1873.] BEDDING IN THE LONDON PARKS. 423 



pearance to the whole place. Pure white Water-lilies nestle peacefully on the 

 quiet water of the glassy pool, while tall Bulrushes tower above them as freely 

 as if in their native swamps. In one of the borders we noticed Eccremocarpus 

 scaber growing and flowering very freely. This is a plant nearly allied to the 

 Bignonias — of trailing habit and requiring some slight support. It bears its 

 bright orange-scarlet flowers in profusion all through the summer, and is easily 

 propagated from seeds, which are freely produced in warm sunny positions. 

 Cannas do better here than anywhere else we have seen, and are in many cases 

 allowed to remain out in the beds all the winter months, the only protection 

 they require being a thorough mulching of stable-manure or leaves. Not the 

 least interesting feature in the garden are the mounds carpeted with dwarf, dense- 

 growing Sedums, Saxifrages, and other succulents, and dotted here and there 

 with finer specimens of the larger-growing kinds — such as Pachyphytou bracte- 

 osum, P. roseum, Rocheas, Aloes, Cacti, and Bromeliads. 



Passing through the densely-populated east end, we reach Victoria or the 

 People's Park, as it is more generally called. The bedding arrangements here 

 are carried out in fine style, and perhaps the display of bright glowing colours is 

 better appreciated here than in all the other parks. Willows grow well by the 

 margins of the ornamental water, drooping in some places down to the very edge; 

 but, nevertheless, the water has a wild and barren appearance, being totally 

 devoid of aquatics, and many of the banks are also quite destitute of shrubs. 

 The first group of beds we come to has a double-scroll bed as a centre-piece, and 

 this is very neatly carpeted with crimson Alternanthera fringed with a double 

 row of Echeveria secunda, and dotted here and there with escutcheons of 

 golden Mesembryanthemum and Pyrethrum, in the centre of which large Eche- 

 verias and Sempervivums are planted with good effect. A very pretty cir- 

 cular bed is planted with Coleus in the centre, surrounded by Cloth- of- Gold, 

 Lobelia pumila grandiflora, and margined with Echeveria secunda. Another 

 larger bed has Mrs Pollock in the centre, surrounded by belts of Coleus Ver- 

 schafFeltii, Golden Pyrethrum, and crimson-foliaged Alternanthera,— a by no 

 means unattractive combination. Here, as well as in Hyde Park, there is a taste 

 for mixed beds, one of the prettiest in this group being composed of Bijou Pelar- 

 gonium and Viola Perfection, edged with Iresine Lindenii and Golden Feather. 

 This last edging of purple and yellow is very telling, and always looks well. 

 A triangular bed of dwarf orange-flowered Tropceolum and blue Viola mixed, 

 margined with crimson Alternanthera and Golden Thyme, is a well-contrasted 

 arrangement. 



The semicircular series of beds in the centre of the Park are very effective, 

 and form the x>'^^ce de resistance, in company with the subtropical walk and rib- 

 bon-borders. An oblong bed filled with Centaurea ragusina and Verbena venosa, 

 edged with Iresine Lindenii and the soft yellow variegated Mesembryanthemum, 

 is very fine. The Trefoil, or central bed of the group, is also well planted ; the 

 two lateral divisions being planted with Bijou, and the central one with Mrs 

 Pollock, margined with belts of Coleus, Golden Pyrethrum, Crimson Alternan- 

 thera, and a double row of Echeveria secunda, A round bed or two planted 

 with White-leaved Zonal and Blue Viola mixed, edged with Alternanthera 

 amoena, Golden Thyme, and Echeverias, is very effective. An oblong of 

 Scarlet Zonal margined with a broad band of Purple King Verbena, and edged 

 with the dwarf Golden Feather, is also a very striking arrangement. Calceo- 

 larias here, as elsewhere, look miserable, and for the future it would be as well 

 to exclude so uncertain a plant from the flower-garden altogether, as its failure 

 spoils any intended effect for the whole season. Further on, towards the pri- 



