194 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



U'^iy, 



discolor, (". Zi'briiui, C. nuisjefoliii, C. Murochul 

 Vaillaiit, Soliiiuiin robustum, S. Warsewiczii, IS. 

 purpurea; another variety, S. salicifolius, I 

 have often found attacked at the roots by 

 grubs, 



S7ib-tropi(nl Beds. — On the same principles, 

 with such plants a.s (irevillea roi)usta, Ficus 

 elastiea. Aralia Sieholdi, Rhus jjlabra laciniata, 

 Acacia lophanta and others. As the surface of 

 these beds will be in view the whole season, we 

 miiiht use a more ornamental arranrrenient for 

 undergrowth. The surface should be flat, by 

 which it will appear as if the standards were 

 planted on carpet beds, if we plant small circles I 

 of Pyrethrum parthenifolium aureum around the 

 stems, and till the rest of the spjice with Alternan- 1 

 thera. The circles of Cerastium elegantissima, 

 and the spaces, Tradescantia zebrina; or, circles 

 of Alternanthera, and the rest of the space to be 

 filled with Stellariagramineaaurea. This remark- 

 able species of chickweed, as well as a few other 

 plants, I have not yet tried in this country, and 

 have, indeed, not even seen it in any American 

 catalogue. I have noted it down, supposing that 

 such useful plants, not yet in our collection, will 

 soon be brought thither by our active nursery- 

 men and florists. Said plant may be inferior to j 

 Pyrethrum (of the same color) in ribbon borders, ', 

 but superior in massing, especially if a shaded | 

 place can be procured. i 



Sub-fropical Plants Promiscuously. — Of beds of j 

 any size and shape, where may be used Datura \ 

 Knightii, Cycas revoluta, Dimorphanthus j 

 manschuricus. Eucalyptus globulus, and E. mar- i 

 ginatus, Phormium tenax, and P. t. fol. var. : j 

 Dracaenas, Yucca aloifoliavariegata,Y. gloriosa, i 

 Cordyline Rhumphii, Chaniierops humilis,Phoe- 1 

 nix dactylifera, Coryphe australis, Ferdinanda j 

 eminens,Zea Japonicafol. var., Erythrina crista 1 

 galli, Araucarias, Abutilons, and Acer Japonica ! 

 in varieties. | 



SpecimeTis— Tree Ferns, Palms, etc., make | 

 an excellent impression when planted (plunged j 

 in the ground) as specimens or groves, or they '. 

 may be made to represent undergrowth to large , 

 trees, where especially the ferns delight in the 

 shade. The size and character of the plants on 

 hand may somewhat rule the manner in which | 

 to place them. So, for instance, will a Panda- 

 nus, Latania, Seaforthia, or Ph(jenix, if four or 

 five feet high, appear well as single specimens 

 on the lawn at a bending and ten feet from the 

 walk •, while if seven or eight feet they are strik- 

 ing objects on some distance behind the flower- 



beds •, such as Dicksonias, Loinarias, and other 

 fi'rns, by the edge of a brcxtk. Yuccas and Aga- 

 ves are in place at the foot of rocks ; and ferns 

 might be planted in natural or artilicial tree- 

 stumps with Lysimachia numularia or such like 

 to droop down around the sides. 



Arrangement of specimens, as well as almost 

 every other variation, has been for some years 

 much admired in the public parks of London, 

 especially Battersea, Victoria and Ilyde Park, 

 where some of the carpet-bed designs originated. 

 These parks are acknowledged by most travelers 

 as taking the lead in Europe ; but as we know 

 everything there is not adaptable here ; and to 

 describe an arrangement of plants to prove 

 equally successful all over this extensive country 

 would be impossible. 



It will be seen and understood that it has not 

 been my object to go through the whole list of 

 bedding plants considered good, but merely to 

 show how those mentioned may be combined 

 and arranged. 



WHAT IS A GARDEN? 



BY RUS IN IJIIBE. 



We go up a high mountain, and here the grand 

 view bursts upon us, storming the gates of our 

 soul and letting the vast sight flood into it and 

 saturate it. Now that we have quaff'ed the drink, 

 we turn to such details as strike us most, and try 

 to make them out fully ; or we follow the course 

 of a chain of hills, or of a river, or of the roads, 

 letting our eyes walk along these threads as 

 though with spider's feet. That is to say, from 

 a moment of sublime feeling we have quickly 

 turned into our natural channel of part curiosity 

 and part the desire for smaller objects more di- 

 gestible to our nature. The panorama has first 

 elevated us a very brief while, then interested 

 us a longer while, and now weary of the vast- 

 ness, we turn and descend the mountain. By- 

 and-by the foreground, which got lost more and 

 more as we went up, comes to meet us. There, 

 at the bend of the road, where it emerges from 

 between the woods, we see, like unto a picture 

 in aframe,the village th»t we are bound for; there 

 is the church and the steeple, a load of hay 

 going into a barn, ducks — yes, we can actually 

 discern ducks on the village pond — boys and girls 

 coming home from school — oh, how pleased we 

 are! Once more we feel comfortable, enjoying 

 the small measure of our human capacities ; 

 once more our human soul is played upon by 

 human sights. The vast panoramic view of our 



