A Late number of the Gardener's Magazine opens with a capital editorial upon new plants and flowers. It says, " a good old plant is always to be preferred to a bad new one, or to a novelty wanting in distinctness and manifest superiority."

It would be well for enthusiasts in floriculture, on this side of the water, to bear this truism in mind, and not to plant a new flower unless it embraces one or more well-marked characters not to be found in our old favorites.

It is not a sufficient recommendation for a novelty to be equal to our old standard kinds, but it must be better; or at least as good, with certain distinct characters.

The lover of greenhouse plants is enabled to make many fine additions to his collection, as some families of plants are especially rich in novelties. The Auriculas, one of the neatest of English florist flowers, has received several additions from Mr. Turner, of Slough. Some of these are Alpines, and stand the climate of England with impunity, but with us they are comparatively useless.

The Azaleas, so deservedly popular with every one who owns even the smallest sized glass-house, is recognized famously among the new plants. To such as make a specialty of this truly elegant flower (and what can surpass it for winter decoration?), we append the list, selected by the G-. M., as the cream of the novelties: Appollo, Comtesse de Beaufort, Comtesse Eugenie de Kerchove, Mad?lle. Van Houtte, Marquis of Lorne, President de Walle, Princess Louise. The pretty little hardy kind, called Azalea amana, has received an improved form which is highly extolled.

Very many of our readers are well acquainted with the Begonias; a genus well deserving of extensive cultivation for their beautifully colored foliage and numerous richly tinted flowers.

Of this latter class we desire to speak especially, as in all probability such will eventually prove to be among our very finest bedders during the summer months. So many new varieties have been introduced during the past season, that we cannot enumerate them all here, leaving the selection to the taste of our readers; but with the remark that, for window decoration all the year round, they will prove unsurpassed.

Cinerarias, a very pretty family of plants for the conservatory, have been increased in interest by the introduction of double flowering sorts.

We now arrive at one of the choicest garden ornaments of which we have any knowledge - the Clematis. Hardy, delicate and graceful in growth, with an abundance of showy flowers, we do not wonder at their well deserved popularity. Owing to the exertions of Messrs. Jackman, Noble, Cripps, and a few others, the new varieties, the past season, have been wonderfully fine; so good, indeed, that we do not know where to make a choice, nor what to leave out of a first class list.

Among those, however, of the greatest merit, we wish to call attention to Louis Van Houtte, Duke of Richmond, Stella, The Queen, May Queen, and Undine.

That old-time favorite, the Dahlia, has not received as much encouragement of late as was formerly its due. Still, however, quite a number of excellent kinds have been presented for approval of late, the following being among the best: Ovid, Miss Dennis, Miss Harris, Julia Davis, Mrs. Lervington, and Parrot.

The Gladiolus, now considered one of the best summer-flowering bulbs, seems to increase in popularity, if that was possible. Among the most careful raisers of this might be named the Messrs. Kelway, of England, and Souchet, of France. The former gentlemen have sent out, as superior to anything in their own lines of color, Captain Stucky, Harrison Weir, Lady Bridport, Mrs. Reynolds Hole, Neogene, Rev. H. Dombrain, Scopa, and Pythias.

One of the most satisfactory plants for decorating our empty greenhouse shelves during the summer months is the Gloxinia; a bulb that any novice may readily grow. The new varieties this year are " legion." The Gardener's Magazine says: " Those who buy all the new Gloxinias that are offered will do themselves no harm, for there is not a bad one in the market."

The Zonale Geraniums are decidedly fashionable, not only in this country, where they bloem so continuously beneath our hot summer sun, but all over Europe as well. In speaking of the novelties in this line, our authority says: " Rienzi, a scarlet of great sue and perfect form; Jessica, maroon crimson, in large globular trusses, and Zenobia, a bedder producing vivid carmine-crimson flowers, are genuine startlers, and carry forward the high type of zonales by a great bound." Only two of the variegated leaved varieties are mentioned, Henderson's Keepsake, a golden tricolor of fine constitution, and Mrs. Carr; the leaves are almost wholly white.

Poor old Hollyhocks, the pride of our ancestors, seem to have received the "cold shoulder" during the past year. A few new varieties, however, are offered by Mr. Chater, the celebrated grower; and we hope, for old association's sake, if not for their intrinsic value, these showy plants will still be grown.

Verbenas, it is said, are looking up; and the novelties in this class are mostly good, and some half-a-dozen new kinds are recommended. Many of the best growers in America, however, prefer raising their plants from seed - preferring health and vigor, to a certainty in color and size.

We close our remarks with the Rose; and here we find such a host of candidates, that to particularize might call down upon us some sharp criticism. Nevertheless, the new varieties are, in reality, less numerous than in previous years; and the Gardener's Magazine describes but five as the best, in its judgment, viz: Perpetuals - Jean Dalmas, Prince Paul Demidoff, Captain Christy, Baronne Vittat, Perfection des Blanches, Peach Blossom, Star of Waltham, and Beauty of Thames.

In Teas, Ophelia, clear yellow, and Shirley Hibberd, delicate nankeen.