I873-] NOTES ON GREENHOUSE SHRUBS. 397 



same series alternated with round beds, the centres of which contain 

 a tall standard Acer negundo variegata, the stems of which are used as 

 stakes for pyramidal plants of Zonale Pelargoniums, round which is 

 Calceolaria Raines' King, edged with Centaurea candidissima. 



A very effective bed is Rival Nosegay Ger., banded with Elower of 

 Spring, banded with Coleus, edged with Golden Feather. These, and 

 many more, are planted very simply. It would be difficult to make in- 

 telligible the planting of more intricate beds without diagrams, but 

 two large beds planted to match, containing nearly 4000 plants each, 

 are striking planted as in the accompanying plan, the beds 50 feet 

 across. 



1, vase, 4 feet across ; 2, mass of Bijou Geranium ; 3, band of 

 Coleus, 4 feet wide ; 4, Golden Feather, filling the angles ; 5 and 6, 

 Alternantheras amoena and magnifica alternately ; 7 and 7, festoons and 

 line of Festuca glauca ; 8, ring of Golden Feather ; 9, ring of Coleus ; 

 10, triangles of Robert Fish Geranium ; 11, single plants of Echeveria 

 metallica ; 12, Mes. cord. var. ; 13, single plants of Centaurea candidis- 

 sima; 14, ring of Festuca; 15, line all round the bed of Alternan- 

 thera magnifica ; 16, line of Echeveria secunda glauca ; 17, edging 1 

 foot wide of Sedum glaucum ; 18, Lobelia. 



The weak point in this arrangement is the Lobelia, which ought to 

 have been something with dark foliage. 



NOTES ON GREENHOUSE SHRUBS. 



Bignonia. — A splendid family of climbers and dwarf trees. It is the 

 representative genus of the order Bignoniaceee, which furnishes so 

 considerable a portion of the gorgeous colouring for which the tropical 

 forests, those especially of South America, are famous. The majority 

 of the species of Bignonia are tropical, and therefore not adapted to 

 culture in an atmosphere cooler than a warm greenhouse. The diffi- 

 culty is to get the wood well ripened in a low temperature. If that can 

 be done, the plants will bear a greenhouse temperature in winter with- 

 out injury, and will flower freely the following summer. One or two 

 species — B. radicans, grandiflora, and capreolata — are hardy enough to 

 grow well in any part of Britain against a wall ; but it is only in warm 

 places in the south that their flowers are enjoyed in all their splendour. 

 The three species just named succeed well, however, in a cool green- 

 house — admirably where the climate is not favourable to the develop- 

 ment of their flowers in the open air. They make beautiful pillar and 

 rafter ornaments, and splendid covering for walls, where they may have 

 ample space to ramble j for, being great growers, they want plenty of 



