THE FLORAL WORLT) AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



47 



while, at the same time, it is safely 

 protected from frost, and can be lifted 

 out with tlie hand in a moment with- 

 out any digging, so light and loose is 

 the fibre, even when trodden round 

 in the planting. The picture will 

 give an idea of the effect produced 

 duriug one period of the experiment. 

 In the centre is a pretty specimen of 

 Juniperus Phoenicia, the beautiful 

 bluish green of which shows out well 

 against a stone wall. On either side 

 are noble ivies, trained pyramid 

 fashion. Of these I have a good col- 

 lection, and the two which happen to 

 be in the figure BxeSedera canariensis 

 maculata, which has superb patches 

 of amber variegation ; a very in- 

 constant and irregular variety, yet 

 very fine for winter decoration, be- 

 cause of its lively and decided colours. 

 The two outside trees are variegated 

 yews, Taxus baccatct elegantissima, the 

 best of the gold-leaved varieties, and 

 also very gay for this sort of work. 

 Suppose the borders to be thirty feet 

 or thirty yards in length, the mere 

 repetition of these three plants all 

 through would be the perfection of 

 winter-planting ; in fact, repetition 

 would produce a richer effect than 

 any great variety. If the border is 

 broad enough, there may be two, 

 three, four, or any number of rows 

 of trees, proportioned as to height ; 

 and at the end of March, the whole 

 may be removed and planted properly, 

 and there need not be a root-fibre or 

 a leaf injured thereby. 



An example of the same sort of 

 work is before me now : a broad bor- 

 der furnished with a line of large 

 golden hollies; in front of them aline 

 of Juniperus thurifera and Cedrus deo- 

 dara, plant and plant ; then a row of 

 JPinus cembra and ivies, plant and plant, 

 and a lovely row that is, for some of 

 my ivies surpass rhododendrons in 

 the beauty and compactness of their 

 leafage; in front is a row of round 

 bushy plants of variegated box, smaller 

 ivies, and the red-berried Skimmia 

 Japonica, plant and plant; but if I 

 had the stock to do it, I should prefer 

 to have Skimmias only for the front 

 row. 



But let me now tell you how to 

 give such a border a finishing touch. 



You must leave room in front for a 

 row of plants in six or eight-inch pots, 

 and this row must be changed and 

 altered from time to time. When the 

 border represented in the picture was 

 first furnished, in the autumn of 1863, 

 I made up a front row of potted plants 

 of Cotoneaster Hookerii, which is the 

 best of all the hardy berry-bearing 

 shrubs for the colour of its berries, 

 but, unfortunately, it loses its leaves 

 at the first touch of frost. But the 

 berries remain, and they stud the 

 branches thickly ; they are nearly 

 twice the size of holly berries, and of 

 the intensest orange scarlet. To 

 compare them to coral would be un- 

 fair, for they are brighter than any 

 coral I have ever seen. About the 

 beginning of February, 1864, these 

 cotoneasters were getting shabby — 

 the snow and frost had brought down 

 the berries — so they were removed, 

 and some lively little ivies, variegated 

 box, and Jasminum nudiflorum, in 

 pots, were put along the front. The 

 plants of Jasminum were then coming 

 into bloom, like little mountains of 

 gold, having been kept in a cold pit 

 since the previous November, and by 

 this change the border was superbly 

 lighted up : it became, in fact, a flower 

 border, and continued so through the 

 whole of February. I ought to have 

 had a good stock of Helleborus niger 

 and the pretty ivinter aconite, so charm- 

 ing just now with its bright yellow 

 flowers ; but I happen to be very 

 poor in these two subjects, and so far 

 my planting system is imperfect. 



A grand preparation for the plung- 

 ing system is to grow plenty of spring 

 flowering bulbs in pots. With me it is 

 a very simple matter ; showy and cer- 

 tain kinds of crocuses, hyacinths, and 

 early tulips are selected, potted early, 

 and plunged out of doors in a bed of 

 cocoa-nut dust, which is heaped over 

 them six inches deep, and there they 

 remain till the 1st of February. 

 They are then taken out, and are 

 found to be grown from one to 

 three inches in length, all showing 

 their blooms. They are placed in 

 a cold pit, have plenty of air and 

 light during mild weather, and a 

 few mats and loose litter over 

 the lights during frost, and by the 



