These noble Ferns can be placed outdoors in summer; and in partially shaded and sheltered places, what can look more beautiful? The Dicksonias, in particular, are most useful, and when from 3 to 4 feet high, make splendid objects in the centres of beds of flowers; or as panel plants in long borders, alternating with such plants as Yucca aloifolia variegata, they are very effective. Of course such aristocratic decoration presupposes ample resources under glass. A very good imitation can be carried out by the amateur who does not possess much glass, though of course in a much more diminutive way. Let such prepare pits of soil in their borders or beds, by removing the natural soil, and replacing it with a mixture of rotten leaves, road grit, and a little common garden soil, and plant the common shield Fern Lastræa, of which the varieties filix-mas and the Lady Ferns are the most suitable. These, when well cultivated in this way, remain in full verdure till the beginning of winter, and are very elegant. These, alternating in borders of flowers with the hardy and very elegant Yucca recurva pendula, produce a very pretty effect; and such plants are within the reach of all. Amateurs who have plenty of time can even produce a very good imitation of the Tree Ferns by scooping out the stem of a rustic piece of tree, leaving the bark on, and filling up with a rich vegetable soil, and planting these Lastræas; or a large drain pipe set on end, and made rough and rustic-looking with a little Roman cement and shelly gravel, can be substituted for the tree. With good strong stools of Lastræas planted in these and kept well watered, a very good imitation of Tree Ferns can be made. The Lastræas are most suitable for this purpose; and all of the following Ferns, which are perfectly hardy in most localities, are suitable for planting in the centres of beds of flowers : Athyrium filix-fæmina corymbiferum, 11⁄2 foot. Athyrium filix-fæmina thysanotum, 2 feet. Lastræa filix-mas cristata, 2 to 3 feet. Lastræa filix-mas cristata angustata, 2 to 3 feet. Lastræa filix-mas cristata polydactyla, 2 to 3 feet. Lastræa marginalis, 1 to 2 feet. Lastræa thelypteris, 14 foot. Lastræa dilatata, 1 foot. Osmunda regalis (Royal Fern), 3 to 4 feet. Osmunda regalis cristata, 2 to 4 feet. Polystichum angulare proliferum, 1 to 2 feet. Polystichum angulare proliferum Woolastonii, 2 to 24 feet. Scolopendrium vulgare crispum (requires shade), 1 foot. FLOWER-GARDENING IN FRANCE.—Having given subtropical experience in Scotland, we now append a communication from our friend Mr Knight of Ponchartrain, France, who is well acquainted with the French style of decoration, under much more favourable circumstances as to climate than is enjoyed in Scotland. 'One prominent feature in the flower-gardens of France, and which is so profusely illustrated in the public thoroughfares and squares of Paris, is the immense quantity of handsome and beautiful-leaved plants used in giving effect to flowers in beds and borders during the summer and autumn months. Nothing tends to give a greater brilliancy to their dwarfer associates than do these plants when judiciously arranged. The extreme aptitude of the French gardener in the propagation and getting up of stock of these plants; the systematic manner they have in storing away those requiring protection for the winter, merely giving sufficient heat to preserve life without loss, and thereby avoiding a winter development of sickly foliage; the care taken in their preparation in spring not to have their roots entangled into a hard ball previous to planting ; and, above all, the having proper soil prepared for their reception in their outdoor quarters,-are the chief causes why he excels us in producing a sub-tropical effect, so desirable in our gardens and pleasure-grounds. 'The taste for these fine-foliaged plants, no doubt, first took root in Northern Europe, where, from the absence of outdoor evergreens, caused by the severity of the weather during the long winter months, the wealthy nobles had recourse to employing numbers of the more persistent foliaged species for the decoration of their halls and staircases. Many of these nobles, like Prince Demidoff, introduced and encouraged this taste in Paris; and ultimately it spread to such an extent that the Parisians now not only employ them in their hotels, but the beauty of their gardens is greatly enhanced by a liberal use of them in combination with the endless variety of flowering plants known at the present day. 'The French gardener is not content with having one or two variegated Yuccas, but he must have at least six or eight, and the way he disposes of them would be something in this manner:-Four of them would occupy vases with a flowering plant, such as the creeping Tropæolum, planted around the edges, to droop down over the side of the vase; four would be accommodated with a bed in company with a hardier associate, Yucca recurva pendula, and the ground between covered with blue Lobelia and variegated Pelargonium. The same vases and the same bed another year would probably be filled with Corypha Australis and variegated Aralia Sieboldii. The graceful-leaved Polymnia grandis, associated with the variegated Arundo donax in a large bed 12 or 14 feet in diameter, with a carpet of Cerastium tomentosum and Gazania splendens mixed, and edged with Iresine Herbstii, forms a beautiful combination: and so does Canna Annei with Ficus elastica and a carpet of scarlet Verbena; Cyperus papyrus, alternated with one-stemmed Coleus Verschaffeltii, and the ground covered with golden-leaved Pelargoniums; Wigandia Caraccasana planted in clumps of pyramidal variegated Hollies, with a carpet of purple Verbena and a bordering of pink Pelargonium; Aralia papyrifera, ground covered with rose Pelargonium, and a bordering of Heliotrope and Centaurea Ragusina. All of these combinations make handsome beds on gently undulating grass lawns with the surrounding vegetation healthy and abundant. 'The red-stemmed Ricinus, Musa ensete, Dracæna indivisa, D. Australis, Eucalyptus globulus, Nicotiana Wigandioides, Gunnera manicata, and dozens of others, feel quite at home in spots where holes had been dug a -yard square and three yards apart at the three points of the triangle, and filled with rich soil in favourable and well-chosen nooks. Planted singly or in fives, according to the position of the ground, they are equally effective. Single specimens of Palms, without depriving them of their pots, plunged in small beds of peat or leaf-mould, being a medium warmer than other soils, of such rapidgrowing and easily-obtainable sorts as the following, have a noble appearance:-Seaforthia robusta, Latania Borbonica, Phoenix pumila, Phoenix leonensis, Euterpe edulis, Corypha Australis, Cocos Australis, Chamœrops excelsa, C. Fortunei, C. stauracantha; while many of the species of Bonapartea, Agave, and a few of the Cycads, are also used with excellent effect for this purpose, and also for vases. At first these plants look anything but happy when taken from the hothouse to the parterre; but after a few years they get quite initiated, and make fine handsome foliage when their wants have been well attended to in regard to soil, planting, and watering. Where the soil is not naturally good, great care is taken to renew it entirely to the depth of 2 feet with a well-mixed compost, and where the subsoil is retentive of moisture, a layer of debris is placed in the bottom of the bed. In addition to this, a quantity of half-rotten leaves and stable-litter is dug in annually where such plants as Wigandias, Cannas, Polymnias, Caladiums, Ricinuses, Musas, Gunneras, and any having soft and rapidly-made foliage, are intended to be planted. All the persistent foliage plants, such as Yuccas, Palms, Dracenas, Agaves, Cycads, and others, are accommodated with peat, adding, as in the other case, leaf-soil and half-rotten stable-litter yearly, and in this compost they luxuriate with extraordinary vigour. They are generally confined to their pots or tubs, and the roots are only allowed to escape by the top and openings at the sides or bottom. Although these plants are commonly cultivated indoors in loamy soil, yet it is found here not to answer for outdoor culture, simply because it is not warm enough for their roots. A light or peaty soil, by reason of its warmer tendency, is thus preferred to a loamy one. In all cases the beds are elevated, and in many instances most ridiculously, as those at the Champs Elysées; but this is considered a necessary evil, in order to hide the singing restaurants, so plentiful in these gardens. In planting, particular |