162 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Planting a Circclab Bed. — Will you 

 please tell me if the following design 

 for filling a round bed, about 12 or 13 

 feet diameter, will look well when it is 

 executed ? If you think it will not, 

 will you please suggest any omissions or 

 alterations ? Outside row, 1, Lobelia 

 speciosa ; next, 2, Variegated Alyssum ; 

 3, Purple King Verbena ; 4, Cloth of 

 Gold Geranium ; 5, Cerise Unique ; 6, 

 Alma Variegated ; 7, Spitfire Geranium; 

 8, Cineraria maritima ; centre, a few of 

 Mrs. Pollock. If you think it would be 

 better to do so, one or two of the ribbons 

 could be omitted. Hoping you will be 

 80 kind as to answer my inquiry in your 

 next issue, if possible. — Amateur. [This 

 letter, dated May 25, came to hand May 

 29, when the June number of the Floral 

 Woeld was not only printed, but 

 thousands had been sent away to remote 

 parts of the country. The writer ap- 

 pears to confound the planting of a 

 regular bed with the planting of a 

 ribbon. These two things are quite 

 distinct. This is tolerably good 

 planting (except the centre) for a 

 , regular bed of 12 feet diameter; hut 

 three kinds of plants would be plenty 

 for a bold effect— say centre of old 

 plants of Cineraria maritima, broad 

 band of Cerise Unique, and margin of 

 blue Lobelia. But if it is required to 

 have circles of several distinct colours, 

 several of the same things may be used, 

 but the arrangement must be different. 

 As it is, Mrs. Pollock would be lost, 

 owing to the strong growth of the outer 

 circles. Supposing the writer to have 

 stock of the kinds named, and wishing 

 to use as many as possible in the same 

 bed, the following would be a better 

 arrangement : — 1, Lobelia speciosa ; 2, 

 Variegated Alyssum ; 3, Purple King 

 Veibena; 4, Cloth of Gold Geranium ; 

 5, Cerise Unique ; 6, Alira ; all the rest 

 to be omitted ; or the following scheme 

 could be adopted : —1, Lobelia specicsa ; 

 2, Cloth of Gold ; 3, Purple King ; 4, 

 Mrs. Pollock ; 5, Cineraria maritima. 

 The last -would be the best, and a very 

 telling bed.] 

 Names of Plants, Etc. — T. J. JET.— 1, 

 Nothocnlrena tenera ; 2, looks like 

 Chielanthes radiata, but is too much 

 shrivelled up to determine ; 3, a seed- 



ling of 4, which is a good specimen of 

 Pteris serrulata. No. 4 was the only 

 decent specimen sent. — Brentingby. In 

 your letter of April 24, the plants were 

 Sedum dentieulatum and Gnaphalium 

 lanatum. In your letter sent lately, 

 Artemisia argentea, and a leaf which 

 apparently belongs to a species of He- 

 patica. You know we never name 

 plants (except in rare cases) from leaves 

 only. — Mr. S. Edmonton. We cannot 

 advise you where for certain to obtain 

 the orange boxes. There is a firm at 

 Kingston where they are made. Such 

 things arc usually made by a neigh- 

 bouring carpenter, as, if to be sent any 

 distance, the carriage is expensive. 

 Hardy Clematises. — Linlithgoio — You 

 describe your soil as cold, and heavy, 

 and damp. Now there can be no worse 

 soil for any kind of clematis, for those 

 plants love warm, dry, chalky soils, and 

 a warm, dry climate. In the county 

 of Kent, and especially where chalk 

 crops out, the hardy kinds of clematis 

 grow like weeds, and flower marvel- 

 lously ; but how you are to succeed with 

 it in Linlithgow, 400 feet above the sea 

 level, and in a late cold climate, we can- 

 not imagine. However, here is a list of 

 thoroughly hardy kinds ; probably you 

 will never lose one of them through 

 cold, but whether they will all suit the 

 climate we are not prepared to say — 

 Azurea grand iflora, Ccerulea odorata, 

 Flammula, Flava, Florida, Helena, 

 Hendersonii, Lanuginosa pallida, Mon- 

 tana, Sophia, Viticellapleno. No doubt 

 Jackman's new varieties are as hardy 

 as any, but it would not be wise for you 

 to plant them till they are to be had 

 cheap. 

 Strawberry Leaves Punctured.— E. E., 

 Machynlleth — The leaves sent have beenC* 

 punctured by a species of jumping beetle. 

 When the pest first began its ravages, 

 the plants should have been dusted with 

 fresh pounded lime twice a week. This 

 would not have injured the leaves, but 

 would have made them unpalatable to 

 the beetle. As the breeding season has 

 arrived, it will be advised to spread a 

 fine coat of gas lime on the soil between 

 the plants, which will prevent the esta- 

 blishment of colonies in the soil for 

 next season. 



