330 THE TLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



easier Simvionsii, and the spriug-flowering Deutzia gracilis, which 

 I am surprised to iiud is geuerally grown in England as a green- 

 house plant. I admit it is oue of the prettiest spring-flowering shrubs 

 we haA^e, and is easily forced, but it is quite hardy ; and I am glad 

 to have met with it out of doors to wreathe with snowy flowers this 

 " magic ring," which is the name this bed bears, having been originally 

 designed for the experimental cultivation of the moss-like Bpergula 

 pilifera. In case I should be misunderstood, let me repeat that the 

 plants in the outside band alternate, a Deutzia, next a Cotoneaster, 

 next a Deutzia, and so on all round. The bed is kept up on the 

 margin by a wall of large burrs, such as rockworks are mostly made 

 of in the gardens near London, but very little of this is seen, for 

 over it hangs a continuous sheet of the noble Grerman ivy, Hedera 

 Hegneriana, which is one of the finest of all plants for the purpose, 

 and makes a pleasant change from the common Irish ivy, Hedera 

 canariensis, which we see everywhere. Let me dwell for a few 

 moments on the beauties of this combination. Amongst the 

 rhododendrons are many very choice kinds, such as the variegated- 

 leaved variety of H. ponticum, a most beautiful shrub ; also the very 

 early-flowering B,. dauricum, which is dotted with little rosy flowers 

 from February to April, and a few always appear in November and 

 December. Also It. hirsutum and II. ferrugianum, very choice 

 small-leaved sorts, with such hybrids as JacJcsoni, Hendersoni, the 

 Queen, Hoseum, Alarm, and others equally splendid, when in flower. 

 One of the very best is Maculatum nigrum, which is grandly spotted. 

 There are, also, some plants of Kalmia rubra, a small-leaved sort, 

 with violet-red flowers ; and Erica Mediterranea, and the elegant 

 Muscus aculeatus or " Alexandrian laurel." Thus, the great centre 

 piece is rich and varied, and from Pebruary to June there are 

 flowers to be seen— the principal display being in the month of May. 

 Just at that time the deutzias near the outside zone of ivy begin to 

 flower, and their snowy blossoms look most chaste and beautiful. 

 When they are declining, the cabbage roses flower, and their delicate 

 colours are enhanced by the fine deep green background of the rho- 

 dodendrons. At the same time, the cotoneasters flower, but they 

 make little show until all the flowers are past, and then they display 

 abundance of their orange-red berries, which last through the winter. 

 This particular bed is the more pleasing because every one of the 

 plants has been raised on the spot, and are the results of various 

 experiments in propagating. The cotoneasters were all raised from 

 berries ; and I saw in the garden several large batches of seedlings 

 of the same plant, which is raised in quantities every year. How 

 many a garden needs such a bed as this, and how easily it might be 

 made, with a judicious outlay in the first instance ! There is wanted 

 a good position, next a platform of good loam, high enough to allow 

 of cutting down on the outside to a regular ring, which is to be finished 

 with large stones or burrs. In the centre there must be two feet 

 depth of rhododendron soil, such as sandy loam, rich in vegetable 

 fibre, or peat well chopped up with about a third part of the most 

 silky-textured hazel loam added. The planting is a simple affair 

 enough, and that accomplished, there is nothing more to do, but a 



