394 THE GARDENER. [Sept. 



will suit tlie season ; and winter-bedding is the same thing with shrubs 

 of varied shades, and we yet expect great advances to be made with 

 shrubs in winter-bedding. 



It is in summer and autumn that the greatest display of colour is 

 possible, and must be made, as nature is then in full dress, so that the 

 trimmings and ornaments must be of the brightest hues, lawns and 

 shrubberies being in their freshest green, and deciduous trees in full 

 foliage. Leds and borders must be embroidered in the brightest 

 colours, else the effect will be tame and monotonous. At no other 

 season can colour-gardening be indulged in with so much satisfaction 

 and profusion, and surely the most should be made of the opportunity. 

 We have six months of the year cold, dull, and all but flowerless, and 

 surely we may be pardoned the effort to make the other six months as 

 joyous and bright as possible. 



We propose noting a few combinations of colour, or rather of plants, 

 which we have found very effective, in the hope of drawing out sug- 

 gestions from other correspondents ; but before doing so shall review 

 some of the materials used. 



Apart from plants with coloured foliage, Geraniums still hold the 

 first place for producing effect, and the best among a great many is 

 Violet Hill Nosegay ; the next best is Vesuvius ; Lady Constance 

 Grosvenor holds a foremost place. Charley Carbon is first-rate with 

 us, being very dwarf, with a bold truss of flowers, petal broad, and of 

 a brilliant dark scarlet colour. Indian Yellow is also first-rate in poor 

 soil. Jean Lisley, a fine flower, but too strong a grower. lanthe, 

 dwarf, of a peculiar laky scarlet, but fear it will be wanting in effect. 

 Of dark reds. Bayard is the best ; Stanstead Rival, very like it ; Emily 

 Lemoine promises to be very good ; and Waltham seedling is very 

 effective. In Pinks, Mrs Upton is far the most effective, though a 

 strong grower ; it beats Maid of Kent, Blue Bell, and ^ladame du 

 Renne. Christine cannot be spared yet. Eor carpet-bedding we have 

 a neat seedling Zonale Geranium, very dwarf, with creamy salmon 

 flowers high above the foliage, which Ave hope will prove a useful 

 thing, as it will work well in with Coleus or Golden Feather ; it fits 

 us between Violas and Alternantheras. Of yellow foliage Geraniums, 

 Crystal Palace Gem is the best ; but for carpeting, Robert Fish is very 

 beautiful, — its yellowish foliage and orange scarlet fl..owers give it a 

 very striking appearance in combinations. Golden Tricolors of the 

 Mrs Pollock type are of better use for massing ; they are wanting in 

 effect from a distance. The Bronze and Gold are much better, and the 

 more of the gold the better the effect. Flowers of Spring and Mangles' 

 variegated are still the staple in the silver-variegated section. Mont 

 Blanc, with its white flowers, raises great expectations if it prove a 



