THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



235 



the purpose. The Model Nosegay, that 

 was sent out -with it, is, in my soil, a rank 

 cabbage-looking thing, not worth garden 

 room. 



But the best summer furniture for a 

 stone jardiniei-e is fuchsias. These must 

 be planted out, not plunged, and the stufl' 

 should consist of turf, maiden loam, 

 and plenty of old manure. Mine has, 

 this season, been planted with Roi des 

 Blanches in the centre, five plants; then 

 a circle of Bo-Peep ; and next the stone 

 rim a circle of Little Treasure and Cathe- 

 rine Hayes, and it has been splendid, but 

 is now on the wane. Next year, instead 

 of using a white centre, though I liave 

 Duchess, Fairest of the Fair, Fair Oriana, 

 and a dozen other whites, to choose from, 

 I shall use a dark fuchsia of a little taller 

 habit than Bo-Peep, and prefer one colour 

 to a dot in the middle. Fuchsias never 

 hold out well till the end of the season, 

 but Hendersonii and Scarlet Grem, and a 

 few other early chrysanthemums, bloom in 

 September, just in time to replace them, 

 and there you have another change, in- 

 volving only the striking of three or four 

 dozen cuttings in spring, and having the 

 plants well stopped and potted oif for the 

 purpose by the middle of July. These go 

 oif just in time for the full tide of the 

 pompones, and then put a fine plant of 

 Cedo Nulh or Algerie, in an eight-inch pot, 

 for the centre; round it a circle of DrinDrin 

 or Canrobert, and then an outside ring 

 of Riquiqui, and you have a bed that 

 cannot be beaten. Brilliant and General 

 Lafont are fine for the purpose : so is 

 Bob, and indeed there is no end of them, 

 and all the colours in the rainbow, ex- 

 cept true blue and royal scarlet to choose 

 from for variety ; but the plants must be 

 grown on purpose, well stopped back ; 

 with only such few invisible sticks, as will 

 enable them to hold up during storms, 

 and the set for the outside edge must be 

 in nothing larger than 48's ; bushy plants 

 in go's will be better, because you can pack 

 them close, and defy curious eyes to de- 

 tect that they are not planted. The last 

 turn brings us to the season of yule logs. 

 If friends have fled dui-ing the dripping 

 days of December, the garden bell will 

 be agitated for a week before and (how ?) 

 many weeks after Christmas, Let people 

 see that decorative gardening is to be 

 pursued the whole year round, and let the 

 jardiniere give proof thereof. Order in, 

 from some first-class grower, who has a 

 taste for planting, a set of conifers for 

 potting. Have ready a good heap of 

 compostj consisting of turfy loam, well 



broken xip and mixed with gritty sand,* 

 free from lime and iron, and sweet leaf- 

 mould, but not a particle of dung, either 

 new or old. Pots of six, eight, and tea 

 inches diameter will be required ; and if 

 you are in any difHculty as to pots suit- 

 able for trees, order in at once a supply 

 from Messrs. Adams, of Belle Isle, King's 

 Cross, London, and you will have ware 

 that may be rolled down Shooter's Hill 

 without breaking. Here is a set of plants 

 for the bed : centre, Abies deodara, soft 

 glaucous green, pensile and elegant ; two 

 Liboccdrus Chilensis, compact, conical, and 

 silvery, to stand one on each side of the 

 centre ; two Abies Menziesii, dark green, 

 bold, brauching, and symmetrical, to 

 stand on each side of the centre alter- 

 nately between the Libocedrus ; then 

 four Pinus cembra, rich holly green, long 

 leaves, compact habit, and striking, 

 to place at equal distances all round ; 

 tlisu four Cepaalotaxus I'ortuni, deep 

 green, shining, regularly branched, and 

 oriental, to stand also at equal distances ; 

 then four Juniperus sabinoides, dense 

 silvery fretwork, a sort of arboreal frosted 

 chasing, to make up twelve plants of 

 these sorts, placed in order, one of each all 

 round. Plunge them deep enough to 

 bring the rims of the pots two inches 

 below the level of the outside rim, and 

 moss the surface. There you have the best 

 winter bed that can be had by either 

 prince or peasant, and you have only to 

 warn the children not to appropriate them 

 for Christmas-trees, to be at rest until 

 flowers come in once more. They cannot 

 hurt unless crowded above, and in want of 

 di-aiuage beneath. If water-logged they 

 will show the eliects of it in spring, and if 

 overcrowded the inner branches will get 

 blanched. I take out a few barrowfuls 

 of stuif, and make sufficient depth to stand 

 the pots on a bed of loose bricks, in which 

 no water can lodge'; and as to crowding, that 

 depends on the size of the plants. Order 

 them for a bed of seven feet diameter, 

 and give the order in which they are to be 

 placed, and you will have them picked to 

 fit by tailor's measure. If the least doubt 

 remain, tell the nurseryman to read this 

 number of the Floral World, and all his 

 judgment and genius will be at your 

 service. 



Of coui'se there are hundreds of ways 

 of planting such beds. A lot of laurels, 



* The sweepings of gravel paths, sifted as soon 

 as wheeled away, aud saved iu a heap, ready for 

 use, is the best sand that cau be used iu potting 

 trees and shrubs. It consists of sharp suud and 

 miuute pebbles, and is already well wastted by 

 rain. 



