MARCH. 81 



Mr. Cole, of St. Albans, who exhibited such a fine batch of seedlings 

 last year. Among these are some distinctly spotted kinds, of good 

 habits and dense bloomers. His King of Sardinia, a crimson variety, 

 Orange Boven, Goldfinder, and Orange Perfection, will be very useful 

 for bedding. What a little gem is Cole's Prince of Orange ! — of a 

 brownish orange colour, exceedingly dwarf, and an immense bloomer ; 

 no variety stands brilliant sunshine or a pelting storm better. The bed 

 may sustain injury for two or three days, and it is as bright and gay as 

 ever, and continues in full bloom until quite late in the autumn. No 

 garden should be without this variety, which everybody can manage, 

 as it is so easily propagated and kept. Purity turned out well, clear 

 white in colour, a free bloomer, and of good habit. It has a tendency 

 to get up, and should be kept dwarf and not grown too luxuriantly. 

 Autumn-struck plants are best. We had a row of about twenty spring- 

 struck plants out last year on an outside border of one of the green- 

 houses, the plants being about eighteen inches in height and a mass of 

 flower. In crimsons, Beauty of Montreal is one of the best and most 

 effective, a small-flowered variety, but very bright in colour, almost a 

 scarlet, of good habit, and stands the weather well and continues 

 flowering late. Crimson King is a good dwarf-growing, large-flowering 

 sort. Two or three of Henderson's new ones of last year are also 

 good as bedding varieties, but we have unfortunately mislaid a memo- 

 randum respecting them, taken when they were in bloom. We are 

 now rich in yellows. Pallida is the best pale yellow — Erecta, one of 

 the best dark yellows ; and we have previously named Goldfinder. 

 Wellington Hero is a good deep yellow variety, and Kayi should not be 

 lost sight of Golden Chain is a free-growing dwarf yellow variety, 

 blooms freely, and is well worth growing. 



There are now several varieties of Lobelia Erinus, of different shades 

 of colour, but Maxima or Speciosa are as good as any. Densa multi- 

 flora, a variety from Scotland, pleased us very much as a bedding plant, 

 although it is not very distinct from some of the others. Passing on to 

 miscellaneous subjects, the blue Anagallis and pale blue Ageratum are 

 both useful, but the latter requires pegging down to get a compact bed. 

 The Double Purple Senecio is a very useful bedding plant of a service- 

 able and effective colour. Among Heliotropes, Beauty of the Boudoir 

 is one of the very best, dark purple and of close habit, with good foliage. 

 Corymbosum is the best light variety for bedding. Phlox (General 

 Radetsky makes a good bed, but the plants should be summer struck. 

 It is a bright carmine striped variety, of Drummondi habit. Saponaria 

 calabrica makes a pretty dwarf rose-coloured bed, and is easily grown 

 from seed, but should be sown in February or March. In Salvias, we 

 want improvement as bedding plants ; Patens and Fulgens are the best, 

 but (he habit is against them. There are many other plants we could 

 name that are most useful for bedding purposes. There are Delphinium 

 magnificum and D. Hendersoni, with their bright blue flowers, and 

 both varieties have a tendency to continue throwing up shoots through 

 the summer. A bed of either, separately, or edged with any other 

 colour, is very eff'ective We have often thought that many of the fine 

 hybrid Gladioli would be very attractive for beds, planted as well with 



NEW SERIES, VOL. VI., NO. LXIII. G 



