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THE
AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN
A HANDY GUIDE TO
THE FORMATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE FLOWER GARDEN.
AND
THE CULTIVATION OP GAKDEN FLOWERS.
BY
SHIRLEY HIBBERD,
AUTHOR OF “RUSTIC ADORNMENTS FOR HOMES OF TASTE,” “ BRAMBLES AND BAT LEAVES,” ETC.
illustrate fcntf) Cutuure ©la trS antt WtQtfs <£nsraSmt(j£.
LONDON:
GROOMBRIDGE AND SONS, 5, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLXXV.
BARRETT,
LONDON :
SONS AND CO., PRINTERS, SEETHING LANE.
CONTENTS,
PAGE
INTRODUCTION . 1
CHAPTER I.
Foeming the Flo wee G-aeden . 4
CHAPTER II.
The Paeteeee . 15
CHAPTER III.
The Bedding System and the Plants eequieed eoe it . 83
CHAPTER IY
Cultivation oe Bedding Flants . 46
CHAPTER Y.
A Selection op Bedding Plants . 65
CHAPTER YI.
Haedy Boedee Flo wees . 94
CHAPTER VII.
A Selection op Haedy Heebaceous Plants . , . 1C3
CHAPTER YIII.
Tender Boedee Flo wees . 174
CHAPTER IX.
Haedy Annuals and Biennials . .
188
V
CONTENTS,
CEAPTEE X.
PAGE
The Eose Garden . . . 201
CEAPTEE XI.
The American Garden . . . 216
CEAPTEE XII.
The Subtropical Garden . 222
CEAPTEE XIII.
The Perpetual Flower Garden . . . 238
CEAPTEE XIV.
The Eockery and Alpine Garden . 246
CEAPTEE XY.
Flowers for Winter Bouquets . 256
CEAPTEE XYI.
The Making and the Management of the Lawn . . 262
CEAPTEE XYII.
Garden Yermin . 270
CEAPTEE XVIII.
Additional Selections . 276
CEAPTEE XIX.
Eeminders of Monthly Work . 280
THE
AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
INTRODUCTION.
ct Maud has a garden of roses And lilies fair on a lawn ;
There she walks in her state And tends npon bed and bower.
And thither I climbed at dawn,
And stood by' her garden gate ;
A lion ramps at the top,
He is clasp’ t by a passion flower.”
Tennyson.
A FLOWER garden is intended for tlie cultivation and display of flowers; "but any book npon tbe subject, however small, must treat of other matters, not as subordinate to the leading idea, but as necessary accompanying features. Hence, in the chapters that follow, some attention is paid to the shrubbery, the lawn, the walks, the greenhouse, and the window ; for to pass them by, in order to treat of flowers only, would be to court imperfection, while, to bestow over-much attention on them would be to thrust into a secondary place the very feature that should take the lead. It will be understood, therefore, that this book, though a very small cne, is at least comprehensive in purport, and aims at providing its possessor with useful guidance in tbe formation and management of the flower garden, according to the generally accepted meaning of that term. It might have been entitled, “ The Pleasure Garden in Little,” but its object and scope will, no doubt, be better understood by the simple and commonplace title that has been adopted. As gardens vary in extent, in charao
1
2
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
teristic features, and in the requirements of privacy in one place and public display in another, it is simply impossible, in a work of such limited dimensions and pretensions as the present, to attempt an exhaustive treatment, either of the whole subject, or any one of its more important constituent parts. It must be understood , then, that while the attempt is made to gratify a variety of tastes, and accommodate a number of different circumstances, a somewhat contracted boundary of the field of operations is kept in view from first to last. In other words, if this book should prove useful at all, it will be to such as possess what may be called “ homely” gardens as distinguished from great and grand gardens, and especially from gardens that are kept for purposes of show.
It is, above all things, necessary in a book of this kind, to recognize at every step the requirements of nature, and the best established principles of art as distinct altogether from individual taste and fancy. If it is herein stated that roses will not grow like house-leeks on tiled roofs, nor rhodo¬ dendrons in beds of chalk, those points must be considered settled, for they do not admit of discussion. But when it is further added that beds of roses do not assort tastefully with beds of geraniums, that coniferous trees are out of place in a flower border, there is room for difference of opinion, and the reader is at liberty to quarrel with the author to any extent, and set at nought every one of his advices and suggestions. Perhaps there will be less said about taste than practice in the following pages ; but it is a difficult matter to write on a subject which has occupied one’s attention, both as a business and a hobby, for a quarter of a century, and on many matters connected with which distinct opinions have been formed, without being occasionally betrayed into expression of those opinions, or, at the least, of indicating the direction in which intentionally-concealed opinions tend. On matters of practice, the practical man has within certain limits which propriety will point out, the right to dictate. On matters of taste, dictation is equally unjust and absurd. When we encounter subjects that divide opinions amongst those who study them, we must be careful to avoid dogmatism, and that spirit of self-satisfaction which would make “ I say” a law binding on all the world. But when the range of opinion is limited, and its limits are appreciable only by the aid of technical know¬ ledge, it is another matter, and the man who knows mny
TIIE AMATEUR S FLOWER GARDEN,
3
proceed to lay down directions for those who need them, provided he will always keep in mind to be correct, and explicit, and as brief and modest as possible. On these prin¬ ciples I propose to labour in the preparation of this and other works intended to follow it ; and I make the declaration at starting that, as regards principles, there shall never, through any carelessness on my part, arise the shadow of a mis¬ understanding between me and my readers. I shall have to deal chiefly with matters of fact, and hope always to have the discernment to keep them distinct from matters of fancy.
S. H.
GARDEN-SEAT BY DEANE AND CO.
CHAPTER L
FORMING THE FLOWER GARDEN.
Whatever the dimensions, the position, and the purpose of a flower garden, whether for private enjoyment or public dis¬ play, perfect success in its formation and management cannot be insured, unless a few necessary conditions are complied with. We may find examples in abundance of good and bad gardens, and shall not be long in making the discovery that a great display of flowers is not alone sufficient to afford the pleasure which a cultivated taste will always expect as the proper reward for the expense and care that have been incurred in its production. During the past twenty years there has been a constantly-increasing tendency to superficial glare and glitter in garden embellishment, to the neglect of the more solid features that make a garden interesting and attractive, not only to-day and to-morrow, but “ all the year round.” The magnificent displays of bedding plants in our public parks and gardens have, without question, favoured a false estimate of the proper uses of gardens in general. We have seen the development of an idea which, in consequence, regards private gardens as exhibition grounds, and tender plants of the geranium, verbena, and petunia type as their only proper occupants. hTow, it will be our business in subsequent chapters to treat upon the bedding system, and the plants that constitute its primary material elements ; but it is important here, with the question of forming the flower garden before us, to take note of the fact that the modern flower garden, as known to tens of thousands of persons, is a poor, ginger- bread-entity, ephemeral in respect of its best features, and while demanding but little talent for its production, offering an equally small return in the way of intellectual enjoyment. Before flowers are thought of, a garden should be provided for the sustenance of a suitable extent of shrubbery, grass-
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
5
turf, and other permanent features, to which the flowers will in due time serve for embellishment, and, in return for this service, have the advantage of a sufficient extent of leafage and verdure to heighten their beauties by harmonious sur¬ roundings. A garden rich in trees and shrubs, with ample breadth of well-kept lawn, will be enjoyable at all seasons without the aid of flowers. A few simple borders, well stocked with mixed herbaceous plants, such as primulas, pseonies, lilies, phloxes, hollyhocks, and carnations, would, in many instances, afford more real pleasure and ever- changing interest than the most gorgeous display of bedding plants hemmed in between two glaring walls, or exposed on a great treeless, turfless place like the blazing fire at the mouth of a coal-pit. But given the good permanent substratum, the well-kept garden of greenery, with its family trees and its interesting plants that one can talk to, and its snug nooks filled with violets and primroses, and its mossy banks that en¬ tice the early sloping sunshine, and its cool coverts, where ease may be enjoyed amid the summer’s heat, and then a brave display of flowers becomes the crowning feature. The argu¬ ment may be summed up in this — that flowers alone do not constitute a garden ; and when a garden has been provided to receive them, the display should be adapted in extent and character to the situation and its surroundings.
A considerable number of features are recognized as proper to a flower garden. In respect of formation and management, these may be considered as separate and distinct, and hereafter it will be necessary to isolate them. But in the general plan they should all be intimately related, as natural and necessary developments of a comprehensive idea. The outer boundaries of tree and shrub, the intersecting walks, the belts of ever¬ greens, the mixed borders, the air-inviting lawns — these com¬ bine in their relationships to create the want of a parterre ; and if the garden is one of ample extent, several distinct displays of flowers, or rather several little gardens, will be admissible in consistency, and may be desirable for the occupation and entertainment of the owner.
At this point it seems needful to unfold some elaborate plans, but it will be safer to say that the compass of the book does not admit of them, and that they would be more proper to a treatise on the “ Pleasure Garden,” which this is not ; for it is only one department of the pleasure garden
6
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
that really concerns ns. A few plans may, however, be useful here, as affording suggestions ; and we offer them with the qualifying remark that every separate garden needs a separate plan adapted to its dimensions and position, and therefore ready-made plans are but of secondary value. The two grand requirements of the design for a garden necessitate a special consideration of every special case. And what are those two chief requirements ? To my thinking, the plan of a garden should be such as to develop to the utmost the capa¬ bilities of the site, and represent the particular taste and fancy of the owner. Whatever is attempted should be within the possibility of a successful result, and no one should make difficulties without first counting the cost. At every step the wise gardener will ask Nature what she thinks about it. The result will be equal avoidance of mistakes and attainment of successes. Standard roses planted on grass turf, without any space of open soil around them, never thrive. Yet every¬ where we see examples of this ridiculous blunder, and entrance-courts that might be rich and stately are made hideous with the starving sticks ostentatiously stuck about the turf. Rhododendrons will not thrive in clay or heavy loam, yet everywhere we see them planted with laurels, aucubas, and such things, to last only as long as the ball of peat planted with them suffices for their support, after which they shrivel up, and, unless removed and burnt, disgrace the garden. Bedding plants, almost without exception, require to be fully exposed to sunshine, yet we see them planted in shady places, where they soon become sickly, and cease to flower, though those very same shady spots might have been made beautiful by means of flowers that need not full ex¬ posure to sunshine. Every garden design, and every project of garden furnishing, and every item of garden work, should be governed by the consideration that it is hard work to fight against Nature, and there is never a prospect of a conquest worth obtaining. Those who will aim at development of the capabilities of a garden will, in spite of the mistakes and misfortunes that attend all enterprises, be pretty sure to secure enjoyment in the end. Fortunately, if gardening is pursued with earnestness, every soil, every situation, the breezy hill-side and the smoky city, will be found to have some capabilities which art can turn to account by patiently accepting the teachings of Nature.
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 7
In laying out a garden, it is impossible to foresee wliat changes it may undergo as new wants arise, or as fancy, seek¬ ing a homely field of exercise, may dictate as “ improvements.” It is therefore well (except in particular cases that need not be provided for) to adopt in the first instance a simple plan that will afford a fair basis for after elaboration, as circum¬ stances arise to necessitate it. Such a plan, in skeleton, is here figured. It was drawn for a friend who had taken apiece of roiigh, low-lying meadow-land, on which to build a house and make a garden. It is drawn on a scale of fifty feet to the inch. D R is the drawing-room, the windows of which look upon a small neat lawn, dotted with coniferous trees and clumps of rhododendrons. T is the terrace ; F T, plantation of fruit-trees ; K G, kitchen-garden plots. The dotted lines show the course of the drain-pipes, the land falling away from the house somewhat rapidly. The conservatory, c, and the boundary borders, s, need not be remarked upon, but the other features demand a few words. In the first instance, the ground presented a steeper slope than was desirable, and being a clay soil heavily charged with moisture, the highest part was selected for the house, and that was raised con¬ siderably by means of the earth taken out for the foundation. Thus was formed the terrace, an excellent feature, for it com¬ mands an extensive view over a beautiful piece of country, which was scarcely visible from the same spot, until a higher level was obtained for the advantage of the house. The out¬ lying e H is an engine-house, which is quite excluded from the terrace view by means of a few trees planted for the purpose. The lawn is, of course, on a dead level, but beyond that point the ground falls gently to the boundary in the rear, where there is ample outlet for the drainage. Let us suppose now that the proprietor takes in another piece of land for fruit and vegetable culture, or gives up those things for the sake of flowers. The plots below are available for any scheme con¬ sistent -with the capabilities of the place. On the pieces marked F t may be formed a geometric garden, enclosed by clipped hedges of yew, arbor vitae, or by a fence covered with climbing roses. On the K G pieces may be formed a mixed flower garden for hardy herbaceous plants, roses, and flowering shrubs. And the extreme rear plot marked B B, for bush fruits, may be planted with a mixture of the most elegant low-growing, deciduous trees, to make a fringe of wood to
SKELETON PLAN FOR A VILLA GARDEN
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
9
mark the extent of the property without obscuring the view over the country from the terrace.
The next example is a complete plan, adapted to a peculiar conformation of ground. It represents a beautiful and inte¬ resting garden, the completeness of which has been arrived at
/\
COMPLETE PLAN OF VILLA GARDEN.
by means of successive alterations and expansions of the original skeleton plan. A few remarks on this will, no doubt, be acceptable to the reader.
In the formation of a garden plan, one of the chief requisites, a good supply of water, must be considered — and
10
TIIE amateur’s flower garden,.
within reasonable limits the more watering-places tlic better. Sucli are marked (w) in the accompanying plan. With the aid of connectable lengths of gutta percha pipe they are found sufficient.
The front garden being only separated from the liigli road by light iron railings, is principally stocked with evergreens, the border being filled with bedding plants. A screen of trees effectually divides the vegetable garden (kg) from the flower parterres and lawns (l);GE the gardener’s residence; H, a hawhaw, separating field and plantation from flower garden ; 11, in the centre of the plan, is a rockery, encircling a basin containing gold and silver fish, a raised central vase, and four¬ teen grouped fountain jets. A summer-house (s) is situate at the bottom of the garden next the field. From hence a view of the open country is obtainable, s R is a bed devoted to standard roses, d g shows a geometric garden situate near the greenhouse ; F is a fernery with rockwork arches. The circles on the lawns denote positions of favourite trees ; 0 is an octagonal greenhouse, in Crystal Palace style. In the centre are tables and chairs, and the gas being laid on, it is a favourite resort for summer evenings.
At the side of this conservatory is another fountain and fernery, the former being supplied from a tank hidden among the trees. A waste pipe in the upper vase, forms the means of supply to a small overshot water-wheel in the rockwork. From this wheel the water flows to a lower basin. Gisa greenhouse in connection with the residence — at one end is a collection of exotic ferns, ten jet fountains, miniature cascade and turbines — at the other end is an ironwork fountain, with ornamental basin.
The forcing and orchid-houses are to the extreme right, and hidden by a screen of trees and shrubs. A shows the position of American beds stocked with hardy rhododendrons, azaleas, kalmias, andromedas, and heaths.
The limits of this work will not admit of any elaborate disquisition on the principles of taste in gardening, or on the mechanism of garden construction ; but a few practical sug¬ gestions may prove useful to many readers who desire to form new gardens or improve old ones. It is desirable in the first instance to secure good roads and walks, good lawns, and good shrubberies, before thinking much about flowers. These three primary elements should be -.provided in the best form
tiie amateur’s flower garden. 11
possible, and with such a forecast of possible future operations that none of the work shall have to be undone during the remainder of a lifetime. The system of drainage should be ample, and all the measures adopted to remove surplus water from the ground should have their counterparts in measures devised for putting water on when required. Thousands of people can show us bright flowers in summer time, in juxta¬ position with grass turf burnt to the semblance of a worn- out mat. Generally speaking, bedding plants require no water after they have had good nursing for a fortnight after being planted, and the time usually wasted in keeping them watered might be better employed in flooding the grass periodically during droughty weather, with the aid of flexible hose, connected with a supply adapted to the purpose. Yery much is thought of a south aspect, but for the enjoyment of a garden from the windows, a north aspect is invaluable. You look out during the whole of the forenoon on the sun-liglited garden, from a cool, shady room, and nine-tenths of all the flowers that occupy the view turn their faces towards the window ; or, to speak more correctly, look southwards, and that practically is the same thing. Nor is it a small matter to have a shady piece of turf in immediate contiguity with the house, for conversation with friends, and for the games that are proper to the summer season. In arranging a garden with a view to the fullest development of its capabilities, it is well to remember that, as a rule, evergreen shrubs will thrive in partial shade, and a few of them in profound shade ; that flowers, as a rule, need the fullest exposure to sunshine, though the exceptions to this rule are many, while grass turf will thrive in sun and shade, if nowhere heavily shaded, and may be employed to connect and harmonize all kinds of scenes, from the highly artistic to the extremely rustic. It is de¬ sirable that every garden should present a few distinct features, or at least one feature, to give it a character of its own. The owner must determine this matter by a considera¬ tion of the possibilities of the situation, the nature of the means at command, and the particular taste to be gratified.
In respect of garden furniture, we can only find room in this chapter for reference to Edgings, and this subject we cannot pass, for trivial as it may seem, it is a source of much trouble and vexation. In open breezy places, dwarf box makes the best edging in the world, and the cheapest in the end, no matter what its cost in the first instance. If a green
12
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
edging is desired in a spot shaded by walls or trees, box is useless, but common evergreen euonymus will take its place tolerably well. Grass verges are beautiful, if well kept ; but they entail a lot of labour to keep them trim, and it is always a question if the time spent in clip — clip — clipping them might
not be devoted to something better. Well-made edgings of ivy have a solid, rich appearance ; but it would render a large garden heavy in character, and an example of a good idea overdone, to employ ivy edging everywhere. There are three sorts of substantial edgings available for different parts of the garden. If we consider the entrance-court first, we must have either clipped box, clipped yew, or bold sharp bands of ivy, or a handsome stone moulding, or its equivalent in some
imitative material, such as Ran- some, Rosher, or Austin can supply. These manufacturers turn out substantial edgings of artificial stone in an almost endless variety of patterns, from the extremely simple to the most elaborate, those of an orna¬ mental character being admir¬ ably designed. An immense variety of edgings are manufac¬ tured of tile, brick, and even glass, and these are more or less good, according to material, manufacture, and price. They are, as a rule, objectionably frail ; they do not make sufficient foothold to keep true in lino for any length of time, and they are apt to crumble to powder if a hard frost catches them immediately after heavy
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
13
ram or snow. The best cheap tile I have yet seen is one made for me by Mr. Looker, of Kingston-on-Thames, for supporting a border, which stands above the walk in an out-of-the-way part of the garden. It is in form an unequal triangle, nine inches high, and six inches broad, carefully made, and well baked. If set on a true, firm bed, it is practically immov¬ able, and proof against all weathers. The border it supports is planted along the front line with a number of half-trailing plants, which hang over the sloping front, and form a varied fringe of beautiful vegetation, quite hiding the low red wall of tiles, which gives the border its definite boundary. When costly edging kerbs are put down, it is advantageous to bed them on brick footings, the top line of which should be an inch or so below the level of the gravel. This adds to their strength and immobility.
In planting choice shrubs amongst trees, it is advisable to take precautions against that warfare of competing roots by which frequently the undergrowth of a plantation is killed out. In the use of shrubs worth special defence, the plan shown in the figure is admirable. Dig a hole of a suitable size, say to mea¬ sure a yard and a half deep, and a yard wide right and left ; case the hole with brickwork, and at a third of the depth from the bottom let in a platform of stone or elm planks. On the plat¬ form lay down a bed of broken pots, then fill up with suitable soil, and plant the shrub. The vacant space beneath the platform will prevent the roots of the big trees working up into the good soil provided for the shrub. This is a costly mode of procedure, but in a spot required to be richly furnished, it is to be recommended, because it insures, amidst large trees, a free undergrowth of the most beautiful evergreen shrubs, provided only there is light enough to keep them healthy.
It is usually required of a writer on gardening to point out
14
THE AMATEUR S FLOWER GARDEN.
how the principal features of a garden may be made to appear greater and grander than they really are. I feel bound to say that while I would insure for every reality a due degree of importance, I would, except in a few peculiar cases, oppose the introduction of deceptions of every kind. But it may happen that a fantastic screen to hide an ugly object may afford amusement to justify its adoption, and a humorous conceit in a garden need not be of necessity despicable. As an example, therefore, of a pardonable trick, here is a figure of a screen which bears the designation “ elephant trap,” in a part of a garden which overlooks a road that no one in the house desires to see. The trees in the scene are real ; but the contrivance is a delusion — the screen being flat, and the seemingly long winding path being taken up a gentle rise by a curve which lengthens it without seeming to do so. It answers its purpose, and that is one proof of merit.
AN ELEPHANT TRAP.
CHAPTER II.
THE PARTERRE.
Geometric gardens may be designed on paper by selecting some part of the pattern of a carpet or wall paper, or by placing a few bits of coloured paper in the debuscope, and then copying the multiple scheme so produced. Numbers of designs have been obtained in that way, and about one in a hundred have actually turned out worthy ; the rest were not worth the paper they were drawn on, unless it might be to make burlesque of the bedding system. It is a most rare event for a really complicated plan to prove effective, however skilfully planted ; and so I begin this chapter by advising the beginner to avoid the schemes which combine a great variety of figures, such as ovals, hearts, diamonds, horns of plenty, and true lovers’ knots. Elaborate designs are, of course, not to be contemned, for we find them constituting important features in many great gardens, and employing the highest artistic talent in garden colouring. It is above all things necessary, in an elementary book of this sort, to guard beginners against making costly mistakes, and the formation of the parterre is a business requiring more than ordinary caution to guard against waste of time and money, and all the consequent vexation and disappointment. In what we may call “ a quiet garden” of limited dimensions, a few large beds, far separated by well-kept turf will, in many cases, give far more satisfaction than a distinctive geometric scheme, and necessitate, perhaps, only a twentieth of the time and attention to keep them suit¬ ably gay, besides offering the peculiar advantage that each bed may be planted to produce an effect of its own without any special reference to the rest, so long as it is decidedly different. The common repetition of oblongs and circles which we meet with in public gardens, where long walks de¬ mand flowery dressings, is one of the most effective and satis-
16 tiie amateur’s flower garden.
factory, though always open to the accusation of an alliance with commonplace and monotony. On the other hand, the common repetition, on the margins of lawns in private gardens, of circular beds contain iug standard roses, surrounded by geraniums, verbenas, and other such stuff, is ineffective and puerile. Gardens embellished in this way have no character at all, they are mere confusions. Far better would it be to concentrate the energies which the “ pincushion” beds con¬ sume to a poor purpose, on a neat and reasonably circum¬ scribed parterre, which would constitute a feature and afford considerable interest. To be sure, it is easy to plant pincushion beds, because they are scarcely co-related, but a parterre de¬ mands' talent, and that is not always available.
In a majority of instances, geometric gardens are laid out on grass turf, and the green groundwork adds immensely to
the beauty of the flowers. In elaborately furnished gardens, a groundwork of silver sand, with box embroidery to define the outlines and fill in the angles, is employed in an open space set apart for the purpose, and the scheme is enriched with statuary, clipped yews, laurels, cypresses, and vases containing yuccas, agaves, or masses of ge¬ raniums. The working out of a great design in coloured earths and flower-beds is the most complicated, and, generally speaking, perhaps the least satisfactory, form of the parterre. It has this advantage, that, during winter, it affords “ something to look at,” but the corresponding disadvantage is that nobody wants to see it. A favourite idea with artists in this line of business is to draw out, on a gigantic scale, a group of rose, shamrock, and thistle in coloured earths and box embroidery, and while the thing is new it looks tolerably well; but the majority of people do not keep themselves sufficiently under control when tempted to indulge a smile as they admire it. Generally
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
17
speaking, tie design vanishes in summer, that is to say, when tlie oeds are full of flowers, the coloured earths that mark out, the design are so completely extinguished that, even with a key plan in one’s hand, it would be hard to see where the thistle begins and the shamrock leaves off, and where, amidst the confusion, the rose ought to be. The principal materials employed for the intersecting walks in these designs, are pounded Derbyshire spar (white), pounded brick (red), pounded slate (blue), pounded coal (black), sifted gravel grit (yellowish grey).
In planting the parterre it is as easy to make mistakes as in designing it, and the most frequent errors are the employ¬ ment of primary colours in excessive quantity and strength, and the neglect of neutral tints to soften it, and of brilliant edgings to define it. The stereotyped repetition of scarlet geraniums and yellow calceolarias is in the last degree vulgar and tasteless, and the com-
and blue are better adapted to delight sava¬ ges, than repre¬ sent the artistic status of a civi-
lours marks a great advance in taste, and strange to say, the most perfect examples of par¬ terre colouring we have seen of late years, have been accomplished by leaves solely, in scenes from which flowers were utterly excluded. Leaf-colours, however, are of immense importance in connection with flowers, as any good example of parterre colouring will prove. They afford
lized people. The increasing use of leaf co-
mon dispositions of red, white,
IS
the amateur’s flower garden.
material for boundary lines, for relief agents, and for marking the rhythm of combinations. Every scheme that is to be viewed as a whole, must be coloured as a whole, and with the object of producing a complete and harmonious picture. What¬ ever the nature of the materials employed, certain principles must be followed to insure a satisfactory result. The strong colours must be spread pretty equally over the whole scheme with neutral and intermediate tints to harmonize and combine them. The colours containing most light, such as yellow, white, and pink, should be placed in the outer parts of the design, to draw it out to its full extent ; and the heavier colours, such as scarlet, crimson, and purple, should occupy the more central portions of the scheme. The most difficult of all colours to dispose of satisfactorily is pure yellow, and its related tints of buff and orange. A bed of yellow calceo¬ larias in the centre of a group will be pretty sure to spoil it, no matter how skilfully in other respects it may be planted. But a few of the most conspicuously placed of the beds in the boundary of the pattern may be planted with calceolarias to assist in defining the arrangement. Bright and sharp edgings are eminently desirable, and it is a good point if the edgings are the same throughout, forming clear fillets of silvery or golden leafage, or some suitable flowering plant, which carries plenty of light in its colour. Objection may be taken to this rule, on the ground that beds containing plants that nearly approximate in tone to that of the general edging, will be spoiled if edged like the rest. But the objec¬ tion is superficial. When we cannot bring out the masses by means of the edgings, and it is desirable to have the boundary lines ahke all through, we must change our tactics, and bring out the edgings. For example, we are to suppose three beds filled with flowers. No. 1 contains scarlet < geraniums, and may be edged with a band of blue lobelia, and an outer de¬ fining line of silvery cerastium ; No. 2 is filled with blue ageratum, and edged with a band of Purple King verbena, with a finishing line of cerastium. No. 3 consists of Mrs. Pollock geranium and blue lobelia, plant and plant, with a finishing band of lobelia, and a boundary line of cerastium. Thus, in three extremely different cases, the final fillet is the same without violation of harmony or detraction from the pronounced character of the beds. It is a matter equally im¬ portant and interesting, that a perfect hypothetical balance of
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
19
colours is neither a good practical balance nor agreeable to the educated eye. A square yard each of red, blue, and yellow, whether in grass or gravel, will not make a telling parterre. But a block of blue, between two blocks of red, and all three banded with a silvery grey line or a sufficient breadth of green grass, might constitute an agreeable, though humble feature of a garden. It is well, indeed, in every scheme to allow one colour with its related shades to predominate, and to employ the others as relief agents rather than as features. Lastly, strong contrasts should not be indulged in often ; they are the antitheses of harmony, as you may discover by obser¬ vation. Thus we shall find two geraniums like Thomas Moore and Feast of Boses, the first intense scarlet, the second intense rose pink, produce a most delightful harmony when planted side by side. And again, Bonfire geranium, a dazzling scarlet, may be planted by the side of Purple King verbena, with the certainty of a rich and perfect combination. This much, however, must suffice on the subject of colour for the present ; but we shall have to return to it in connection with the plants required for the bedding system. If example is better than precept, the best part of this chapter is now to come, for examples are needed ; and the few selected are well adapted to illustrate principles.
The subjoined figure, p. 20, represents a panel garden, drawn to scale. It lies immediately below the terrace, and is approached by a flight of steps. On either side is a strip of grass, twelve feet wide, on the same level as the flower beds, and beyond that the ground rises in a grass slope (or ramp) to the general level of the lawn above. Two examples of planting this garden for a summer display will be given, and the first shall be a harmony in red. No. 1, Stella geranium, or an equally rich and heavy crimson scarlet geranium ; 2, 2, Blue Lobelia, and a golden-leafed geranium, such as Golden Banner ; 3, 3, a dwarf scarlet geranium, such as Attraction or Thomas Moore ; 4, 4, 4, 4, same as centre ; 5, 5, 5, 5, solid planting of a good rose-pink geranium, like Christine, or Feast of Boses. Nos. 4 and 5 being in the same boundary, and, in fact, one and the same bed, the scarlet must occupy the half nearest the centre, and the pink the other half ; 6, 6, 6, 6, Amaranthus melan- cholicus, edged with Centaurea ragusina ; 7, 7, Coleus Ver- schaffelti, with outer band of yellow Calceolaria ; 8, 8, same as 3, 3, and edged with blue Lobelia ; 9, 9, a pale pink gera-
Gravel
20
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
Grass
Slope
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
21
nium, such as Pink Muslin, or Rosa Queen ; 10, 10, Geranium Avalanche, which has white leaves and white flowers. The second example of the planting shall he a harmony in blue. No. 1, Petunia Purple Redder, or Spitfire, or Verbena Celestial Blue, edged with Cerastium ; 2, 2, Dwarf Scarlet geranium, edged with blue Lobelia ; 3, 3, a tricolor geranium, such as Sunset, or Louisa Smith, edged with blue Lobelia ; 4 and 5, in centre of each division of these compart¬ ments, about where the figures are placed, a circular dot of a brilliant scarlet geranium, such as Thomas Moore, or Lion Heart, the rest of the block filled in with blue Lobelia, finished with edging of Cerastium ; 6, 6, 6, 6, Geranium Flower of Spring, and blue Lobelia, plant and plant, edged with Ivy¬ leaved Geranium Elegant; 7, 7, a dwarf scarlet geranium, edged with blue Lobelia; 8, 8, Lobelia Indigo Blue, edged with Geranium Flower of Spring ; 9, 9, a lilac or rose-pink gera¬ nium, such as Lilac Banner, Feast of Roses, or Amy Hogg ; 10, 10, a dwarf salmon or orange-scarlet geranium, such as H. W. Longfellow, or Harkaway, edged with Cerastium.
The next example, p. 22, makes a poor appearance on paper, but in the fine large old-fashioned garden, where it embellishes the forefront of a lawn, it is a most effective arrangement, the beds being cut out on the grass, and all of them furnished to produce decisive effects. When the drawing was made, the beds were filled as follows : A, White Verbena, edged with Purple Verbena; B, Mangles’ Variegated Geranium, edged with blue Lobelia ; c, C, Lion Heart Geranium, edged with Flower of the Day ; D, Crimson Unique Geranium, edged with Flower of Spring ; E, e, Geranium Tristram Shandy ; F, F, blue Lobelia, and Cerastium tomentosum, plant and plant, edged with Cerastium ; g, Geranium Duchess ; H, Geranium Louisa Smith ; I, i, vases filled with Ivy-leaved geraniums, Gazanias, and Convolvulus Mauritanicus.
In further illustration of the principles of geometric colouring, a selection has been made of a series of schemes in the Liverpool Botanic Gardens, where Mr. Tyerman, the able curator, has developed this system of embellishment with peculiar completeness and success. The first of the series will indicate the value of geraniums, or, as they should be termed more correctly, zonate pelargoniums ; for the whole furniture consisted, in the season when these notes were made, of varieties of this class of bedding plants, with the exception, as will be seen, of a few trivial dots of calceolaria and verbena.
HOUSE
SCALE ONE FOOT TO AN INCH.
24
THE AMATEUR S FLOWER GARDEN.
The plans which follow, on pages 24, 25, and 26, will, it is hoped, be clearly understood by the aid of the accompanying enumeration of the plants employed in furnishing them.
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
25
1. Geranium Christine, and margin of 18 inches Peri] la. 2. Geranium Stella, and margin of 24 inches of Yellow Tom Thumb Tropseolum. 3. Centaurea ragusina and Amaranthus tricolor. 4. Geranium Bijou, and edging of 24 inches Verbena Purple King. 5. Verbena venosa and Viola lutea, mixed. 6. Geranium Gold Leaf, and edging of 12 inches Geranium Little David. 7. Geranium Lord Palmerston, and edging of 18 inches Tropseolum nanum punctatum (yellow with scarlet spot). 8. Geranium Diadematum, and edging of 18 inches Gnaphalium lanatum. 9. Geranium Queen of Queens, and edging of 18 inches Viola montana var. 10. Tro- pseolum Stamfordianum, and edging of 24 inches Verbena Ariosto. 11. Geranium Silver Queen, and edging of 18 inches Lobelia Paxtoniana. 12. Edging of Cerastium tomentosum. 13. Verbena pulcliella and Geranium Golden Chain, mixed. 14. Lobelia Paxtoniana and variegated Alyssura mixed.
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THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN-.
27
The next design, p. 28, will explain the principles of Par¬ quet colouring. It is the work of a talented head gardener in a large private establishment, who says of it : —
“ The planting and condition of this bed had many admirers. I do not claim any particular merit for it, although it was my own work ; because the position of the bed, and the restrictions under which that position place the planter, can only be known to those most interested in it. Still, the fact that many wish to copy it speaks well for the principles observed, and of the probability that it is worthy of imitation in other places. It is necessary to state that it was formed out of the middle of a broad stone terrace adjoining the man¬ sion. But a new wing being added to the house, and the principal window of that wing looking down upon the stone terrace, it was considered desirable to break up the monotony of the stone terrace by forming this parquet garden in the centre. The restrictions imposed upon the planter will be evident to the reader. As the principal windows are in the new wing, it is from that point from which the bed is viewed, and it should show all its features from that point without being distasteful to the eye when looked upon from any other. It was the opinion of many that the same plants and the same arrangement would look well as a double ribbon border in any position. The splashes of yellow introduced at the corners, cutting off, as it were, the sharp angles of the lines, were objected to ; but, for my own part, I never regretted that feature, because it broke up the stiffness of the arrangement, and it softened down the tones of the massive lines of Stella geranium. As a rule, angular arrangements are objectionable, but, as they must be sometimes adopted, this example may be useful in your series of bedding examples.”
The next examples, p. 29, represent the embellishments of an entrance court, which is remarkably well-kept, being richly stocked with coniferous trees, and the walls densely clothed with the choicest ivies. The central walk is flanked on each side with small grass-plots, on which are marked out oblong compartments and narrow scrolls as in the small figure. The ground- work is wholly formed of statuary marble broken to the size of hazel-nuts, and laid down on a bottom of concrete, to prevent the soiling of the white marble by worm- casts. The scroll is, therefore, produced in relief on a snow- white ground, and is planted thus : — A A, Golden Fleece
M. Mansion. ST. Stone steps. NW, New wing. W. Window, looking south. TV. Terrace wall.
1. Perilla nankinensis. 2. Cineraria maritima. 3. Geranium Stella. 4. Geranium Madame Yaucher. 5. Geranium Golden Chain, the flowers picked off. 6. Yiola cornuta. 7. Yellow Calceolaria. 8. Stone Kerb.
THE AMATEUR S FLOWER GARDEN.
29
Geranium; BB, blue Lobelia; 0, Alma Geranium. Tills scheme is admirably adapted for small gardens and entrances, and requires only ordi¬ nary skill to work it out successfully.
Immediately in front of the gate is a circle of grass turf, with standard bay tree in the centre, and four equidistant horns or compartments, as re¬ presented in the figure. The planting of this design is very
simple, but most effective. A is a bold clump of Perilla, forming the termination or mouth of the horn ; B, Flower of the Day Geranium, which is continued to the centre C, so that the design has but two prominent colours — purple-bronze
80
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
and creamy-grey, a subordinate colour being tbe cerise blos¬ soms of tbe geranium. Tbe effect of tbis style of planting is enhanced by the rich foliage of tbe evergreen shrubs in tbe adjoining borders, and its intense brightness is relieved by tbe pleasant view of a large and rich green garden beyond.
Space need not be occupied with ribbons and scrolls, be¬ cause of their simplicity in tbe first place ; and because, in tbe second place, the larger schemes include all tbe smaller ones, so far as principles and details are concerned. It may be remarked, however, for general guidance, that scrolls and ribbons must always be decisive in colouring, sharp and bright, and either strictly linear in arrangement, or so arranged that tbe Vandykes, crescents, and waving lines adopted are sub¬ ordinate to tbe primary linear arrangement, so as to sustain tbe idea of a scroll or a ribbon as tbe case may be. Plants of small growth are especially valuable for tbis work, which should be dense in planting of tbe very best materials avail¬ able for tbe purpose.
A curious and eminently pleasing style of massing has lately been adopted by Mr. Mason, tbe superintendent of Princes Park, Liverpool. Tbis is known as Tessellated colouring, tbe colours being repeated in small blotches, with sharp dividing lines to separate tbe groups, like a series of dotted ribbons placed side by side to form a connected piece. In tbis system, foliage plants are freely employed side by side with flowering plants, and tbe result is a rich mosaic or tessel¬ lated pattern extremely pleasing and interesting to look down upon, but wanting in decidedness when viewed from a dis¬ tance. Tbe examples figured occur on large breadths of green turf, which greatly aids tbe general effect ; in fact, gravels of any kind would be unsuitable for a groundwork, by tbe too near approximation of their colours to some of tbe oft-repeated neutral tints in tbe planting. It is of great importance to select for tbe purpose plants that are likely to continue good throughout tbe season, for a failure anywhere would be par¬ ticularly disastrous on account of its repetition in tbe form of a broad sprinkling of blank spaces amongst tbe flowers. It is not less important either to select plants of tbe same height, or that admit of being pinched back should any of them over¬ top their neighbours. Tbe schemes are explained in tbe enumeration of subjects employed in producing them. Tbe blank lines are planted tbe same as those they correspond with.
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
31
11788788788788788788788 7887:1
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if 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 \\
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Outside Row : 1, 1. Lobelia speciosa ; 2. Golden Chain Geranium, dwarf bushy plants. Second Row: 3. Geranium Miss Kingsbury, with flowers picked off; 4, 4. Geranium Little David. Third Row : 5. Calceolaria aurea floribunda ; 6, 6. Dark-leaved Beet. Centre Row : 7. Centaurea ragusina ; 8, 8. Pink Geranium (seedling).
Scale, 4 feet to the inch.
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First Roiv : 1, 1. Pactylis glomerata variegata ; 2. Geranium Little David. Second Roto : 3. Dark-leaved Beet ; 4, 4. Calceolaria aurea floribunda. Third Row : 5. Geranium Waltham Seedling ; 6, 6. Geranium Bijou, with flowers picked off. Centre Row : 7. Perilla ; 8. Large plants of Centaurea ragusina.
Scale, 4 feet to the inch.
A few words on leaf embroidery must suffice to close this chapter. An interesting and extremely beautiful example of this style of dressing was represented in a coloured plate in the Floral World for March, 1871. The reader, who can refer, will observe that it is equally well adapted for the
32
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
grandest terrace garden, or the quite humble and unpretending grass plot in a villa garden. It may be likened, in a general way, to a hearthrug or Turkey carpet pattern, though of course it must be less complicated, and the materials employed being chiefly leaf colours, blend in the same soft, warm manner, with more thorough distinctness in the several blocks of colour, because there are no green leaves to interfere with the unity of each. The most} useful plants for this work are coleus, alternantheras, the “ golden feather,” pyrethrum, cen- taureas, iresines, perillas, amaranthus melancholicus, and a few of the more distinct echeverias and sempervivums. It is the latest novelty in flower garden embellishment, but is des¬ tined, we cannot doubt, to become extremely popular because of its richness; the comparative ease and certainty with which satisfactory results may be obtained ; the long continuance, without change, of the colouring produced in the first instance ; and the oneness of colour in each separate line or block, the whole scheme improving as the season advances, without the possibility of the occurrence of those blanks we are accus¬ tomed to in the case of flowering plants, which are usually without flowers when planted, and are apt to go out of flower for a week or two in the very height of the season.
OHAFTEH III.
THE BEDDING SYSTEM, AND THE PLANTS REQUIRED FOR IT.
The “ bedding system,” as commonly understood, is an idea only half developed. It is very much to be feared it wiil never be known as a complete system, but that it is doomed to remain an example of arrested development, so far as the mass of the people are concerned. Let us consider for a moment the case of a geometric garden occupying a con¬ spicuous position, and intended as one of the principal, per¬ haps the principal embellishment of the garden. As a design in black earth, and green box, and grey gravel, its merits are not worth considering ; but we are always prepared to con¬ sider its merits in connection with its purpose, and will pass judgment upon it when filled with flowers, just as we would prefer to judge a picture-frame with the picture in it. Well, we will wait until the month of May. By the end of that merry month of flowers the beds are all filled ; but the plants are puny bits of things, and must have time to “ make them¬ selves.” So we will wait until June. By about Midsummer- day, a pretty fair sprinkling of flowers will be seen in the geometric garden, and we may then make an estimate of its artistic value as a design, as well as of the skill employed in planting it. From Midsummer-day to Michaelmas- day, when usually the first autumnal frost occurs, the best of the summer bedders are extremely gay. For just three months, in fact, a few days more or less, according to the season, the parterre planted agreeably to custom is brilliant in the ex¬ treme, and for the remaining nine months of the year it is a dreary blank. It is like a display of fireworks, glorious while it lasts, but “ere we can say, ‘Behold how beautiful’ fitis gone,” and the darkness that follows is rendered more pro¬ found by contrast with the light that dazzled us. Yet, for the sake of this temporary glory, ten thousand gardens, that
3
54
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
would otherwise have been rich in attractions of a permanent character, and comparatively exhanstless in interest, have been reduced to the condition of manufactories, and the summer show, as a proof to all observers of what the factory could produce, has been considered sufficient return for the sacrifice of all that should make a garden at once a training- ground for mind and morals, and a recreative feature of the house itself.
The bedding system has its uses as well as its abuses. In many a place it operates injuriously, by contracting the ideas of those who profess to love their gardens, and absorbing energies and appliances for the accomplishment of paltry results, which might be devoted to purposes conducive to the production of a really enjoyable garden. But for its own particular purpose, and in its proper place, with liberal sur¬ roundings, and with means for its proper vindication, the bedding is not only invaluable in its present imperfect state of development, but worthy of all the energy and thought it may demand for its completion. Its one grand defect admits of the most perfect remedy, but every step in the remedial process is attended with expense and labour. To be sure, it is not possible to have a display of flowers in open beds the whole year round, but there may be four displays of some kind in the course of twelve months. From March to May, the parterre should present a succession of masses and lines of spring flowers ; say crocuses, tulips, forget-me-nots, scillas, iberis, alyssums, pyre thrums, pansies, daisies, and polyanthuses. Then should follow the summer display of geraniums, verbenas, petunias, and the rest of the generally accepted furniture. At the instant of these declining in beauty, early- flowering pompone chrysanthemums, brought in from the reserve ground, might be planted in their places, to make a brilliant display from the middle of October to the middle of November. Then the spring display must be prepared for by planting bulbs and herbaceous plants, and a few beds, and centres of beds, might be left wholly or partially vacant in this planting, in order to be filled with showy evergreen shrubs carefully lifted from the reserve ground, or grown in pots for the purpose and plunged. The programme here sketched out is not strictly like the blind man’s fiddle that he made “ out of his own head,,, for the author has carried it into effect and kept it going for years, and has thus tested and tried all its capa-
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
85
bilities and difficulties. In all well-kept gardens, the parterre should be planted at least twice a year, namely, in May for the summer display, and in October for the spring display. The employment of chrysanthemums for autumn, and ever¬ green shrubs for winter, demands much space, makes much labour, and needs very nice management, whether the system of planting or plunging be resorted to for the sake of con¬ tinuous enjoyment of “a gay garden.” Considering a dis¬ play of spring flowers to be absolutely necessary, it will bo proper to offer a few practical remarks on the course to bo pursued by those who would secure it at the least possible cost, and with the best possible result. Having disposed of that part of the subject, the summer display will demand attention.
The most useful materials for a display of spring flowers are to be found amongst the hardy bulbs. The kinds on which we must chiefly depend for the principal effects out of doors are the crocus, snowdrop, tulip, and hyacinth. Where* required to be used in large quantities these may be had in distinct and striking colours, and of good quality, at very cheap rates. It is most important for people who really wish to do the best with their gardens, to know that a show of spring flowers does not necessitate extravagant outlay ; for though we may spend five-and-twenty pounds upon a single tulip, and five pounds more to grow it properly, as good an effect may be produced, if the embellishment of the garden is all that is required, by a bulb costing one penny, and an additional farthing for the expense of cultivation, inclusive of labour, manure, and rent. Nevertheless, there is a popular dread of bulbs for use on a large scale as ruinously expensive.
There is also another difficulty, and that is, that gardeners wish to deal with them as with summer bedders. The latter they dispose so that all shall be in bloom at the same time, and they want to do the same with a collection of bulbs, but Nature is against them. It is a very easy matter indeed to plant the several sorts of bulbs so that their blooming at different times is a positive advantage, whether in continuous borders or in beds that constitute groups all under the eye at the same time. For instance, in a geometrical garden laid out on a lawn within view of the drawing-room windows, all the beds that correspond with each other in the pattern can be planted with the same kinds of bulbs, so that when.
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
36
these are in bloom there will be the same harmony of arrange¬ ment as if the beds were the same throughout. A simple scheme will make this plain : suppose a set of eleven angular beds on a lawn as here represented, the gardener’s object may be to have several kinds of bulbs in bloom all at the same time, and that is just the very thing that cannot be accom¬ plished. But for months together there may be abundance of flowers in rich masses, without any lop-sided anomalies, as the planting of the beds will show : —
Scillas and Daisies.
Yellow Crocuses and Pansies.
Scillas and Daisies.
|
Early Tulips and Polyanthuses. |
Early Tulips and Polyanthuses. |
|
|
Mixed Hyacinths with Arabis and Alyssum. |
||
|
Early Tulips and Polyanthuses. |
Early Tulips and Polyanthuses. |
Scillas and Daisies.
Yellow Crocuses and Pansies.
Scillas and Daisies.
It will be seen that it matters not whether the various plants employed bloom altogether or in succession, each separate class will be in bloom in its own season, and yellow crocus on one side will have a match in yellow crocus on the other, and the same with all the rest. But this simple scheme may be improved by using all the smaller bulbs as edgings to the larger beds. Suppose them all edged with snowdrops, then early in the year the whole scheme will be gay with white flowers. Next the snowdrops plant crocuses, and as the snowdrops go out of bloom these will succeed them ; then as the crocuses decline, the hyacinths and tulips, form¬ ing the principal masses, will come to their full splendour, and the season of spring flowers will be prolonged almost to the time for turning out summer bedders. There are numbers of early-flowering herbaceous plants suitable to plant with the bulbs to make masses of verdure all the
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
37
winter, and a rich surfacing of flowers in the spring, and at the proper time the beds should be cleared of these and the bulbs together, for the customary summer planting.
The supposed expensiveness of bulbs, that deters people from using them largely, is a most injurious fallacy, for they are by no means so costly as supposed. But there is another impediment, and that is the supposition that the soil must be prepared in some mysterious manner with elaborate com¬ posts, and processes which few understand. Now the simple truth is, that for all the bulbs and herbaceous plants com¬ monly used for masses in the flower garden, the only prepa¬ ration necessary is to break up the ground well and manure it moderately, leave it a few days to settle, and then plant. If the soil is wet it must be drained ; but that is necessary for everything else cultivated in it. Scarcely anything worth having will grow in ground where the drainage is not either naturally or artificially sufficient to remove surplus water quickly, so that the soil is never more than reasonably moist. All the bulbous-rooted plants like a rich sandy soil, but there is no occasion for composts, and all tedious operations are unnecessary.
Now as to the cost. All the best bedding tulips may be obtained at from five shillings to nine shillings per hundred ; and the most expensive kinds will never cost more than four shillings per dozen. A reference to any of the bulfy catalogues will show that if good colours are the desiderata without reference to the peculiar excellence of varieties delicately striped or finely formed, a few pounds will go a long way to make the garden an agreeable attachment to the house during the early months of the year, instead of, as it too often is at that season, a dreary wilderness. In all the bulb catalogues u mixtures ” are advertised at a cheap rate. When these mixtures are in distinct colours they may be very useful for those who are obliged to make the most of a small outlay. But mixtures of colours are objectionable in geometric arrange¬ ments, and in this scheme we should admit only one mixture, and that would bo of hyacinths. If we were to plant a set of beds like those in the scheme above, we would have the edgings of snowdrops and crocuses all through. The two crocus beds we would also edge, by planting blue crocus inside the line of the snowdrops ; all the rest of the beds we should make the second line of yellow crocus. The four
38
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
corner beds we should plant solid with S cilia siberica. The four tulip beds should be of four kinds only, the bulbs five inches apart all over, and the hyacinths mixed thus : —
|
Early Tulip, |
Early Tulip, |
|
|
Brutus |
Belle |
|
|
Rectifie. |
Alliance. |
Mixed Hyacinths.
|
Early Tulip, |
Early Tulip, |
|
|
Belle |
Brutus |
|
|
Alliance. |
Rectifie. |
The principles which govern the use of bulbs in solid masses do not strictly apply to their use in borders. Here they can be used in close lines as ribbons, or in distinct clumps, which are better than lines certainly. Compare a line of snowdrops or crocuses with a set of clumps, and the latter will always be pronounced the best disposition of them. As the different kinds of bulbs bloom at different periods, there will be the same succession as in beds, and the places for each will be determined by height only — say for front line clumps of snow¬ drops and Scilla siberica, nine inches apart all through ; behind that front row clumps of yellow crocus ; behind that again, clumps of blue and white crocus, not mixed, but distinct and alternating ; then hyacinths, and for the back row early tulips.
With the exception of hyacinths, all the bulbs we have named will increase in value every year if planted in a sound, well-drained, well-manured soil, and the more sandy the soil the better. They should be planted before they have grown much, and be taken up when the foliage is decaying, and be laid in some shady place covered with a little mould to ripen before being stored. Crocuses and snowdrops need not be removed every year, but once in three years. They should
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN*.
39
be taken up, the ground should then be trenched and manured, and the bulbs planted again. Borders appropriated to a dis¬ play of these in spring may be sown over with annuals with¬ out injury to the bulbs, and to render a yearly lifting of them unnecessary. As to hyacinths, they rapidly deteriorate unless subjected to careful systematic cultivation. As a rule, the best plan is to purchase a fresh supply every year, and throw away those that have flowered. The other kinds of bulbs do not deteriorate if carefully managed as bedding plants. One more remark may be worth making, it is that all the most valued bulbous and tuberous rooted plants thrive amazingly well in the smoky atmosphere of great towns.
We will now briefly indicate a few of the more important points that require consideration in connection with the sum¬ mer bedders. To begin with, we must divide these into two classes — 1, those that produce effect by their flowers ; 2, those that produce effect by their leaves. In the first section the most important plants are Verbenas, Petunias, Calceo¬ larias, Lobelias, Lantanas, Heliotropes, and Tropseolums. In the second section the most valuable subjects are Coleus, Amaranthuses, Alternantheras, Iresines, Perillas, Centaureas, Cerastiums, Gnaphaliums, Pyrethrums. From the great family of Geraniums (zonate pelargoniums) we can select plants for both classes, and so far as they serve the purposes required by the flower and leaf colours, they are without question the most useful bedding plants in cultivation. But the question arises what constitutes a bedding plant ? Before attempting an answer to this question, it must be remarked that although such noble subjects as Agaves, Yuccas, Cannas, Humeas, and Beaucarneas, may be employed to enrich the parterre, our chief concern now is with the plants employed in flat colouring, for such are the bedders proper. This con¬ sideration suggests the limits within which we may select plants for bedding. They must be decisive in the colour of leaf, or flower, or both; they must be of comparatively dwarf habit, or admit of being trained close to the ground to pro¬ duce the same effect as dwarf plants ; and they must present the appearance which renders them valuable as agents in colouring for a considerable length of time, and the longer the better. Other qualities we need not make note of. It is evident that a plant selected for its flowers will prove but a poor bedder, if those flowers are presented in a succession of
40
TIIE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARBE1T.
efforts with considerable intervals between. Hence, antirrhi¬ nums and pentstemous, which, as garden flowers, are most beautiful, cannot be considered valuable bedders. Pyrethrums flower too early for the summer display, and phloxes flower too late. A vast enumeration might be made of plants com¬ monly regarded as bedders, that really do not belong to the category ; but it is sufficient to say that given all other need¬ ful qualities, continuity of effect, whether by leaves or flowers, is an indispensable quality. Here we light upon an interest¬ ing distinction between such as we may call flowering plants, and such as we may called leaf plants. Under the best of circumstances, we must wait for the first, for even if we plant them in full bloom, the change of conditions consequent on planting will soon cause them to cast their flowers, and some time must elapse ere they produce a succession. With leaf plants, the case is quite different. They show their colour from the first, however weak it may be, owing to the smallness of the plants ; and they improve every day. With flowering plants, the first display is of green leaf, with accidental dots of colour. With leaf plants, the first display is the same as the last, save and except as to intensity. If a verdict as to relative values must be given here, the leaf plants must have it certainly, and the latest fashion in leaf embroidery will amply justify this preference of leaves to flowers for colouring of the richest and most artistic character. As, however, it will be long ere the leaves drive out the flowers, the last must have attention in these pages, without regard to their possible eclipse in years to come, or the great probability that, after all, the flowers may be in the end triumphant.
The shortest and simplest way of making a display of bedding plants is to buy them when wanted, and dig them into the beds as manure when the autumnal rains have spoiled their beauty. And it needs to be said that this is not so extravagant a mode of procedure as it appears. To be sure, the plants will cost money, and the outlay must be repeated every season, so long as bedders are required. But those who raise their own plants, and keep up a stock for bedding’, do not obtain their results for nothing. They must employ skilled labour, and make use of glass, and burn fuel, and occupy space for a mere manufacturing business which, if judged from any high standpoint, offers but little to interest the enthusiastic horticulturist. The system of purchasing
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
41
and destroying will suit those who have no glass, and it may suit many who have, because, by setting free labour, glass, fuel, and ground-rent from the production of bedding plants, the means may be found to grow pines, grapes, mushrooms, melons, the very noblest stove and greenhouse plants, and many grand conservatory plants which are quite unknown to those who find in geraniums and calceolarias the sole objects of horticultural care, and the only worthy subjects of horticultural enthusiasm. It is quite a question whether thousands who grow their own bedding plants do not pay more for them than those who purchase annually. However, it is our business to help both parties, and we close this paragraph by remarking that, without a sufficiency of glass, it is next to impossible to carry out the bedding system with home-grown plants, and a regular routine of cultivation must be followed to enable the planter, in the month of May, to fill the parterre according to the arrangement predeter¬ mined on. It happens, fortunately, that a few simple directions on cultivation will apply to nearly all the bedders enumerated above, and these may very properly be presented in the next chapter.
It remains now, to complete this section, that a few remarks of a general kind should be offered on the distribu¬ tion, and proportions, and relations of the colours employed in the furnishing of the parterre. The reader will not need to be informed that a tasteful display can only be obtained by a judicious employment of the materials at the command of the planter. They may be sufficient for the production of the most artistic effects, and yet may be made subservient to mere vulgarity, or to a meaningless expression of weak harmony, unless they are proportioned and disposed with skill. Let us, therefore, consider the whole case in a comprehensive manner, though a few of our remarks may be but amplifications of points already succinctly stated.
All our general views of "Nature afford us hints of the laws by which the disposition of colours should be regulated. But particular views are still more instructive to the artist. Let us behold the meadows in the month of May, and rejoice in the golden glow of buttercup blossoms with which they are overspread. What does the sight consist of ? You will be disposed to answer, perhaps, that it consists of a green groundwork covered with dottings of yellow. And you are
42
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDES.
right therein ; but it will be observed that in the foreground the green is of great breadth, and some intensity — that, in fact, it is a more distinctive feature than the yellow. But look at the mid-distance. There the green groundwork is subdued in tone, and the yellow has gained in strength, so much so that the green is almost overpowered by it, and we call it — properly too- — “the field of the cloth of gold.” But now, observe the background. If the field extends to a suffi¬ cient distance from the eye, its farthest boundary is a sharp bright line of gold ; the green groundwork is lost altogether ; the buttercups, which near our feet are scattered so that between every two or three tufts of flowers there are distinct hummocks of grass, are in the far distance packed so close as to present to the eye a solid golden band reaching across the field, and which, if there is a copse or a heath beyond, looks all the brighter and sharper by contrast. That these different appearances of the field are delusions, need not be explained. We see the distant buttercups at a lower angle than those that are near, and the gradual strengthening of the yellow, and weakening of the green, as the eye ranges across the field, are phenomena resulting solely from the different angles at which each successive distance is viewed : we look down into the grass at our feet ; we look along the surface of the whole vegetation as we glance to the distant parts of the scene, and the horizontal line of vision passes through all the buttercups, and does not touch the grass at all.
We can agree on two points — first, that the' change from a predominance of green to a predominance of yellow is per¬ fectly natural and easily understood ; and, second, that it affords immense delight to the eye — so much delight, indeed, that the most fastidious colourist amongst us could scarcely wish for a finer effect than is every year produced by every meadow that is weli sprinkled with buttercups. Now, what is the idea of that scene when considered artistically ? The idea is, that one colour may dominate, may make other colours subservient to it, and so afford pleasure to the eye. We have a hint here of the value of what may be called dominant colouring, and which in bedding displays may be worked out to grand results. Let us suppose we have to colour a group of panel beds, or a geometric scheme on a terrace. By selecting one strong colour to determine the tone of the whole group, we secure, in the first instance, an idea ;
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
43
that idea makes itself expressed in a feature ; and the result will be, gratification of a higher order than would result from a disposition of colours without regard to any principle at all. It will, of course, greatly depend upon the nature of the design to be painted, the nature of the surroundings, the degree of grandeur of the buildings, walks, lawns, and so forth, how this idea is to be applied ; but an artist in colour will not be long in determining anywhere. Probably in nine- tenths of all the private gardens, the best colour to take tlie lead all through a complete scheme would be scarlet. But it does not follow that, if we select scarlet, we are to use no other colours. Nothing of the sort. It is to be understood, in such a case, that scarlet is to rule ; that there are to be several shades of scarlet lending aid to each other ; and that other colours are to come in as dividing lines, separating blocks, boundaries, and relief agents — all these being so used as to lead the eye to scarlet, and again to scarlet, claiming for themselves no importance whatever.
Suppose, for the sake of illustration, we proceed to plant a group of beds, beyond which there is an enclosing ribbon border. We may have in the centre a neutral tint for the purpose of helping the eye to range over the whole design without being drawn to the centre by any undue attraction. If we make the centre yellow, we ruin the scheme ; the eye is drawn to it — fixed, and charmed, and spell-bound by it ; it wars against the predominance of scarlet, and the idea with which we begun is already trodden under foot. But we may have there a variegated-leaved geranium, and one of the creamy section will be preferable to a white leaf. If more colour than a creamy leaf variegate would afford were re¬ quired, some soft shade of scarlet, or red, or pink, would answer admirably ; and a reddish-lavender, puce, or rose, would be admissible. The outer beds all through, in which the great leading features of the design are made manifest, should be in the strongest tones of scarlet; and, if the pattern has some complicated fillings up, relief colours will be wanted in them — not for the purpose of introducing as many colours as possible, but solely to help out the expression of the whole; and give the scarlet its full importance as the one colour to which every other is subservient. For inter¬ mediate dots and relief-agents, however, rosy-purple, yellow, white, and even blue, will be admissible ; but the purple will be.
44
TTIE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
most suitable for relief wliere any considerable breadth of colour is wanted, to separate large blocks of scarlet, or to fill any odd portion of a design which, like the nose on the face, has no relation to any other corresponding feature, but serves to separate and systematize them. For distinct dots, blots, angles, and small fillings-in, yellows and blues will be in good taste ; and, if well used, will help to bring out the good pur¬ pose of the design.
For the edgings of the beds there will be an admirable opportunity for the free use of gold and silver leaves. Sharp white, creamy, or amber lines bordering the whole will be in better taste than edgings of all colours ; yet, in a group of scarlet beds, two or three styles of edging are admissible, if very distinctly arranged, so as to balance every part of the design ; and, of course, the larger the scheme, the more various may the edgings be, and on them will depend in a large measure the picking out of the design, so as to enable the eye to apprehend and appreciate it from some point of view fairly commanding the whole.
To colour the enclosing ribbon in the same way as the beds would show a poverty of invention, not a deficiency of taste. Scarlets with relief agents are perfectly admissible there ; but tones of red and purple, and an outside edging differing altogether in character from the edging in the beds, will be preferable. We will suppose that the only yellow in the beds occurs in the form of small dots, and is therefore inconspicuous. For that very reason, a yellow edging to the enclosing ribbon will be quite appropriate. It would be the reproduction of the golden fillet which the Assyrians and Egyptians used so successfully in their bold red colourings. For the second line, say three shades of red; then a bold, sharp line of white, grey, or pale blue. If the breadth of the ribbon needed more lines, three shades of red might be em¬ ployed again, with a finishing line of something bold enough to make a definite boundary.
It is not pretended that there is anything new in this method of colouring. There is nothing new under the sun. It has been Nature’s mode of procedure ever since the first day of creation. The earth has shown to man, for his delight, successive breadths of dominant colours — white, primrose, and yellow in the spring and early summer ; orange, red, and crimson in the full summer ; russet, brown, bronze, and pur-
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
45
pie in autumn. Look at tlie heathy hills in July and August, and how do they compel all the dots of green, aud red, and white, in the adjoining meads and hedgerows, to become sub¬ servient to their own vast and wonderful sheets of crimson, which the ling then clothes them with, as with a garment of fire ! Or look, in spring-time, at some of the moist grass lands of the southern counties, when the lady’s-smock is in bloom, and how the snow-white vesture takes to itself a stripe of green as a girdle, and a sprinkling of yellow globe flowers as gold tassels and trimmings, the white still predominating, and by that fact making a deep and joyful impression on the mind of the beholder. hTor is it in any case hard to carry the idea into effect in planting ; it is, indeed, most easy. It makes the routine of bedding more simple than when it is inspired by untaught fancy, and does away with all those difficulties that beset mosaic painting, where one of the chief objects is to establish a balance of all the colours.
“ Light and air
Are ministers of gladness; where these spread Beauty abides and joy : wherever life is There is no melancholy.”
f
CHAPTER IV,
CULTIVATION OF BEDDING PLANTS,
One of tlie principal reasons why, in many instances, bedding plants are slow in making their proper effect, is that they are preserved during winter in greenhouses constructed for better purposes. A house suited for camellias, azaleas, and heaths, will not suit bedding plants well, unless they are placed on shelves very near to the glass. Abundance of light all the winter long is one of the most important conditions, for if the plants are far removed from the glass, they become attenuated, make long weak shoots, and suffer considerably when planted out, no matter how favourable at the time the weather may be. Moreover, when housed with proper green¬ house plants, they are generally kept too moist and too warm, and the result is that they grow when they ought to rest, and are in a tender state when the time arrives for planting them. The best place for the hardier kinds of bedding plants, such as geraniums, petunias, and verbenas, is a well-built brick pit or greenhouse, with very low roof, in which the plants can always be kept very near the glass, and the management of which, as to temperature, moisture, and air, will be considered with reference to the bedding plants, and not with reference to other things that may be mixed with them. To describe plant houses in detail is no part of the purpose of this book ; but it is necessary to the completeness of a practical con¬ sideration of bedding plants, to offer examples of houses adapted for their preservation. The first shall be the simplest, and the cheapest possible — a good useful pit, costing five or six pounds at the utmost. The wTalls are four-inch brick¬ work ; and in order to make them more secure against frost, as well as improve their appearance, a bank of earth, one foot wide at the base, and sloping upwards to the sill, might be thrown against them, and neatly turfed over. The furnace
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
47
is sunk “below the ground level, in a pit at the end, as indicated by the dotted lines, which communicates with a flue running along the inside of the front wall to the chimney. A movable brick should be let in at a and b, for the purpose of cleaning the flue. A common furnace, such as is used for a small copper, will do ; and the furnace-pit should be covered with a
SCALE f » i t 1 t 1 i — * — \ _ FEET
folding lid. On the top of the pit- walls is a wood sill, 4| inches by 2J inches, and cross-bars to slide the lights upon; the whole covered with three well-glazed lights. The plant stage inside the pit may consist of simple boards, which can be raised or lowered, according to the wants of the plants, by placing them on blocks of wood.
The figures on page 48 represent a suitable pit designed in detail in order to simplify the labour of production. It is estimated that the whole cost should not exceed £25, and, when carried out, would form a complete multum in parvo for the gardening amateur. Fig. 1 represents the ground-plan and section of warm-pit, in the back of which is a path, Jcy a bed for tan or leaves, a, in which roses, lilacs, azaleas, rhodo¬ dendrons as well as a supply of hyacinths, narcissus, etc., may be forced during the dull months of winter ; and in summer, achimenes, gloxinias, and many of our finest stove- plants may be grown, as well as a few pots of strawberries on
48 THE amateur’s flower garden.
GROUND PLAN .
TIIE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
49
shelf b. The roof is a fixture, but ventilation is secured Vy three openings back and front, c, each 18 inches by 9 inches, over which slide boards in a groove. The boards are connected together by means of a stout wire, running from one to the other, with a handle at the end, so that all may be opened or shut at once by merely pulling or pushing the handle. The ends of this part may be either all brickwork, or the front wall returned ; and above that may be glass, according to the taste of the builder. The latter would be the best-looking plan, but would cost a trifle more than brickwork. Atmos¬ pheric heat is obtained from two four- inch hot-water pipes cl, the flow rising at cj, and the return descending to boiler at i, and flue formed with nine-inch drain-pipes. Wherever an elbow occurs in this kind of flue, it is well to use a few bricks, covering with a pavement, the removal of which at any time will enable a flue-brush to be got in for cleansing the flue. It is also to be remembered that a flue always acts best when the furnace is sunk considerably lower than the line the flue traverses, otherwise the air stagnates in it, and causes the smoke to rush out at the furnace-door. For the heating, a very small boiler will do. There will be 36 feet of four-inch pipe, two elbows, one syphon, and a supply-cistern, 9 inches square, for fixing at h, required for Fig. 1 ; also, two diminish¬ ing T-pieces, one stop-valve l, one two-inch syphon, and 18 feet of two-inch pipe, for Fig. 2 ; a furnace-front and bars, and small soot-doors placed opposite the principal flues for convenience of cleaning from soot.
For the building must be provided 4000 red bricks, 250 white bricks for floors, 10 feet of coping-bricks, one chaldron, or 36 bushels, of lime, and three loads of sand, and 20 feet of 9-inch drain-pipe for flue and chimney.
Fifty-four feet of wall-plate, 4| inches by 3 inches, for the various roofs to rest upon ; arid if the ends of the pit, Fig. 1, be only bricked up as high as the front-wall, and the rest part glass, about 14 feet more will be required ; also, for the jambs and lentels for two doors, 34 feet of the same scantling, making about 102 feet.
For the roof of Fig. 1, 180 feet of sash bars, at 8 inches apart, will be required ; and about 40 feet of 3 by 4 J -inch scantling, to lay into the walls as bond-timber for the pitch of the roof and ventilators. About 32 feet of 1 by 9-inch board for shelves b , u , and ventilators, c, five iron brackets,
4
?0 THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
ditto, a few feet of spline for ventilators, and -f-inch iron rod for the same ; a ladder o for stoke-hole, one door and thres¬ hold for potting-shed, Fig. 8 ; also, one door, partly glass, and threshold for Fig. 1, two stakes and two pieces of rough hoard for potting-hench m ; 70 feet of scantling, 2f by 3 inches for spars to roof of Fig. 3 ; a few feet of pantile lath for ditto, and 100 pantiles ; three well-glazed 2-inch lights for Fig. 2, which can be bought ready-made and seasoned of any of the hothouse builders, these being the only parts, excepting the door for Fig. 1, that require a first-rate joiner to execute ; 100 feet box of glass of the exact size required can also be obtained without difficulty, and will leave plenty in hand for repairs. Anti-corrison paint, the best for out- door work, with directions for using, can also be bought with the glass, as well as a stone of putty, or the latter can be made by any labourer, but is better if made some time before using. A window of some kind, which will serve for lighting Figs. 3 and 4, must be provided.
In constructing the back wall remember to turn an arch where the boiler is to be fixed, to prevent the necessity of weakening the structure by cutting away ; also, to see that at least one of the hot-water pipes has a saddle cast upon it, for supplying moisture to the atmosphere, f p, g, and the dotted lines, Fig. 4, indicate the position for the boiler, furnace, and ash-pit under the building.
It will be convenient, in this place, to say a few words about the multiplication of plants from cuttings, for by that method nine-tenths of all the bedding plants grown are pro¬ pagated. By far the greater proportion of plants that are multiplied by cuttings require artificial heat. Nevertheless, cuttings of many tender plants may be struck in the open ground, or in pots and in frames, without heat, during summer, and in every case the mode of procedure is nearly the same. Very much of what we have to say will be applicable to summer propagation without artificial heat, though our busi¬ ness is more directly with the propagation of plants in spring by means of the heat of a tank or a hot-bed, because that system must be resorted to with many bedding plants, and requires more care than propagating in the open ground during summer. We must suppose the heat to be sufficient and constant. If from fermenting material, there should be a large body of it in a nicely-tempered state. There is nothing
THE AMATEURS FLOWER GARDEN.
51
so good as a tank, for the operator Las thus complete com¬ mand over Lis work, and can enjoy tLe comfort of a warm Louse wLile attending to Lis duties. As a rule, a bottom- Leat of GO0 to 70° will suffice for all kinds of bedding plants that are struck from cuttings. A temperature of 80° to 90° may be used by persons who Lave Lad much experience, but 70° should be the maximum for beginners. In a subsequent chapter the raising of plants from seeds will be treated in detail ; and for that reason this method of procedure is in this section only referred to casually.
Plants to be propagated from in spring should be in a free-growing state, because the best cuttings are those of shoots newly formed, and the worst those from shoots of last year. If therefore the plants are not freely growing, the propagator must wait for them ; and to pro¬ mote free growth, the temperature of the Louse should be kept at from GO5 to 70°, with a moderate amount of atmospheric moisture, and as much light as possible, so that the young shoots will be of a healthy green, and with short joints. Sup¬ pose we look over a lot of fuchsias that have been some time in a warm house, we shall find them full of cutting of fuchsia. little stubby side-shoots all ready
to hand, without demanding any particular skill to remove them. Select one of these plump shoots, of an inch or an inch and a half long, press the thumb against it, and it will snap away “ with a heel” — that is, with a thickened base, the separation taking place at the point where it issues out of the old wood. When you have removed it, it will probably have such an appearance as in the subjoined figure. All that this re¬ quires for its preparation is to remove the bud which has just started near the base of the cutting, so as to leave a sufficient length of clear stem to insert the cutting in sand firmly. When so inserted, and kept moist, warm, and shaded, roots will soon be formed at the base ; and as soon as the roots have begun to run in search of nourishment, the top of the shoot
52 the amateur’s flower garden.
will begin to grow, which is the sign for potting off. Eat suppose we have a chrysanthemum instead of a fuchsia. This will have a mass of tender shoots rising from the root, and
there is no need to take any of these off with a heel. With a knife, a pair of scissors, or the thumb-nail, remove a small shoot of not more than three or four inches in length — two inches will be sufficient. This will probably have some such aspect as in the figure. All the preparation this re¬ quires is the re¬ moval of the lower leaf, to make a suffi¬ cient length of clear stem for inserting it in silver sand. Or suppose we have instead ahard-wood- ed plant of robust growth, and which is known to be easily rooted, then wo may venture to take a still larger cutting. The figure on p. 53 is a side-shoot of Vero¬ nica Lindleyana ; it consists of four joints, is young, the wood not yet hardened, and needs no preparation at all, because there is a proper length of stem for its insertion. In the case of plants having large fleshy leaves, it may sometimes be need¬ ful to crop off half of every leaf except those next the top bud ; but, as a rule, as many leaves should be allowed to remain as possible, because the more leaves that can be kept alive while the cutting is making roots, the quicker will it become a plant. No definite rule can be given on this head to guide the inexperienced. It all depends upon how many leaves can be kept alive. If the cuttings are to enjoy a brisk heat, say 70°, with plenty of atmospheric moisture, then nearly
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN,
53
all tlie leaves may be left entire, and especially if the cuttings are in a close propagating frame, or under bell-glasses. But if they are likely to be exposed to draughts, if they are placed in pots or pans in an ordinary greenhouse, and, therefore, subjected to evaporation, the leaves must be reduced in number, and all the larger ones must be cut half away.
Another matter of importance in making cuttings is to determine whe¬ ther they are to be rooted from a joint or not. Most cultivators prefer to cut the shoot quite close under a joint, so as to obtain roots from that joint. But there is no occa¬ sion to cut to a joint; any plant
ordinarily propagated for the garden, will root as quickly from the “ inter¬ node” — that is, the portion of stem intermediate between two joints — as from the joints themselves. This is of great importance when cuttings are scarce : as a shoot will often fur¬ nish half-a-dozen cuttings, if taking them at a joint is of no consequence ; and only one or two, perhaps, if taking them at a joint is imperative.
The size of the cuttings is a matter of great importance. As a rule, the smaller they are the better. Still, if very soft, many may damp off unless very skilfully handled, so the amateur must secure them moderately firm, cutting of veronica. Three or four joints will generally
suffice of most things, or say nice plump shoots of from one to two inches long. If young side-slioots are scarce, longer shoots may be cut up in lengths of three joints ; and if it is a question of raising the largest possible number of plants from the fewest cuttings, then one joint and its
iURGA'iOOl) CLKUU I IGkMlY UJ'Ml lLLL\OlitO
54
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
accompanying leaf will suffice. Suppose we have a shoot of a verbena placed in our bands to make the most of it ; we shall first cut it into as many lengths are there are joints, leaving each leaf untouched, and to every joint as much stem as can be got by cutting just over instead of just under the joints. Then with a sharp knife we split each of these joints in half, so as to have one bud and leaf to each split portion, and from every one of these we expect a good plant.
The most convenient way of disposing of the cuttings is to dibble them into shallow pans filled with wet silver-sand, as fast as they are prepared. The best way for those who may have to leave the cuttings in the pans for any time after they have formed roots, is to prepare the pans with crocks for drainage, and over the crocks to spread an inch of chopped moss or peat torn up into small shreds, or cocoa-nut fibre dust, and then fill up to the brim with clean silver-sand. The sand should be quite wet when the cuttings are inserted ; and when they have been regularly dibbled in with the aid of a bit of stick, or with the fingers only, it should be placed where there is a bottom-heat of GO0 to 70°. A temperature of 80° is allowable when time is an object, but at 60° better plants may be grown ; in fact, there is generally too much heat used. From the time of putting the cuttings in heat till they begin to grow, the temperature must be steady, and there must be regular supplies of water. But water given carelessly will surely entail losses. Probably the sand will retain sufficient moisture for eight or ten days, without need¬ ing to be wetted beyond what reaches it in the process of dewing the leaves. To dew the leaves neatly and timely is one of the most important matters. For the amateur, to whom a few minutes is no object, the best way is to dip a hard brush in water, then hold the brush beside the cuttings, and draw the hand briskly over it. This causes a fine spray to be deposited on the leaves, to prevent flagging ; but if the water is given from the rose of a watering-pot, the cuttings,, if small, may be washed out of their places, or may be made too wet.
A valuable contrivance for propagating plants in a sitting- room, or in a greenhouse, is the Propagating Case of Messrs. Barr and Sugden, of which figures are subjoined. It consists of a frame containing a bed of moist sand, on which to place the pots, and a boiler beneath, which is heated by a cjolza
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
55
lamp or jet of gas. It is an elegant hotbed in miniature, and will be found as entertaining as it is useful in the multiplica¬ tion of bedding plants.
PORTABLE PROPAGATING PRAME.
Less difficult, but of far greater importance to the amateur, are the methods adopted for propagating plants during the summer and autumn. A few amongst the bedding plants may be multiplied by simply dividing the roots and planting again in a shady spot, or potting the divided pieces in small pots in which they are to be wintered for planting out in the parterre the following spring. But a majority of the most useful plants are multiplied by cuttings during July, August, and September, and are thus well rooted for storing in pits and frames during winter. In every case that admits of this practice it should be adopted, both because it occasions the least amount of labour, and insures far better plants than can be obtained by propagating in spring. The most important of the subjects requiring to be propagated in summer and autumn are gera¬ niums and calceolarias. The first of these may be planted in any open border in the full sun, but it is better to prepare a somewhat sandy plot of ground in a partially shaded spot, for although the fiercest heat of the sun will not kill geranium cuttings, it is not altogether beneficial. Prepare the cuttings from ripe stout shoots, rather than from the softest green shoots, though if you begin in July, the softest shoots may be rooted if favoured with a little extra care. Cut them into pieces
56
TIIE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
averaging* three or four inches in length, and remove only as many leaves as will make half the length of the stem hare for inserting in the ground, remembering always that the more leaves that can be kept alive on cuttings, the more quickly will the cuttings root. Insert them firmly in the soil, and as close together as possible, so that their leaves do not over-lap. While dry weather continues sprinkle them with water every evening for a fortnight; and thenceforward, until they are taken up, do not give them a drop. In the cool autumn the cal¬ ceolarias should be propagated, but in a somewhat different manner. The best plan is to prepare for the cuttings beds of light rich earth, consisting, for the most part, of leaf-soil, or peat, or thoroughly decayed stable manure in a pulverized condition, with a considerable admixture of loam and sand. The situation of the bed should be dry and sheltered, and it should be covered with a frame ; or, better still, makeup a bed in a brick pit, with a view to leaving the calceolaria cuttings where they are first planted for the winter, as there is no necessity for potting them if they can be protected from damp and frost, as they are almost hardy. In great establishments, where hundreds of thousands of bedding plants of all kinds are used, the greater part are struck and wintered in pits which rise only one to three or four feet above the ground level, and have the aid of hot- water pipes sufficient to keep the contents safe from frost. As a matter of course, whatever cuttings of tender plants are struck in the open borders must be taken up and potted for preservation through the winter, and this should be done as early as possible after they have made good roots, and before they begin to acquire a luxuriant growth in consequence of the warm autumnal rains. The small earthenware boxes and frames known as “ Lendle’s 99 and “ Looker’s,” which have been described and eulogized in all the horticultural periodicals, are worthy of all the praise that has been bestowed upon them, for they can be employed to assist in summer propagating, and for preserving nearly hardy subjects through the winter, and for raising seeds on sunny borders in spring, and for many other purposes of the utmost importance to the amateur, and especially such an one as cannot boast of capacious plant-houses and endless ap¬ pliances in aid of cultivation.
The great demand for space in greenhouses and pits is a matter of consideration in every garden where bedding plants
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
5 7
are cultivated. The practitioner will not proceed far without discovering that it is a matter of the greatest importance to make the most of the daylight that can be obtained in com¬ bination with shelter. Various contrivances are resorted to with this object, and of necessity rectangular receptacles of some sort or other take precedence of circular ones in the economy of space. Bedding plants thrive in a most satisfac¬ tory manner in all their earlier stages of growth in shallow- wooden boxes, and in many cases these may be obtained from the household store free of cost. In any case the boxes should be comparatively small for convenience of lifting, but the only important point is that they should be shallow, say, averaging four inches in depth, or six inches at the utmost. Having command of waste boxes and waste cardboards in considerable quantity years ago, we adopted a mode of combining the two which resulted in a great saving of both space and labour in the propagation and preserving of bedding plants. We must endeavour to explain the method, because to many a reader it may prove invaluable.
In the diagrams on p. 58, the first represents the box ready for use. Each compartment is filled with suitable compost, say, loam two parts, leaf-mould one part, sharp sand one part. The little seedlings or newly-struck cuttings are planted in the divisions singly, and at planting-out time each plant is pre¬ sented to the hand in a single square block ; there is no divi¬ sion necessary, not a fibre as fine as gossamer need be injured or disturbed. The sides and bottom of the box are wood ; the divisions are thick cardboard. Suppose a fig box with the bottom knocked out. How, across the bottom, at each end, nail a strip of wood. Hext cut a piece of thin wood to make a loose bottom, the full size of the box, and drop it into the box to rest upon the two slips. Suppose the cardboard divi¬ sions next inserted, then, by turning the box on one side, and placing both hands against the loose bottom, as in Fig. 3, a little pressure with the fingers wmuld thrust out the loose bottom and the cardboard divisions. The two slips over which the hands pass remain firm, because nailed down to the bottom edge of the box. You have only to suppose the divisions filled with plants, and Fig. 3 wmuld explain the process of “ turning out” not one from a pot, but fifteen from a box. The bottom being loose, yields to the pressure of the hands, just as the large crock in the bottom of a pot yields to the pressure of a
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
59
finger if the pot is inverted. But the contrivance is not used in such a way at all. It is so engraved in order to convey an accurate idea of its construction. When full of plants it has hut to he lifted on to a hrick and the surrounding sides drop down and leave the soil divided hy the pasteboard in the most handy position possible for operations. These pasteboards are all that remain to be explained. They are first cut to fit the box, and then are slit half-way so as to fit together firmly, the short cross pieces being slit from the side which forms their bottom edge, and the long pieces from the side wdiich forms their top edge. As they fit together firmly, each divi¬ sion remains intact to the last. Then, to liberate each block for planting, the cross pieces are successively removed, which frees the outside blocks, and, lastly, the two long slips are re¬ moved and the remainder are ready. Those who suppose this to be a frail affair are mistaken. The cardboard will last two seasons, and the wood- work a life-time. Any sized box that can be lifted easily when full of soil can be employed in this system of plant culture, but as it is well to name a size, it may be understood that they should be eighteen inches long, ten inches wide, and five inches deep. This will allow of divisions three inches square, in which a very large amount of soil may be placed. Those who can obtain waste card, which is largely produced in some businesses, may grow all their bed- ders in this fashion. Probably zinc would be equally manage¬ able, but not having tried it, we name it only at a rude guess.
Having got into winter work we present here figures of a frame suitable for keeping calceolarias, the silvery-leaved cine¬ rarias, and the centaureas, if placed in a dry and shel¬ tered position ; with pro¬ tective cover to keep out frost, and a rack within which the mats, or frigi- domo, used during win¬ ter may be stored away neatly, and covered with the glass lights placed sloping upon it. The pro¬ tective frame is made the
size of a frame-light, with diagonal braces, and bound at the corners with iron hoop ; and at each end is a small chain with
CO tiie amateur’s flower garden.
T link, to drop into a staple fixed in the frame or pit, by which means the frames are secured in their places. The
scantling of timber used is 2 inches by 1\ inch, upon which is strained stout canvas, projecting a little over one edge of the frame so that, when more than one is required, the projecting edge laps over the next light, and keeps the wet from going be¬ tween. After it is strained upon the frame, it should be well painted — the frame should have been painted before. The rack, upon which the lights are stored when not in use, may be made to hold any number required. The timber used for the rack must, of course, be of much larger scantling than that for the frames.
Preparations for planting out must be made early in the spring. Plants that are tall and gawky must be cut back. Plants that are in a crowded, starving state in pots or boxes should be shaken out and potted separately. Plants from
THE AMATEUR S FLOWER GARDEN.
61
which, cuttings are to he taken should he put into a warm place, to promote a free growth of young shoots for the pur¬ pose. Plants that are comparatively hardy should be taken from the greenhouse and other warm places to cool pits and frames, where they may he inured to the air hy degrees. At last, when the weather is favourable, about the end of April, or a week later, a regular movement must be made for a general “hardening off” of the entire stock. Begin with calceolarias and other nearly hardy plants. Pollow with the hardiest of the geraniums ; and, as the season advances, pro¬ ceed until the ten derest plants, such as coleus and alternan- thera, have been turned out. But, where are they to go ? Common pits and frames of the roughest sort will answer the purpose, and even old boxes on which boards can be laid may be turned to account, because while the sunshine and the air is mild, the plants are to be fully exposed ; but are, at first, to be covered up at night, and during great part of the day, if the weather is unkind. Here is a figure of a “ cradle ” for hardening plants, and as it is the best contrivance of the kind in use, it will be proper to explain its construction. The cradle is four feet ■wide, and of any length required. The sides and ends are formed of deal planks, nine inches wide. These need not be planed, but a little neat carpentering will render them more durable, as well as more sightly. A bar of scantling forms the top, or ridge, and a similar bar is fixed on each side to form the slope. The bed is covered with clean gravel or coal-ashes, and on it the pots are placed. For cover¬ ing, mats or cheap canvas may be employed ; and it is a small task, night and morning, to cover and uncover, and give a little water to the plants if they require it. As a rule, how¬ ever, one part of the hardening process consists in keeping the plants rather dry, that they may the better endure the change of temperature consequent on their first expeTience of out-door life. A cheaper cradle may be extemporized by means of posts and nets, as shown in the figure on the next page.
62
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
It is the common belief that bedding plants require no preparation of soil for their well-doing out of doors ; and to that belief we may attribute a large proportion of the failures that occur, especially in unfavourable seasons. In peculiarly kind summers, when showers and sunshine alternate, and no extremes of heat or cold occur, the shortcomings of the cultivator may not be made manifest ; but in such a summer as 1860, when there was no sunshine, but continuous rain instead; or in such summers as 1868 and 1870, when there was not a drop of rain for months together, but tropical heat instead — then it is that real cultivation is plainly distin¬ guished by its results from the slipshod pretence of cultiva¬ tion that begins with a hoe and ends with a rake, and knows nothing of the soil at one foot depth from the surface. The fact is, flower-beds need frequent deep stirring and periodical
manuring, and the several beds, in a scheme for which many sorts of plants have been prepared, should be severally pre¬ pared to receive them. This direction imparts an air of com¬ plication to the business, but we cannot twist nature to suit the indolent gardener. We must keep the truth in view, and advise those who cannot growbedding plants to do without them altogether ; for a shabby geometric garden is one of the shab¬ biest of shabby things to be found amongst the demonstrations of pretentious gentility. But the special preparation of every bed for the plants it is to receive is not so serious an affair as it looks. The fact is, the best general preparation is. a deep stirring of the soil at every change of crop, and the incorpo¬ ration — a week or two before planting, if possible ; but, if not, immediately before planting — of a sufficient dressing of manure for the plants tlrnt require it. Free-growing plants
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
63
of robust habit, such as geraniums, do not require manure, unless the staple soil is exceptionally poor. Succulent plants, such as echeverias and sempervivums, will do better in a poor soil than a rich one, and may be aided by the addition of1 sand and broken chalk or plaster to the plots they are to fill. A few peculiar-habited plants, such as calceolarias, verbenas, and lobelias, really require a rich and very mellow soil, and the beds they are to be planted in should be dressed with well-rotted hot-bed manure and leaf-mould some time in advance of planting.
The distances at which the plants are placed in the beds must be regulated both by consideration of their habits and the requirements of the cultivator. In town gardens that are required to be very gay during June and J uly, and may be anyhow in the later months of the summer, the bedding plants should be crowded in the beds to produce an effect quickly. In gardens that are not likely to be seen until August and September, thin planting may be practised, and all flower-buds must be picked off as fast as they appear until about six weeks before the “ opening-day.” In the generality of gardens, the plants should be put so close that they may be expected to meet by the middle of July. This method will/ allow of the taking cuttings at the end of July without serious damage to the beds ; but it is always prefer¬ able to have a reserve of all the more important sorts in the reserve ground expressly to cut from, so as to avoid even a temporary diminution of the splendour of the parterre in the very height of the season. It is the custom in some gardens to take cuttings, in a wholesale manner and all at once, in the early part of August ; and the result is, the beds for a fort¬ night afterwards look as if they had been mown for hay, and for the next fortnight they look so green and flowerless that they ought to be mown again. It is astonishing how many absurdities belong as it were of necessity to the bedding sys¬ tem, though of necessity they are all extraneous to it. As for taking up and storing before winter returns, only one remark shall be made. Take up in good time, and pot and house with care, whatever is worth keeping and is really wT anted. But make no scruple of destroying whatever is not worth keeping, or is not wanted, and let the destruction be accom¬ plished in a quick and cleanly way. Our way is, to pull the plants out and lay them in a heap, then to remove the top
64
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
soil of the bed, and throw in the heap of plants, and dig them into the second spit or undercrust, and then to return the top soil, and at once plant bulbs for spring flowering. This is better, we think, than storing up the plants in a heap to poison the atmosphere, or than allowing them to remain in the beds after their (beauty is past — a bugbear to the eye, and a testimony of slovenliness. Tastes differ, and “ every one to his taste ” is a motto that very well suits a land of liberty and a nation of gardeners.
CHAPTER Y.
A SELECTION OF BEDDING PLANTS*
The preceding chapter has disposed of all the general matterg in connection with the cultivation of bedding plants, and it now becomes necessary to enumerate the principal subjects employed in bedding, and offer a few practical observations on their characters, uses, and the most convenient modes of culti¬ vating them. The alphabetical arrangement adopted will facili¬ tate reference, and it is hoped the very brief hints on selecting and multiplying the several varieties will be found sufficient, in connection with advices offered elsewhere in these pages.
Agebatum. — This is one of the most popular plants, and is especially useful for ribbon borders, for the contrast of its grey or bright blue flowers with scarlet geraniums or crimson petunias. All the varieties may be raised from cuttings in spring ; but it is far better to raise from seed, as they occasion less trouble, and, as a rule, maintain their character suffi¬ ciently for practical purposes. A. Mexicanum , the species originally cultivated, has of late been greatly improved in a series of dwarf varieties. The dwarfest of them is Tom Thumb , which, in ordinary soils and situations, does not exceed six inches in height. It is most valuable for edging purposes where a band of pale blue is required next grass or gravel, and for panel beds, because of its neat habit. It, however, is hardly robust enough for very poor soils. Im¬ perial Dwarf usually attains a height ranging from six to nine inches, and is remarkably neat and compact in habit. It can be employed as a first or second row plant, or as a centre in small beds. Prince Alfred is rather taller than either of the preceding, and is therefore more valuable for large beds or ribbon borders, excepting for outside rows. The seed should be sown in a gentle heat in February, and when the plants are well established in the small pots in which they
5
66
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
are put from the seed pots, they must be stopped, to induce them to produce side-shoots and form bushy specimens by planting-time.
Alternanthera. — This genus presents us a series of lovely little plants with red, crimson, or orange-tinted leaves, which are valuable for edging flower-beds, and eminently so for leaf- embroidery. They are tender plants, and require more than ordinary care in their cultivation ; hence it is not unusual to hear them spoken of slightingly as comparatively worthless. As to planting them, it is utterly useless to put out plants that are not much larger than “ darning needles for, if they grow at all, the summer wflll be past before they can fill the space allotted to them. To insure bushy little plants by the end of the spring, the cuttings should be struck moderately early in the autumn, and wintered near the glass in a stove or warm greenhouse ; during the early spring months, after the plants are potted off separately, they can be growm in a comparatively cool temperature. It is not necessary to pot them off in the autumn, and a few panfuls of cuttings take up but little space. When the propagation of the bulk of the stock is deferred until spring, it is difficult to strike the cuttings early enough to afford the plants sufficient time to attain their proper size by the planting- out season ; to force them in much heat will render them less able to battle with unfavourable weather when first put out in their summer quarters. It is also important to plant them in beds situated in a warm sheltered situation, and they do much better if the surface of the bed is elevated a few inches above the general level. The best of the varieties is A. magnified. It combines the vigour of growth of A. paronychioides with the rich leaf¬ colouring of A. amcena , both of which are good. A. spathulata and A. versicolor are of little use for outdoor work.
Amaranthus. — The most popular plant in this section is A. melancholiacs , with beautiful claret-coloured leaves. The scarcely-known A . tricolor presents the most brilliant leaf colours of any plant in the garden, but is peculiarly tender and is rarely seen well grown. A newer variety, called A . eleg antis simus, equals tricolor in beauty, and is somewhat more vigorous in habit and more constant in colouring. They are all raised from seed, which should be sown in March in a gentle heat, and the seedlings pricked out into pans and boxes a3 soon as they are large enough to handle. They may be
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
67
sown in April and May, for planting out after early-flowering annuals, and for succeeding other subjects that do not last the season through. It is of the utmost importance to obtain good seed and to sow plenty of it, for in spite of the greatest care in saving the seed a large proportion of the plants of the two last-named kinds will be so poorly coloured as to be useless for bedding purposes ; but when the seed is saved carelessly not more than twenty-five per cent, of the produce will be of any use. When they are strong enough for potting off, destroy all that are entirely green, and pot the others off separately. The exact number of plants required should be determined upon, and thirty per cent, more potted than will be wanted, to allow of that number of the worst being dis¬ carded at the planting-time. By carrying out this plan, the plants with the most richly-coloured leafage only need be planted ; and as no other plants suitable for bedding purposes possess such gorgeous leaf- tints, the appearance of a well- filled bed is most magnificent. A. melancholicus always comes true from seed, and is one of the easiest plants to grow that was ever seen in a garden.
Beet is not to be considered a desirable plant for the flower garden, but as it is often used, it must have a place here. The best for the flower garden are Dell's Crimson and Barr's New Crimson Leaf. Both are compact in growth and rich in colour. The roots are of fair average quality, and can be used for salads, in the same manner as the varieties usually grown in the kitchen garden. The seed can be sown in the beds early in May, or it maybe sown in a cold frame in April and transplanted into the beds when the other bedders are put out. Beds filled with beet should have a broad edging of centaureas or variegated geraniums, to prevent anything but a level surface of leaves of the beet being seen. The soil should be dug rather deeply to enable the roots to strike down, or the roots will be forked and of no use for culinary purposes. The Chilian beet, excepting for wildernesses, is worthless, and should not be grown.
Bouvardia. — A small bed of mixed sorts has a very pretty effect, especially if a few plants of the blue-flowered Plumbago capensis are mixed with them. The bed in which the Bou- vardias are to be planted should be ' prepared, if practicable, as advised for the Lantanas, and strong bushy plants should be put out. They are usually propagated in July, and potted
G8
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
off when nicely rooted into three-inch pots. Then by the middle of March they are strong enough to be shifted into pots one size larger. We stop them about three times during the period between their being potted off singly and their being put out in the flower garden, and by the end of May they are usually bushy little specimens and begin to flower at once. In the autumn a dozen or so are taken up and carefully potted and placed in a warm greenhouse, wThere they bloom profusely throughout the winter. The best for the flower- garden is B. angustifolia , which is of no use for the winter. Brilliant , cerise; Belicata , pink; Elegant , scarlet, and Hog aril i> scarlet, are also good.
Calceolaria. — The chief fault of the calceolaria is its in¬ constancy. It is not uncommon for all the calceolarias in the country to perish about the middle of July, leaving the par¬ terres they should have adorned with masses of golden flowers, abominably ugly with their withered stumps, or, at the best, obnoxious blanks. In the experimental garden at Stoke Newington the cultivation of this plant has received consider¬ able attention, and it is believed that every difficulty expe¬ rienced by amateurs may be overcome by the adoption of the system of cultivation which will now be recommended. The only varieties suitable for bedding are those of decidedly shrubby habit, which produce comparatively small flowers. Those that have somewhat soft stems, and large leaves and large flowers, partake too much of the characters of the herbaceous section to be fit for battling with the vicissitudes of outdoor life, and, moreover, they always produce their flowers in a series of efforts, and not continuously. The proper time to propagate them is from the middle of Septem¬ ber to the middle of November, when they do not require heat ; but they may be very quickly multiplied by cuttings in a gentle heat in spring ; and if the summer is favourable to calceolarias, spring-struck plants do well, though they do not begin to flower so early as those struck in autumn. There can be no better method of procedure than to make up a bed of light soil, consisting of such materials as leaf-mould, sweep¬ ings of a manure heap, half-decayed moss, and the sandy stuff thrown out of pots in the potting-slieds. The bed should be in a frame or pit, within a foot of the glass, or on the border of a cool vinery or peach-house, as near the glass as possible. Prepare the cuttings from soft side-shoots, and plant them.
THE AMATEURS FLOWER GARDEN.
69
firmly in the bed, about three inches apart, and keep them regularly sprinkled to maintain their freshness until they are rooted, after which they will require but little more atten¬ tion beyond watering, ventilating, and protecting from frost. They must be wintered rather dry, and have plenty of air, or many will perish. There is yet another extremely simple, but most effectual, method of procedure. Its first requisite is a greenhouse, or pit, which is sufficiently heated to keep out frost. In this structure the bed is to be made up near the glass, of some such light kindly soil as recommended for the frame. Leave the plants in the ground until the middle of October, or, if the weather permits, until the middle of No¬ vember ; then pull them to pieces so as to separate the best young shoots with a heel, and strip the bottom leaves from them, and dib them in, and press them firm, and the work may be considered finished. As for the roots, throw them away. They may be crowded together so as to make a solid field of leafage ; but, as a rule may be useful, we will say plant them three inches apart. A slight sprinkle over the tops occasionally will be good for them, but they must be kept rather dry, and must have a little heat to help them through frosty weather. No matter which of these two methods be adopted, the whole of the plants must be lifted in the first week of March, and be planted out in beds of light rich earth in frames facing the south, where they will make rapid pro¬ gress if taken care of. The latter part of the month of April is the proper time to plant calceolarias ; if the planting is deferred the plants are endangered. The beds for calceolarias should be prepared by deep digging and liberal manuring with rotten hotbed manure and leaf-mould ; and if there is no leaf- mould at command, use an additional dressing of the hotbed manure in place of it. If planted in poor ill-dressed soil, the plants are endangered; in fact, the principal reason of the failure of the calceolaria in a hot dry season is defective root- hold, the result of planting late in poor soil, the plants having been already nearly starved to death in pots as a preparation for their final extinction. In the operation of planting the plants should always be put into the ground as deep as pos¬ sible, but of course without burying the branching portion of the stem. Deep planting encourages the formation of a fresh set of roots, and places the roots already formed at the greatest possible distance from the surface, where they are compara-
70
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
tively safe against the exhaustive action of a hot sun. As to watering, one or two liberal doses may be given within the first ten days after planting, but it is far better to give none at all if only the ground is moist enough to carry them on safely until the next rains occur. A considerable quantity of bedding plants are killed every year by watering them, or rather, by tormenting them, with a pretence of watering. As for varieties, there are not many good ones, but the few that are most worthy of attention are wondrously brilliant if they happen to behave well. Amplexicaulis is the tallest in growth* the flowers are palest yellow. Aurea Jloribunda , Canariensis, Gaines's Yellow , and Golden Gem have deep yellow flowers,, and in habit are dwarf anl compact. The red and brown varieties are simply useless.
Centaurea.; — The silvery-leaved centaureas are among the most striking and valuable of the leaf plants we possess, and especially to contrast with the crimson and chocolate- coloured coleus. Fortunately they are very hardy and quite easy to grow, though there has been much said about the cultivation of them by folks who sought or imagined difficulties. Tbe best way to raise a stock is by sowing seed. Many culti¬ vators find it an easy matter to strike cuttings in autumn, and others cannot accomplish the feat. But any one may strike them in the spring and insure a stock writh ease and rapidity. Before spring- cuttings can be obtained, however, a sufficient number of old plants have to be housed and carefully attended to throughout the winter, or a large proportion will rot off just above the soil, and, as a matter of course, perish. Having brought them safely through the winter, we have to place them in a genial temperature of between 55° and 60° soon after Christmas to start them into a steady growth. If all goes on right, they will produce a nice crop of cuttings, which, if taken off with the smallest heel possible, inserted in cutting pots, and the pots plunged into a brisk bottom-heat in the propagating pit, a large proportion will soon strike and in time make plants. This manner of dealing with them in large gardens is by no means difficult, as there will be a peach-house or vinery at work in which the old stock plants can be placed, and also a cucumber bed or a propagating pit in which the cutting pots can be plunged. But what can the owner of a greenhouse and a few pits do with them ? Simply nothing !
CLEMATIS STAR OF INDIA.
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
71
This consideration brings ns back to the subject of seed, and it is by no means bad practice for the amateur to save his own. A stock of old plants must be kept for this purpose, and for small gardens about twelve or fifteen will produce sufficient. That number should be put by at planting-out time every year, and be potted into six-inch pots, and the pots plunged in a bed of coal-ashes in the full sun. They should remain in the open until the end of September, and then be placed in a cold frame, where they can have protection from heavy rains, and, at the same time, be exposed to the air. In the spring and early part of the following summer they will flower profusely, and, if placed in a light, airy position, will produce an abundance of seed. The seed must be sown as soon as gathered, in pans in the usual way, and the pans must be placed in a cold frame. The seedlings, if potted off when of a fair size into small pots and kept close for a fortnight, will make nice plants for the following season. The young stock should be removed to the open when nicely established, and be wintered in a cold frame, with a mat or litter thrown over the glass to keep out the frost. The greatest enemy to cen- taureas during the wdnter is damp ; therefore no more water must be administered than is really necessary.
The two best for front lines are G. argentea plumosa and G . ragusina comjpacta. Both are very neat in growth, and won¬ derfully effective. G. gymnocarga is immensely valuable for back rows and centres of large beds, and G. ragusina is equally valuable for second rows. Both grow rather coarse in rich soil, and therefore when employed in conjunction with sub¬ jects that require a liberal share of nourishment, they should be plunged in the beds instead of being turned out of the pots.
Cineraria. — The “ silver-frosted ” plant has lost much of its popularity within the past few years on account of the superior claims of the centaureas. But it is, and always will be, valued for its distinct silvery-grey colour, neat habit, and hardiness. In all respects the cultivation should be the same as* advised for the centaureas. (7. maritima is the best known of the series, but G. acanthifolia surpasses it in silvery white¬ ness and is to be preferred.
Clematis.— The new garden varieties may be described as “ sensation ” bedders, for if large compartments can be de¬ voted to them, they produce a wonderful display of crimson,
72
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
purple, and blue flowers. They will thrive in any good garden soil that is well drained, and, generally speaking, adapted to bedding plants. But the soil which suits them best is a light, rich, sandy loam ; the lighter the soil the better, but it cannot be too deep or too well drained. They are hardy enough for all except the bleakest climates in these islands, but a warm sheltered position and full exposure to sunshine are conditions that conduce greatly to their prosperity, and, consequently, to their abundant flowering. They should be planted two to three feet apart in large clumps. A number of varieties may be mixed, as they all present shades of crimson and purple, but the most decided effect will be produced by employing one showy variety for a bed, or a number of varieties distinctly arranged in bands or rows. Some time in June the beds should be covered with two inches deptli of half-rotten manure, put on carefully. The plants will soon cover and hide it, and will enjoy the moist surface it will insure them during the heat of the summer. As the plants progress they must be pegged down a little higher than verbenas, and quite as regularly. All the growth they make should be left until the month of April following, when the whole of the plants should be cut back to within six inches of the ground. The best way to multiply them is to put down layers in August, but young shoots may be struck under hand-glasses in June. The best varieties for bedding are : Jachnani , violet purple ; Ruhr o -viol ace a , reddish violet ; Rubella , deep claret ; Yiticella amethystina , pale violet blue ; Tunbridcjensis , dark blue ; Lanu¬ ginosa pallida , lilac ; Lanuginosa Candida , white.
Coleus. — A few of the varieties of coleus are gorgeous in their leaf-colouring and invaluable as bedders, but some thirty or forty kinds, supposed to be “ in cultivation,” are scarcely better for outdoor purposes than nettles from the hedgerows. To grow these plants is easy enough, provided they can be wintered in a stove or intermediate house, and be propagated early over a tank or on a good hotbed. They cannot be win¬ tered in the cool temperature that suffices for geraniums, centaureas, and verbenas, and it is but inviting vexation Jo attempt it. But given warmth enough and the matter is dis¬ posed of, for they grow with the vigour of nettles if they grow at all. During winter keep them rather dry and near the glass, and never allow a drop of water to touch the leaves. Early in spring strike the cuttings in a moist heat of 70°, and
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
73
pot off the young plants in a light rich compost. Do not he in haste either to turn them out to harden or to plant them in the beds. The middle of May is early enough to put them in frames, and the first week in June early enough to plant out. The best of all the varieties is G. Yerschaffelti ; but Emperor Napoleon , Frincess of Wales , and Baroness Rothschild are useful where more than one sort is required.
Dianthus, or Indian Pink. — The varieties of Dianthus Heddeioegi are so wonderfully showy, and so easily raised, that it is surprising they are not more generally grown. D. II. diadematus fl.-pl. and D. H. laciniatus fl.-pl. are, perhaps, the most valuable. A packet of seed of each of the varieties will yield a number of colours of the most attractive character. They are not so suitable for geometric schemes as many other things, and should be planted in beds that stand out singly upon the" lawn. Sow seed in February or March, and if any of the plants produce peculiarly fine flowers, take cuttings of them in June or July, in order to keep them true.
Echeveria. — The species of echeveriaare valuable in eccen¬ tric bedding, and for edgings to leaf- embroidery. They may be propagated by seed, offsets, cuttings, and leaves. Plants raised from seed sown in spring will not attain a size large enough to be of service in the flower garden during the en¬ suing summer, but they will be valuable for the following seasons. Echeveria seed is so minute that, like calceolaria seed, it will perish if buried too deep. Previous to sowing, it is essential to make the surface perfectly level with a piece of board, or one part of the seed will be buried to a great depth, and the other will not be covered at all. The seed-pans should be placed in a brisk temperature. Offsets may be taken off and potted at any time, except the depth of winter. To pro¬ pagate by leaves, take them off the plant by a snap with the thumb, so as to have the base complete. To fix them base downwards on the soil, drive through every leaf a wooden peg ; this should be done in July and August. To winter these plants, pot them in very sandy compost, with plenty of drainage in the pots, and keep them as near the glass as pos¬ sible, and allow them but a moderate supply of water.
Fuchsia. — This most elegant of greenhouse plants is of small value for bedding, but is occasionally employed with good effect in beds that stand apart from groups, and there can be no finer subjects than large pot fuchsias for the terrace
74
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
walk, and to form groups on the lawn on fete days. To grow the fuchsia is like turning the key in a lock : turn it the right way, and the lock responds ; turn it the wrong way, and resistance forebodes failure. In the early months of the year fuchsias should grow fast, and the principal agents to pro¬ mote growth are warmth and moisture. In a dry, much- ventilated house, fuchsias fade away as if blighted, no matter how good the soil may be in which they are grown. But keep them rather close in a temperature of 50° to 60° or 70° as the season advances, and aid with frequent syringing from the time they begin to grow in spring until they no longer need artificial heat, and they will grow freely, even in a bad soil. But they require good living, and there can be no better mixture for them than two parts of mellow turfy loam and one part each of rotten hotbed manure and good leaf-mould. At all seasons they need more moisture at the root than the generality of greenhouse plants, and even in winter should never be quite dry. To propagate them is an extremely easy matter, and the best time for the amateur is in February, when young shoots an inch or two long strike as by magic in a moist heat of about 60°. When planted out select a rather shady moist situation, and prepare the bed with a good dressing of leaf-mould and manure. The light kinds make the best display in beds, but the dark grow most freely. The following light flowers are the best for beds : Guiding Star , Mrs . Marshall , JBrilliantissima , Minnie Banks. The following dark varieties are fine : Splendour , William Tell , King of Stripes , Model. The variegated-leaved varieties are extremely showy, especially Cloth of Gold , Meteor , Golden Treasure , and Uegalia.
Heliotropium. — If the heliotropes lack colour, they make amends by their delicious odour. A few of the newer kinds, howmver, present us with fine dark blue or violet flowers. They may be raised from seed or cuttings with the greatest ease by the aid of heat in spring. When planted out, a poor soil suits them best, and when housed for the winter they must have but little water, and never experience the slightest touch of frost. The best are Florence Nightingale , Sur passe Gauscoi , Ftoile de Marseille , and Modele.
Iresene. — The most valuable of all the dark-leaved bed¬ el ers sent out for many years past is Iresene Lindeni. It is neat and compact in growth, possesses a hardy constitution,
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
75
and the colour of the foliage is the richest sanguineous red imaginable. For centres of beds and second and third rows it is all that can be desired. It is more effective than any other plant of a similar character, and it can be wintered in a cool greenhouse ; indeed, it has made us independent of the coleus, and is therefore of immense value to amateurs.
Lantanas. — These are not well understood, or they would be employed extensively in the summer decoration of the flower- garden. All the varieties are not suited for the open ground, but a few are marvellously showy. They, however, do not flower in all soils and situations alike, as they require a warmer soil than the generality of bedders ; but they will flower profusely in naturally cold soils if the precaution is taken to elevate the bed in which they are planted six or eight inches above the general level. In naturally warm and dry soils the beds should of course be on the level, or in very hot weather the plants will be dried up unless they are watered frequently. The soil of the beds should not be too rich or too poor, and should, if practicable, be dressed with leaf-mould or vegetable refuse, instead of with decayed hot¬ bed or stable manure. The cultivation may be generally described as corresponding with that of the pelargonium, but it is best to propagate by cuttings in spring in a brisk moist heat, and to winter the old plants in a rather warmer house than pelargoniums require. Old plants make magnificent beds in isolated sunny spots in a good season. The following are fine varieties : — Bom Calmet , lilac pink and yellow, com¬ pact in growth, and most profuse in flowering ; Jean Bart , yellow and bronze, very dwarf and free flowering, one of the very best ; Monsieur Escarpit, deep rosy purple, very distinct • Cauvin , yellow and rosy. The best of the older sorts are — Alba lutea grandijlora , white and yellow ; Imperatrice Eugenie , rosy pink, very dwarf and free, the best for edging purposes Adolphe Ilwass , canary yellow ; Mons. Bougier , yellow bor¬ dered with reddish scarlet ; Rcempler , crimson and orange Roi des Rouges , scarlet and orange ; and Victoire , pure white.
Lobelia. — The smaller kinds are immensely popular, but few amateurs grow the stately and gorgeous varieties of what is called the “herbaceous section,” nor, sumptuous as they are, have they any right to special notice here, for they are not bedding jolants. Our little friend, L . erimis , is the centre of the group, from which are derived the bright blue, deep
76
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
indigo, grey, and rosy-flowering varieties in request every¬ where for marginal lines and edgings ; the very perfection of bedding plants, which, any one may grow with but a trifling exhibition of skill and patience, with, the aid of a glass struc¬ ture of some kind or other, it scarcely matters how rough and simple. We have before now made a good edging of lobelias without taking a cutting or sowing a seed, for we have found self-sown plants in myriads, in pots of geraniums, and on beds of earth in the greenhouses, and even on brick walls and planks under glass everywhere ; and have left them alone until wanted, and then, on some mild, cloudy day, have trans¬ ferred them to the open ground, and left them to settle ac¬ counts with the weather and take their chance for weal or woe. The best plan to adopt for securing a good stock is to raise the plants from cuttings, selecting for the purpose the best varieties obtainable. In the first place, plant out a few of the selected sorts, at the end of May, in some out-of-the-way place, and let them grow and flower as they like. About the middle of July, cut them down pretty close to the ground, and they will soon after bristle with new tender shoots. These must not be allowed to flower, but, as soon as they have at¬ tained a length of about two inches, take them off, and dibble them into a bed of sandy soil, in a frame, or under hand¬ glasses or propagating-boxes, and keep them shaded and sprinkled until they have made roots. If they run up quickly to flower, nip out the flower-buds to keep them stocky and strong. Take up early, and pot carefully, and keep near the glass all winter, never allowing them to flower. In February these will supply cuttings in great quantity, and any one wrho can strike a cutting may make a good plant of every one of them. To raise them from seed is a still simpler matter, and if the seed has been carefully saved, the plants will be tole¬ rably uniform in character, and will be good enough for large gardens, where a few spurious plants in a mass will not be noticed ; but seedlings are not to be depended on for highly- finished work. Sow the seed in pans or boxes of fine rich sandy soil, covering it with a mere dust of peat or finely-sifted leaf- mould. The seed need not be sown until March, as the plants grow rapidly when they have made a fair start. Lobe¬ lias should not be planted out in flower, or with the flower- buds visible. It is best to cut the tops off the plants a week before planting, which will promote a bushy growth, and
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
77
prepare them to throw out roots vigorously when planted. If planted in flower, they may be expected soon after to go out of flower and remain blank for a month. If treated as here advised, they will be blank about a fortnight at first, and will then flower freely for the remainder of the season.
None of the old varieties, such as speciosa and gracilis , are now worth growing, because better are at command. The very dwarf sorts, known as the Pumila section, are exqui¬ sitely beautiful, forming dense cushions solid with bloom of the most pure and brilliant colours. The most useful of them are — Grandiflora , deep blue ; Azurea , light blue ; and Annie , lilac. The following are also first-rate for various purposes in the parterre, and also make charming pot-plants : — Indigo JBluer intense deep indigo blue ; Spedabilis , deep cobalt blue ; Tren- tham Blue , clear blue, white eye ; and Mauve Queen , rosy lilac.
Marigolds are not to be despised, because the little orange- flowered Tagetes is one of the best bedding-plants known, and a capital substitute for the calceolaria on soils that do not suit that capricious plant. They are all grown from seed, and as to their requirements, they are real “poor man’s plants.” But let us consider the large-flowering marigolds first. The Miniature or Pigmy and the Bivarf French Marigolds must not be despised by those who have not the means of growing yellow calceolarias. They are very dwarf in growth, tho varieties of the miniature section ranging from six to nine inches in height, and those of the dwarf section averaging twelve inches. They vary considerably in habit, unless un¬ usual care is taken in saving the seed ; hence it is most im¬ portant to obtain it from a respectable source. The yellow- flowered varieties of both sections will be the most useful for bedding purposes. The brown and striped-flowered varieties are very distinct, but they can only be employed in the mixed border, or in an isolated bed. In ordering the seed, it will be necessary to state the colour required. The dwarf-growing Tagetes signata pumila is the most formidable opponent the yellow-flowering calceolarias have yet had to encounter, for it grows freely and blooms most profusely where the calceolaria cannot exist. Indeed, it ought not to be planted in very rich soil, because, when supplied with a large amount of nourish¬ ment, many of the plants will become over-luxuriant, and hide a considerable proportion of the flowers with the foliage. To raise a stock with the least amount of trouble possible,,
78
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
sow the seed in March, and place the seed-pans in a frame or greenhouse, and, as soon as the plants are well up, place the pans in a position where they will enjoy full exposure to the light, and a moderate amount of air. Prepare a bed of light loamy soil in a cold frame, or where it can be covered with lights for a few weeks in a sheltered corner, and then prick out the plants, as soon as they attain an inch in height, at a distance of not less than three inches apart. When the bed is filled, water liberally to settle the soil, keep close for a few days, and shade, to enable them to become established quickly. Afterwards ventilate freely, and when the weather will permit draw the lights off altogether. Coddling must be avoided in all stages, or they will be drawn up tall and lanky : a state of things by no means desirable. They should have no more protection, after they are put out in the frame, than is really necessary to protect them from sharp cutting winds and frosts. The seed-pans should not be placed in a propagating frame or other structure in which a high temperature is main¬ tained. Plant out, nine inches apart, in May, and keep a watch over their growth. Any of them that threaten to make a rank growth should be destroyed, and the gaps will soon be hidden.
Mesembryanthemum. — A few of these are invaluable for hot dry positions, and especially for sunny slopes and odd places, where ordinary bedding plants would be starved, or, if they prospered, would be too showy. The best rule for growing these is to strike cuttings in July, and winter them in sandy soil in a sunny greenhouse, keeping them rather dry. The best for bedding are M. conspicuum , If. sjpectabile , If. for - mosiun, M. blanclum , If. glaucum , M. curvifloruin , ]\1 . auran- tium , M. lejpidum, If. polyantJion , M. glomeratum , M. coccineum major , If. diver sifolium, M. inclaudens , If. jtoribundum , JLf. anreum.
Nierembergia. — One sweet little plant of this family is useful to make miniature masses and bands of compara¬ tively unattractive white flowers, and especially useful to plant at the sides of rustic baskets, to fall over and make festoons and ringlets of fairy flowers. The stock for bed¬ ding purposes is raised from cuttings in spring; but old plants are best for rustic vases, and for clothing sloping banks. N. gracilis is the most useful; indeed, the pretty N. frutescens and 2V". rivularis are of no use as bedders.
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
79
Pansy. — A considerable number of fine bedding pansies have, within the past few years, been introduced to gardens as bedding plants, greatly to the disappointment of many who were not cognizant of their real characters, and who asso¬ ciated them with geraniums, verbenas, and petunias in the expectation of late summer and autumnal bloom. It may be said, with but small fear of contradiction, that no pansy or viola is adapted for the parterre in the later months of sum¬ mer, except in a certain few localities ; but many of them are invaluable anywhere and everywhere for their beautiful and abundant bloom throughout April and May ; and therefore their proper association is with arabis, alyssum, and iberis, which flower long in advance of the summer bedders. The best of the bedding pansies should be kept true by growing them from cuttings, but they reproduce themselves tolerably true from seed, and this method of multiplying them is the easiest. Cuttings of pansies may be struck in a gentle heat in spring ; but, to grow them successfully, cuttings should be planted on a shady border during the summer. The earlier they are put in, the more surely they form strong plants, and the earlier will they flower. The cuttings require little or no protection, except from sun, and to be kept sprinkled in dry weather. Plenty of young rooted pieces can also be taken away from the plants during the summer, and, if planted in nursery beds, they will make fine plants for removing into their winter quarters in October. Plant out in October if possible, planting firm , and in moderately good soil, not too rich, and the close-growing sorts closer together than the more spreading kinds. As pansies suffer far more from cold easterly winds than from any other cause, mulch the beds with either half-decomposed leaf-soil or cocoa-nut refuse. Through April, May, and June, shake a little sifted good soil about the plants and amongst the shoots, to encourage top roots ; and, when the shoots are long enough to require peg¬ ging down, fix them neatly to the ground, to protect them from injury from wind, and induce them to throw out roots and side-shoots. The pansy does not require much water, but, in very dry hot weather, the beds should be frequently watered with a rose watering-pot, especially night and morn¬ ing. Take especial care, in planting out in beds, to use young plants that were struck from summer cuttings or young off¬ shoots. Old plants pulled to pieces frequently fail, or make
80
tiie amateur's flower garden.
only half the show that may be obtained from young ones. In the northern parts of these islands the climate is more favourable to pansies and violas, and they are more valuable as bedding plants than in the warmer south. But, as re¬ marked above, for a charming display during April and May and some part of June, there is nothing more cheap and cer¬ tain. Ho one in these realms has ever seen a bed of pansies covered with flowers between Midsummer-day and the first of August, and the autumnal bloom is never equal to that pro¬ duced in spring. The following are the best varieties : — Cloth of Gold , yellow ; Sunshine , coppery orange ; Imperial Blue , light-blue purple; Dean's White, white; Cliveden Yellow, yel¬ low ; Magpie , purple and blue.
Pelargonium. — Under this head we must consider the uses and characters of what are commonly called “ bedding geraniums.” We have here nothing to do with elaborate classifications, or with the various methods of cultivation by which exhibition plants and new varieties are produced therefore, though the subject might occupy a bulky volume, we shall hope to say enough for the present purpose in a contracted paragraph. The first thing to be said is that the zonate pelargonium is the king of bedding plants. It may be dispensed with, indeed, in particular styles of planting — as, for example, the silb-tropical — but there is no other plant capable of so many and such varied uses, and in some way or other it might be made to play a prominent part in almost any scheme of colouring that ever was devised. The wide range of its characters, and consequently of its uses, is in a ■wonderful degree enhanced in value by its hardy constitution, and the comparatively small amount of skill and labour required in its management. Sunshine it must have, and really that is about all it requires, if we may adopt a “ rough and ready ” mode of expression. Speaking of the family as a whole, it may be said that a somewhat poor soil suits them best, but, nevertheless, the beds should be well prepared for them, to encourage deep rooting early in the season, for a good root-hold is essential to long-continued flowering, espe¬ cially in an exceptionally hot and dry season. Sandy and chalky soils should be improved for geraniums by the addition to the staple of thoroughly pulverized hotbed manure and leaf-mould, but all good loams of average depth are sufficiently nourishing and need not be manured. It is very bad practice
GERANIUM, -RICHARD HEAOLY,
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
81
to water geraniums after they are planted out, but ot necessity if the weather is particularly hot and dry immediately after planting, they must be assisted for a week or so. It is also bad practice to put them out full of flowers ; in fact, they ought not to flower even while in the house, or in pits or frames. But trusses will show themselves, and should be pinched out before they open, and if they occur on shoots that rise a little above the general contour, those shoots should be at once cut back a few inches. The result of these precautions will be to defer the first show of bloom in the beds some¬ what, but when it appears it will be more solid and con¬ tinuous than in the case of plants allowed to present odd trusses in their own way from the month of February onwards. All the varieties should be propagated in June, July, and August, and be housed in good time, to prevent the rank sappy growth that the warm autumnal rains are likely to produce if they are left out too long. Winter them rather dry, with abundance of light and air, and never give heat beyond what is barely sufficient to keep out frost. Geraniums and calceolarias will bear 5° of frost without harm in ordinary cases ; therefore the thermometer in the house or pit appro¬ priated to these plants may sink to 27° safely. We have, indeed, had thousands of seedling geraniums in a somewhat sappy state through being grown from the first under glass frozen to the extent of 10°, and have not lost a dozen in consequence. Bub it is not well to expose plants to extreme conditions, and the amateur cultivator is advised to maintain the temperature of the geranium pit at all times a few degrees above the freezing-point, for it costs little to be safe, and it may cost much to go in the way of danger. It will not sur¬ prise the reader to be told that as geraniums differ in habit and constitution, so they differ as to their requirements. The differences, however, are slight, and may be disposed of in a few words in connection with the several groups.
Single Bed Zonals. — In this class we place all the scarlet, pink, and purple varieties, whether they have broad or narrow petals. In other words, we do not need a class for nosegays. It is equally unimportant wThether the leaves are actually marked with zones or “ horseshoes,” or are wholly green. The cultivation of these has been sufficiently de¬ scribed, and it remains, therefore, only to present a list of a few of the very best for bedding. In selecting these, form is
82
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN,
of less consequence than colour, habit, and abundant flowering. We begin, of course, with the pure Scarlet section, from which we select Thomas Moore, Orbiculata, Attraction, Bonfire, Cybister. From the Orange and Salmon tinted we take Hibberd's Orange Nosegay, Beaton's Indian Yelloiv, H. W. Longfellow , Harhaivay. Crimson and Purple tinted : Le Grand, Duchess of Sutherland , Blach Dwarf, Bavard, Waltham Seedling . Pose and Pink tinted : Feast of Boses, Madlle . Nilsson . Cerise : Tristram Shandy, Lion Heart, Lucius. Lilac and Purplish Pose : Lilac Banner, Amy Hogg, Duchess, Lilac Rival.
Single White Zonals. — All the white-flowering varieties should be grown in a poor soil, and if the scheme of colour¬ ing will allow of it, a partially shaded spot will suit them better than to be exposed to the full blaze of the meridian sun. When grown in a poor soil, and enjoying morning and afternoon,* but not mid-day sun, the flowers are more pure and more plentiful than in the case of rich soil and full exposure. In the case of the beds selected for white geraniums being too strong in texture and condition, plunge them in their pots, and, if possible, get up a reserve stock of plants to take their place if they should happen to become flower¬ less after July. The best are White Wonder , and White Princess.
Double Zonals are not well adapted for bedding. Those who are disposed to try them are advised to plant in a poor soil. The best for the purpose are Gloire de Nancy, rosy carmine ; Le Vesuve , scarlet ; Princess Tech, deep scarlet ; King of the Doubles, bright cerise.
Golden Zonals. — These are the so-called “ Golden Tri¬ colors.’ ’ They require a rich light soil, such as fuchsias would grow luxuriantly in, and should be planted out last among the zonals. It is too much the custom to spoil these plants by coddling them. The whole of the bedding stock should be planted out, and the whole of the cuttings should be struck in open borders. As, however, they are slow in making roots, it is best to begin with these in June, and to keep them slightly shaded, and regularly sprinkled, until they have made roots. Some curious reader may ask, “ How shall I know when they have made roots ? ” Easily enough. Instantly upon cuttings putting out roots they begin to grow, and when new growth begins, the plants may be, compara¬ tively speaking, neglected for awhile. As it is often a matter
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
83
of some importance to multiply these plants by every pos¬ sible means, it is necessary that the reader be initiated into three great mysteries. Cuttings may be struck all the year round under glass. For this purpose, make up a bed in a greenhouse, the materials of the bed to be equal parts of sharp river- sand, and cocoanut-fibre refuse. In this mixture the smallest bits of stem, providing they have each a good healthy leaf, will soon make roots. From March to October no heat will be needed, but in the remaining four months the beds must be heated. Therefore it is well to make a bed for winter work in a proper propagating house, or on the top of a tank connected with the “ flow ” of the hot- water pipes. This brings us to mystery the second. It is quite a common thing for cuttings of tricolors to “ damp off” in winter ; in other words, to rot away instead of making roots. To pre¬ vent this, proceed as follows. Take two small pieces of stick, say small worn-out wood tallies for example, tie one of them across the cutting’, about the sixteenth of an inch above its base, with a strip of bast or worsted. Tie the other length¬ wise to the cutting, so that it projects two inches beyond the base, and overlies the crosspiece. Now, if the upright stick is thrust into the earth until the base of the cutting just touches the soil, the cutting will be held firmly in its position, and in due time will throw out roots, which may be covered with a sprinkling of the mixture the bed is made of. By this mode of procedure an enormous number of soft shoots may be struck during winter, and the losses by damping will be “ next to nothing.” The third mystery may be disposed of in a word. All the tricolors grow more rapidly when grafted on the common zonals than when on their own roots. Graft at any time from March to August, always keeping the plants extra warm, and somewhat shaded for a month afterwards. The best stocks are common seedlings. The following are the best varieties for bedding : Victoria Regina, Louisa Smith, Sophia Cusaclc , Macbeth , Beautiful Star.
Silver Zonals are generally known as “ Silver Tricolors.’* They should be grown in the poorest ground, and, if possible, in raised beds. If grown in rich and rather damp soil, the leaves grow to a large size, are much wrinkled, and the dark zone is so fully produced as to spoil the effect of the variega¬ tion. In all other respects treat as advised for the Golden
84
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
Zonals. The best for bedding are Imperatrice Eugenie , Queen of Hearts, Italia TJnita.
Bronze Zonals are, for the most part, vigorous growers, and a few of them are attractive as bedders. Many that are extremely fine in pots become either too green or too brown when planted out, and, therefore, it is important to select them with judgment. The best are J Donnie's Princess of Wales , Imperatrice Eugenie , Countess of Kellie , Waltham Bride , Mul¬ berry Zone , Egyptian Queen , JDulce of Edinburgh , Mrs . Lewis Lloyd .
Golden Selfs. — These are the most valuable of all the va¬ rieties for bedding where a distinct yellow or sulphur-green is required, as they present, in the mass, only one tone of colour, wrhereas the golden and silver zonals (tricolors), and the bronze zonals (bicolors), tend more or less to produce a mixed effect, wanting in unity and decisiveness. It must be admitted that a good bed of either of the classes just named is most beautiful when we stand near it and look down upon its rich mosaic of colours ; but for a more distant view and for a dis¬ tinct chromatic effect the golden seifs are unsurpassed, and are especially valuable for leaf embroidery, if the trusses are constantly pinched out before the flowers open. In this section the following are splendid bedding plants : Meridian Sun , Golden Glory , Crimson Banner (this has lovely magem a coloured flowers, and makes a remarkably rich bed if it can be allowed to flower), Jason , Golden Fleece , Little Golden Christine . The last is a miniature plant suitable for edgings.
Golden Edged. — These have a more distinct green disk than the golden seifs, in which the disk is so inconspicuous that we regard it as non-existent. The two classes might, indeed, be fused into one, because it is impossible to draw a sharp line between them ; but the division is convenient, and is founded on degrees. The best in this class is a very fine old variety, which many cultivators condemn because they cannot grow it. But those who can manage it know it to be invaluable. Perhaps the mention of Golden Chain may carry many a reader back to pleasant remembrances of scenes and circumstances in days gone by, when the bedding system was in its infancy, and the hand that now holds the book was firmer in its grasp and readier for action in outdoor industry than now. But gushing is not allowable in a work of this ■sort, and so we quit the “ pleasures of memory to remark
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
85
that Golden Cham, in common with many other slow-growing varieties, should be taken care of, to secure a good stock of old plants , for this variety cannot be considered quite suitable for bedding until the plants are three years old. It is but proper to add, however, that vigorous growers like Meridian Sun and Golden Banner are remarkably effective in their first season, but, nevertheless, the enthusiast in parterre colouring will never regret the exercise of patient care in the proper treatment of this fine old favourite of the garden. Add to the stock of golden-edged geraniums, Crystal Palace Gem , which is almost a self, Gold Circle , Creed's Seedling , and Yelloiv Gem.
Silver Edged. — -In this class we place all the white and creamy- toned “variegated geraniums.” They are rather delicate in constitution, and old plants are to be valued, es¬ pecially if judiciously cut down to keep them dwarf and bushy. The best of the whitest are Floiver of Spring , Silver Chain , Queen of Queens , Bijou , Snowdrop , and Avalanche. The last-named has white flowers, and, therefore, the flowers need not be removed. The best of the creamy-edged are Daybreak , Oriancc , and Flower of the Day.
Green Ivy-leaved geraniums are useful for edgings and for baskets. The best are Bridal Wreath , Gem of the Season , and Willsi rosea.
Golden Edged Ivy-leaved geraniums make lovely edgings where they can be employed with advantage. The common Golden Ivy-leaved or Aurea variegata , which is its grand name, is quite a gem in its way. The other varieties of this section are all second-rate.
Silver Edged . — The best of these are L' Elegante and Silver Gem.
Hybrid Geraniums , in poor soil, may be planted out ; but where the soil is strong it is best to plunge them in pots, and have a reserve of plants to take their places in case they fail before the season is over. As for the reserve plants, the way to insure having them in bloom when they are likely to be wanted is to cut them back in May, shift them early in June, at the end of June pinch out the tops and all the trusses, and then let them push their trusses to be ready for service in the parterre. The White Unique , Crimson Unique , and Purple Unique are splendid plants. Bridal Bing , Britannia , and Ignescens superb a are, in their way, extremely useful.
Pentstemon. — For large isolated beds the garden varieties
86
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
are grand furniture for autumn display. A rich deep soil is requisite, with full exposure to the sun. The best way to manage the stock is to strike a sufficiency of cuttings in frames about the end of August or early in September, and keep them rather dry through the winter, to plant out in April. Treat the same as calceolarias in fact, but strike the cuttings earlier. The following are splendid bedding varie¬ ties : Agnes Laing, Arthur Ale Hardy , Miss Ilay , Mrs. S terry , Shirley Hibherd , Stanstead Surprise.
Petunia. — This old favourite is now but sparely planted in the parterre, but it has certainly not been superseded, and in the hot summers of 1868 and 1870, a few of the varieties were remarkably showy, and held their own bravely to the very end of the season. For hot dry soils and in hot dry seasons the petunia is invaluable. In rich soils and in moist seasons it does not flower freely, and it grows too rank and green to be valued as a bedder. It is an easily-managed plant, pro¬ vided the stock is wintered with care in a dry airy house* always safe from frost, and with no more water than just suffices to keep it green until spring returns. The usual plan of multiplying is by cuttings, and the best time to strike them is in the latter part of March and early in April. They may be struck as late as May, and will, with proper care, make good plants to begin flowering in July. The best amongst a thousand for bedding is Spitfire , a brilliant purple flower. Shrubland Bose , Crimson Bedder , Purple Bedder , and Magnum Bonum , afford a sufficient selection of single varieties for all ordinary purposes. The double petunias make fine pot plants, but are of quite secondary importance as bedders. The best of them for outdoor display are Miss Bari , rose, with white centre, and Princess , dark crimson. A few of the most useful bedding varieties reproduce themselves very faithfully from seed, if due care is exercised in saving it. The two varieties that can be depended upon most in this respect are Countess of Ellesmere , rose, with a light centre, and Prince Albert , deep purplish crimson. A bed of striped varieties or of mixed sorts, such as white, purple, and rose, has a very charming appearance, but of course they are not suitable for a bed that occupies a distinctive position in a geometric scheme. Petu¬ nias should be grown in rather poor soil, as they grow too luxuriantly and become coarse in soil enriched with manure. It is also essential to edge the beds with some strong-growing
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
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subject, sucb as Centaur ea ragusina , or, what is better still, strong two-year-old plants of variegated pelargonium Bijou or other erect-growing variegated varieties. A solid edging, as here suggested, will keep the growth of the petunia in its place, and the beds will have a neat appearance, if the young growth is not allowed to ramble through the edging.
Perilla. — Though the popularity of this plant has greatly declined within the past few years, it cannot be dispensed with, for its solemn bronzy-purple colour gives it a most dis¬ tinctive character, of great value to the colourist. It has been well abused for its “ funereal ” aspect, and greatly misused by planters, who, in common with its detractors, wTere ignorant of its capabilities and proper place in the disposition of colours. The plants are always raised from seed in the first instance, but the tops may be taken off in June and July, and struck in about ten days in a frame, if a further supply is required for planting in the autumn. The middle of March is early enough to sow the seed, and a very mild heat suffices for its germination. As a rule, the seed is sown too early, and the plants, during the early stages, grown in too much heat. Stocky plants, three inches high at planting time, are de¬ cidedly preferable to gawky things eight to ten inches high with a few leaves at the top only. Of course, when required for a back row, it is necessary to have them rather tall, but they should be managed so as to insure being furnished with foliage to the surface of the soil. Perillas transplant so well that it is not necessary to put them in pots, and very satis¬ factory results may be obtained by pricking off from the seed- pan into a bed of soil made up in a cold frame. There are several varieties, but P. Nankinensis is the best.
Phlox. — The large-flowering phloxes are not adapted for the parterre, but the varieties of P. Brummondi are in¬ valuable for their continuous bloom and brilliant colours. It is usually supposed that a bed of phloxes must be mixed, but that is a mistake, for the named varieties come sufficiently true from seed, and a few of them deserve to be regarded as amongst the best bedding plants in cultivation. It is quite a waste of labour to plant them in a hungry soil, or to allow them to perfect seeds, for in either case they will present a shabby appearance long before the summer is past. The soil in which they are put when removed from the seed-pans should be moderately rich, to insure a healthy growth during
88
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
the time they are in pots. The most distinct and valuable varieties are Alba, pure white; Atrococcinea , deep scarlet; Ueynholdi , a magnificent scarlet-flowered variety ; Leopoldi , pink and white ; Queen Victoria , dark rosy purple. A bed of mixed sorts has a fine appearance, but seed of each of the above should be procured, and the plants arranged according to their colours when planted. The seedlings must be potted off immediately they are strong enough, because it ruins them to be allowed to remain crowded together in the seed-pots after they are an inch or so in height. Sow in a gentle heat in the latter part of March or early in April.
Portulacca. — For dry and hot positions these are most useful. They are very singular in appearance, and the flowers are remarkably showy. The soil in which they are planted should be light and sandy. The most effective for bedding purposes are P. alba , white ; P. cary o p hy lloides, white and rose ; P. coccinea , scarlet ; P. splenclens , crimson ; P. Thov- burni , yellow. Sow in pans of sandy soil in April, and instead of putting the seed-pans in heat, place them on a sunny shelf in the greenhouse, and lay a slate over until the little plants appear. Pot them off early and keep them in a dry sunny position until they are put out in the flower garden. A few groups planted upon a rockery having a sunny aspect would produce a startling effect.
Pyrethrum. — The great usefulness of the Golden Feather is too well known to require a single word of praise, and very few words will suffice respecting its management. As a rule, amateur gardeners sow much too early, and place the seed- pans in a strong heat. The end of March is quite early enough to sow, and the temperature of a cold frame will be quite sufficient. Seed may be sown in the beds about the beginning of April, but it is more advantageous to sow in a frame and transplant. The frame should, of course, be well ventilated after the seed has vegetated. Sow thinly in drills, and then the whole stock can be transferred direct from the seed-bed to the flower garden. As a matter of course it must not be allowed to flower in the parterre, but for the purpose of saving seed a few plants may be put out in some odd sunny corner or in the kitchen garden.
TROPiEOLUM. — It may be said with safety that the value of the tropmolum for flower garden decoration has been over¬ rated, and also that, although a very large number of new
THE AMATEUR S FLOWER GARDEN.
89
varieties liave "been sent out within the last three or four years, very little real improvement has been effected. Two- thirds, at least, of the newest varieties are worthless. The varieties of Tom Thumb are of no real value in the parterre, as they seldom, if ever, bloom continuously throughout the season. They make a brilliant display for a short time and then go out of bloom, and remain an eyesore for the remaining part of the season, unless pulled up and consigned to the rubbish-heap. A few clumps placed in a mixed border, where they can be pulled up as soon as they begin to present a shabby appearance, are very well, but they should not be planted extensively. The only recommendation they have consists in the fact that they reproduce themselves freely from seed, and the only trouble occasioned by raising a stock consists in sowing the seed where the plants are to remain and flower. The well-known T. Lobbmnum and its varieties should be planted in poor soil, in the most sunny position, to insure an abundant bloom. In the event of the soil proving too strong, the plants acquire a coarse leafy character, which it is impossible to correct in a satisfactory manner, thougfr frequent removal of the leaves, -where they are crowded, will reduce the luxuriant habit of the plants and promote a more free production of flowers. The soil, however, should be deeply dug to encourage the plants to send their roots abroad, and enable them to hold their own against a drought. It is also important to put out strong plants that are well hardened off, for when they are not more than half hardened previous to planting, they generally receive so very much injury from the sun and wind that the summer season is far advanced before they become well established. The stock of all the bedders should be renewed by cuttings, for seedling plants cannot be depended upon, as all vary more or less, either in the colour of the flowers or the character of the growth. The best of the scarlet-flowered varieties are Beauty of Malvern and Star of Fire. Both are neat and compact in growth, and bloom most profusely throughout the season, and, unlike the Tom Thumb varieties, they do not produce much seed. Ad¬ vancer has also scarlet flowers and is very desirable, and in some soils may, perhaps, equal in effectiveness both the fore¬ going. Of the varieties producing flowers other than of a scarlet hue, Luteum Improved , rich orange-yellow spotted with crimson, and The Moor , deep crimson-maroon, are the best.
90
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
Though, the Tom Thumb section, which are improved va¬ rieties of the a dwarf nasturtium” of days gone by — the Tropceolum minus of botanists — have been referred to above as u of no real value in the flower garden,” we must bestow a few words upon them, because they still retain a shadow of the favour with which they were regarded in the early days of the bedding system. With all their faults they are extravagantly showy while they last, and may be employed to advantage in beds that are to be managed on the “ chameleon ” principle, the object of which is to present in one and the same spot a succession of masses of colour throughout the season. It is a good plan to put them rather far apart in the beds, and plant some of the tall- growing asters between them. The asters will not produce such fine flowers as when planted in a bed by themselves, but they will flower freely and take the place of the Nasturtiums as soon as they begin to present a shabby appearance. To prolong the flowering season as long as possible, the seeds, before attaining half their usual size, should be picked off, because the plants will certainly not flower freely if they have to perfect a crop of seeds. The seeds will pay for the cost of gathering, as they make a most acceptable pickle when gathered green. The best varieties are Scarlet King of Tom Thumbs and Golden King of Tom Thumbs . The seed should not be sown until the end of March, or the plants will be too forward. The simplest and best way of dealing with them is to sow four or five seeds in five-inch pots, and then thin the plants down to two or three to each.
Verbena. — There is not in all the catalogue of bedding plants one that more perfectly answers to the requirements of the garden colourist than this. Its trailing habit, forming a close carpet of vegetation, its well-sustained umbels of brilliantly-coloured flowers glittering above the suitable groundwork of dark green leaves ; and the continuousness of its intensity of colour, are qualities that will insure it a place in the select list of first class parterre plants. And yet the verbena has been steadily declining in popularity during many years past, in consequence of frequent failures, and the consequent disfigurement of the gardens where it has proved unequal to the demands and expectations of the cultivator. It must be confessed that in exceptionally hot, dry seasons like those of 1868 and 1870, verbenas unhappily situated, shrink away to dust ere the season is half gone. It must be
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
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confessed, also, that a large proportion of the newest varieties have been recommended for bedding, and have been tried and found wanting, to the injury of the fair fame the verbena should enjoy, and the actual discouragement of those who are labouring to improve it. Having made these admissions, it remains to be said that, as a rule, failures with the verbena result from bad cultivation, and especially of the careless system of planting bedders in badly-prepared soil, without, in any case, any special preparation for any of them.
It is only in a good deep holding loam that the verbena will grow in a satisfactory manner ; but a light soil will suit the plant, provided a liberal dressing of manure is dug in during winter, and a fair average season follows, with alter¬ nations of showers and sunshine, for with the best prepara¬ tion, a failure may be expected in a peculiarly hot and dry season on light sandy soils. As we do not often experience the delights and trials of a tropical summer, those who appreciate this plant may reasonably reckon on success in cultivating it, even though they may have a lighter soil to deal with than the plant would prefer, provided they adopt a liberal system of cultivation. In the case of a hot soil, a mulch — that is, a surfacing of half-rotten manure put on at the time of planting — will do wonders, and as to its appear¬ ance, the plants will so soon spread over and hide it, that it is practically of no consequence. In a droughty summer, a few heavy soakings with soft water will also act beneficially ; but it is best to avoid watering if there is a prospect of rain before the plants begin to suffer, and, in any case, frequent surface dribblingsdo more harm than good. It is not a matter of great importance to plant verbenas in the full sun, but a heavily shaded position will not suit them. A free current of air, and a few hours of sunshine per diem they must have, but they cannot so well endure continuous roasting as gera¬ niums and petunias, which really rejoice in sunshine. A very common cause of failure is the practice of putting out plants that have been starving in small pots several months previous to the planting seasons. It is a grievous mistake to propa¬ gate the stock for bedding early in the season, although it is generally supposed that early propagation is necessary to secure strong healthy plants by planting-time. When struck early, and necessarily kept starving in pots for several months, the constitution becomes impaired so much that they are un-
92
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
able to resist, with any degree of success, the attacks of red spider, thrips, and mildew — three most formidable enemies they have to contend with. The month of April is quite early enough for striking verbenas intended for bedding pur¬ poses. The tops of the healthy shoots should be taken off in the early part of the month, struck in a brisk bottom-heat, and potted into store pots, and carefully hardened off ; these planted out as early in May as the weather will permit, will grow away freely, and the beds in which they are planted will soon become a blaze of colour. The compost in which they are potted should be rich and nourishing, and for that reason nothing suits them better than a mixture of good turfy loam and decayed hotbed manure, mixed together, at the rate ot two parts of the former to one of the latter, and a sprinkling of sand added to keep the compost open.
In a collection of over a hundred kinds grown in our experimental garden in the burning summer of 1870, the following were the best : — -Annie, a free-flowering variety, prettily striped. Ariosto Improved , rich puce or plum-colour. Blue Bing, light blue, distinct and pleasing. Crimson King , fiery orange-scarlet with small lemon eye ; the best scarlet- flowered verbena we have for bedding purposes. Firefly, fine brilliant scarlet, very showy. Grand JBoule de Neige, pure white, very large. Iona, rich crimson, very dwarf. Isa Eclc- ford , rich puce. King Charming, clear salmon rose, distinct and showy. Lady Folkestone , deep rosy purple. Madame lefebvre, bright reddish crimson. Mrs. Eckford, white with rose centre. Mrs. Peynolds Hole , white with crimson centre. Mrs. Bennington, rich reddish rose. Murillo, shaded peach ; contrasts well with the crimson, puce, and other dark colours. Otago , brilliant rosy crimson, worthy of a place in the most select collections. Parsee , bright purple flushed with mauve. Polly Perkins , bright rosy red. Purple King , an old but most valuable variety. Peine des Poses, deep rosy pink. Storm King, rich rosy crimson. Victory, brilliant scarlet, strong in growth.
Viola. — A few pretty violas have been turned to account as bedding plants, and have, in this capacity, acquired far more fame than they deserve. For flowering in spring and early summer they are invaluable, but for summer and autumn comparatively useless. The named varieties should be grown from cuttings in the same way as recommended for pansies.
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN.
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When raised from seed, sown in March or April, a better autumn bloom may be expected, than from plants raised from cuttings. The varieties of V. cornuta have blue flowers. Perfection is the best of them. V. lutea is a good yellow- flowered species, well adapted for a display in spring.
A SELECTION OF PLANTS SUITABLE FOR EDGING FLOWER BEDS.
Silvert-leaved. — Achyrocline Saundersoni , 6 to 8 in., neat and upright. Arahis albida vciriegata , forms a close tuft of creamy-leaved herbage ; hardy. Achillea umbellata , 4 in., bushy and neat. Antennaria tomentosci , 1 in., spreading; hardy. Centaurea ragusinct conipacta , 6 in., bushy; nearly hardy. Cerastium tomentosum , 8 in., spreading ; hardy ; re¬ quires clipping into shape two or three times during the season. Cineraria acanthifolia , G to 12 in., upright, bushy, large beds; C. ccsplenifolia , 9 to 12 in., bushy, large beds; C. maritima , 9 to 15 in., bushy, large beds : all from seed or cuttings. Dactylis glomerata elegantissima , 9 in., bushy ; hardy. F 'cheveria glauco-metallica , 4 in., neat, fine for sloping sides ; E. secunda glauca , 2 in., sloping sides of large or small beds, very neat. Gnaphalium tomentosum , 6 to 18 in., branching ; requires clipping into shape ; G. lancttum