sounding, aristocratic names for their seedling plants, which they are anxious to dispose of at good prices to Brother Jonathan, their neighbor across the " big pond".

But I am wandering from the subject: the digression was caused by remembering a remark made to me by an eminent florist in a sister city, in speaking of new plants. Said he, " There are really very few buyers till an article is indorsed by European opinion." What a humiliating fact! Since then I have fully proved the truth of his remark from my own observation But to return. Take up a catalogue of any of our growers of the Verbena, and run your eye over the list of names, (which is legion,) and you will be surprised at the comparatively few that have an American sound; almost every thing has a foreign name, either French or English. Again, notice the heading, "All the latest novelties of England imported direct." What are the "novelties?" The names of them, I am sorry to say, with the major part, are the only merit they possess. I don't mean to say that we have not some few that possess real merit, such, for instance, as Geant des Batailles and General Simpson, (which I consider the criterion for a good Verbena;) then there is Leviathan, Mrs. Woodruff, Mrs. Holford, Eleanoir, Celestial, and some few other old varieties that I could name, that are really distinct and good, and that withstand our variable climate and burning sun; but is it not a notorious fact that more than two thirds of the imported Verbenas are not worth growing with us? True, there are many that in the spring, growing in a pot, are really splendid; but, sir, plant them in the border, and what are they? really nothing.

The first hot sun scorches the flowers, and they give no satisfaction during the whole summer, but toward autumn, if perchance they live, there may be a few good blooms; and before we get another look at them the frost has destroyed them.

Now what is a Verbena for, but to ornament our borders and give us a succession of its beautiful flowers? and to be really good, it must be a good and constant bloomer, a good grower, (and bear in mind there are many good growers and bad bloomers,) and one that will throw its blooms above the foliage of the plant, and that will not fade when the sun shines upon it for the first time; and such, you know, is not the case with 90 per cent. of all the great "novelties" introduced every year from the Continent; in fact, I very much doubt if there has been any improvement made upon any of the continental varieties since the time those first named were introduced, if we except those with prominent eyes, (of which Leviathan and Eleanoir are the best,) and very many of those when exposed to our sun lose that distinctive feature. What I contend for is this, that we must grow our own Verbenas, in order to have them sufficiently hardy to withstand our hot and dry climate; and this has in a great measure been attained by many of our most successful cultivators of this beautiful plant.

In looking over the report of the exhibition of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, in the Gardener's Monthly for October, on page 318 I find the following: "Mr. Dreer's seedling Verbenas were decidedly good, though not superior to other kinds." Now I would like to know what "other kinds" were alluded to; were they foreign kinds or American seedlings? I did not have the pleasure of seeing those on exhibition, but I did see a lot of seedling Verbenas growing and blooming upon the grounds of Mr. Dreer, that struck me as "decidedly good" and superior to most of the foreign varieties with which I am acquainted. They were one mass of bloom at the time I saw them, (Sept. 15th or 16th,) and his foreman informed me that they had so been during the whole summer. There were some eighteen or twenty of them, and I think I counted a dozen or more "decidedly distinct and superior;" they nearly all had very prominent eyes, and seemed to stand the sun well; and I have no doubt, if he sends them out named, that they will become great and deserved favorites; for you know that a Verbena does not. always show its best qualities the first year.

What a justly favorite and popular plant the Verbena is, and yet how few grow them properly in order to bring out their good qualities. To grow them in perfection requires a very deep and rich soil, and one that will retain moisture; it is also a plant that does not" succeed well grown two seasons in the same soil; and planted a third year in the same soil they will scarcely grow at all, but you will constantly see them dying out. Very many wonder at the cause; for when they pull the plant up, they find the roots all eaten away. The mischief is done by a small, dark-colored aphis, with which every Verbena bed is more or less affected the second year. This is the experience of all in this section of country.

I once recommended a lady, who grows Verbenas upon a large scale for the purpose of ornamenting her grounds, (and who had almost despaired of ever having them in perfection again,) who complained about her Verbenas dying out so much every year, to apply a heavy coat of tobacco stems, as an experiment. She did so, without any apparent effect. The only sure remedy is, to dig out the old soil and replace it with new, prepared for the purpose by mixing one third well rotted manure with turf laid up during the winter; and my word for it, you will have good blooms the whole summer.

But I fear I have trespassed upon your valuable space by the great length of this rambling article, but I must say that if our Verb ena list was reduced to about one third the number now named, we would still have many duplicates left; but let us select those that are known to be good, without regard to their being old varieties, for, after all, many of them are the best for all the purposes for which Verbenas have become so essential.

[There is a good deal of truth in what is said above in regard to "foreign names:" we are not yet sufficiently Americanized, horticulturally, to appreciate fully the merits of our own productions. A few years since, an American seedling dahlia was offered for sale at 50 cents a plant, but it did not take. A high-sounding foreign name was afterward given to it, and the price raised; and hundreds who saw no beauty in it at 50 cents, esteemed it a splendid flower at three dollars ! The best Verbena that we saw during the past season was Mrs. Cyrus W. Field, an American seedling; and we do not hesitate to say, that the best Verbenas and Petunias now grown are American seedlings. So much for a name. - Ed].