422 THE GARDENER. [Sept. 



a failure, generally, this season, owing to the disease to which they are subject 

 having made its appearance. A bed or two of C. aniplexicaulis, however, does 

 not seem to be alFected, the foliage being fresh, and the plants are blooming 

 "well. Christine still holds a place among the pink-flowered bedding Pelar- 

 goniums, while Amaranthe is darker in tone and bears a larger truss. The cor- 

 responding beds on the left are edged with crimson Alternanthera and blue 

 Lobelia and Poa trivialis var,, in alternate clumps, the whole being margined 

 with the glaucous-leaved Echeveria secunda. These beds are filled in similarly 

 to those on the right. The third bed is planted with Coleus, and has a belt of 

 the golden-leaved Crystal Palace Gem in addition to the above edging. 



Stella variegata, mixed with the best of all Verbenas — Purple King — is a tell- 

 ing arrangement ; and Heliotrope Jean d' Amour is a dwarf-growing free-flower- 

 ing variety, bearing large, deep purple, heavily perfumed trusses. The second 

 series of beds on the left are margined with rows of crimson Alternanthera, 

 golden Mesembryanthemum, edged with Echeveria secunda. The corresponding 

 series on the right are edged with a neat, rosy, purple-flowered Lantana, bor- 

 dered with a belt of the silvery-leaved Veronica incana. One or two beds here 

 are very effective, especially one on the left planted with Coleus, surrounded by 

 a row of silvery-foliaged Centaurea, in addition to the above edging. Pelar- 

 gonium Louis Roselle is a bright, free-flowering orange-scarlet, and makes a fine 

 distinct bed. Centaurea ragusina, mixed with the fine old Verbena venosa, is a 

 telling bed, fringed with Alternanthera and deep rose-coloured Verbena. The 

 best bed, however, that we have seen this season in this style, is Verbena 

 venosa, mixed plant for plant with the rosy-flowered Pelargonium ]\Ianglesii, 

 edged with rows of Iresine Lindenii (dark purple), Alternanthera amcena (car- 

 mine), and Mesembryanthemum cordifolium var. (soft yellow). 



One of the prettiest little bits of bedding near London is that in front of Mr 

 Chamberlain's cottage, in Kensington Gardens. Here we find bright colours 

 agreeably softened down with a judicious mixture of foliage-plants — as Yuccas, 

 Grevilleas, Dracaenas, and Palms. The central bed is a circle of crimson Alter- 

 nanthera, in the centre of which is a cross formed of Lobelia pumila grandiflora, 

 dense grower and one mass of blue. This is edged with a broad belt of Pyre- 

 thrum Golden Feather, and a narrower edging of Sempervivum calif ornicum. 

 The semicircular border is also very pretty ; and the interest taken in this clever 

 bit of colouring may be inferred from the fact, that the grass in the park for a 

 yard or two from the fence is completely worn away by the feet of visitors, 

 who find their way here all the day long to look at this cheerful little garden. 



The pretty little Santolina incana is a nice dwarf silvery plant, likely to be 

 of great use for edgings, or for carpeting the small compartments of geometrical 

 borders. The bedding in the Green Park is not above the average, so we will 

 cross over the Thames and visit Battersea Park, the home of subtropical garden- 

 ing in this country. Every visitor to the metropolis should see Battersea, 

 which is one of the most interesting of all London gardens at this season of the 

 year. Here one may find choice Ferns, such as Neottopteris indus, Dicksonia 

 antarctica, and many others, not only existing but actually growing outside in 

 sheltered glades and warm recesses, accompanied by choice Palms, Cycads, and 

 other effective foliage and flowering plants in quantity. The Yuccas here bear 

 great spikes of their sweet wax-like flowers, and have a telling efl"ect among 

 other vegetation. Splendid specimens of Cycas revoluta, Blue Gum Trees, Ery- 

 thrina or ' ' Coral Plant," and Seaf orthia elegans, are isolated on the fresh green 

 turf with good eflfect. The margins of the lakes are also fringed with tall reeds 

 and noble grasses and other water-plants, which give a strikingly natural ap- 



