196 



THE FLOEAL. WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



be relied on whether the season 

 should prove hot or cold, wet or dry ; 

 secondly, the increased use of " foli- 

 age bedders," that is, of plants which 

 produce an effect by their leaves 

 alone, and the flowers of which are 

 not usually produced in the open air, 

 or if produced are of no value. The 

 frequent disappointments consequent 

 on the uncertainties of our climate 

 have well nigh obliterated from the 

 lists many subjects that have been 

 held in considerable favour. Petu- 

 nias are now almost wholly dispensed 

 with, and we consider that man need- 

 lessly rash and venturesome who 

 relies for his principal effects on a 

 class of plants so susceptible of ad- 

 verse atmospheric influences. Ver- 

 benas will never be thrust out of our 

 gardens in the same determined man- 

 ner that petunias have been got rid 

 of, for when all goes merrily with 

 them, they are the most perfect of 

 all bedding plants. But verbenas 

 are used more sparingly year by year, 

 and the experiences of the present 

 season will tend to increase the 

 amount of caution which has been 

 exercised in the selection and use of 

 verbenas already. As for the odds 

 and ends of the bedding list that, pre- 

 vious to the year 1860, made so many 

 features of interest, they are nearly 

 all swept away. Leptodactylon Cali- 

 fornicum, Agatha 5 a coelestis, Bouvar- 

 dias, Anagallis, Heliotropes, Mimu- 

 lus, Senecios, and many other truly 

 beautiful subjects, have of late been 

 used so sparingly as in no way to 

 contribute to the main features of a 

 grand display, though there are cer- 

 tain services they will always render, 

 and for which they may always be 

 relied on, to give variety and interest 

 to spots removed from the geometric 

 parterres yet requiring to be deco- 

 rated and perfumed. As one after 

 another of the old favourites has 

 passed into comparative obscurity, 

 zonale geraniums have been acquir- 

 ing increased popularity; these are 

 now so varied in habit and colour that 

 with geraniums alone a skilful artist 

 can produce almost any effect that 

 may be required in accordance with 

 the principles of taste which regulate 

 these matters. In all the great gar- 



dens geraniums have constituted the 

 principal decorative features of 1864 

 This has been fortunate, for the sea- 

 son has suited geraniums to perfec- 

 tion, and it has not well suited any- 

 thing else. From this time forth the 

 changes and improvements in bedding 

 will be all in the same direction, and 

 the breeders of geraniums will faci- 

 litate the movement by providing 

 new materials for bedding effects. 



But the most gratifying circum- 

 stance in connection with bedding 

 improvements is the purer taste dis- 

 played in the combination of colours. 

 We ventured to predict in the May 

 No. of this year's Floeal World, that 

 the vulgar combinations of red and 

 yellow which had made bedders and 

 bedding obnoxious to persons of cul- 

 tivated taste would not be seen again 

 at the Crystal Palace, or any of the 

 public gardens and parks. Events 

 have justified our "forecast," and 

 everywhere this season the laws of 

 colour have been better respected 

 than heretofore. 



Let us now enumerate a few of 

 the best combinations that have at- 

 ti'acted our attention during our 

 various visits to public and private 

 gardens this season. At the Crystal 

 Palace the beds skirting the semicir- 

 cular block immediately in front of 

 the principal entrance from the garden 

 is the place where the highest tone 

 of promenade colouring is usually 

 maintained. This season the planting 

 of the beds next the main walk is as 

 follows : — 



The oblongs have a central line of 

 Cottage Maid, on each side of that 

 Flower of the Day, and for edging 

 Purple King verbena. The circles 

 have a centre of Christine, then 

 Calceolaria aurea floribunda, and 

 outside band of Lobelia Paxtoniana. 

 There are in all twenty oblong and 

 twenty circular beds, but a series of 

 ten each can be viewed at once from 

 either end of the space marked off by 

 the cross walks, and the effect is very 

 rich and harmonious. On the inner 

 side of this block, the Araucaria beds 

 are, as of old, in circles of Cerastium 

 and Lobelia. Of the latter there are 

 two kinds, one is the so-called " spe- 

 ciosa " of gardens, the other a new 



