RIBBON GARDENING. 



In the counties of StaflFord and Salop this system of gardening is perhaps more 

 extensively practised than in any other part of England. At Trentham, as might 

 naturally be expected, the ribbon system is extensively carried out, and the rib- 

 bons are very effective. The principal, which stretches the whole length of the 

 kitchen garden, may be said to be the connecting link between the utilitarian and 

 the decorative departments, and emerging as I did from the garden, the " sur- 

 prise" of that " l)laze of bloom" was not only very dazzling, but also highly grati- 

 fying. The following is very effective: Back row — Branching Larkspur, blue; 

 Matricaria grandiflora, white; Petunia Shrubland Rose, rose; Calceolaria Kayi, 

 orange ; Myosotis, blue, and Saponaria calabrica, pink, double row intermixed ; 

 Geranium Golden Chain, green and gold ; Lobelia ramosoides, double row blue. 

 Where the Golden Chain Geranium is not sufficiently plentiful, " Musk" may be 

 substituted with good effect. Mr. Fleming had various modifications of ribbons, 

 and as a hardy one accessible to every one Eschscholtzia californica, orange ; 

 Convolvulus minor, blue ; and Musk, yellow ; the last abutting upon Grass, looked 

 exceedingly well. I must not omit to mention a rivulet of Forget-me-Not. It 

 apparently meanders in a circuitous route between some specimen evergreen trees, 

 and certainly at a distance the casual observer might mistake it for water. The 

 following is a nice arrangement for a ribbon : Back row — Salvia patens and 

 Branching Larkspur intermixed, blue; Matricaria grandiflora, white; Geranium 

 Tom Thumb, scarlet; Calceolaria Trentham Brown, bronzy brown; Calceolaria 

 Kayi, orange ; Geranium Manglesi (variegated), and Verbena Tvveediana (scar- 

 let), intermixed, white and scarlet; Musk, yellow; Lobelia ramosoides, blue, or 

 next the walk Musk, then Geranium Tom Thumb, afterwards an excellent variety 

 of double Feverfew (white), and backed by Dahlia Zelinda, maroon. These bor- 

 ders were not more than four feet wide, and being full of plants, certainly looked 

 exceedingly well. 



Passing on to Enville, the most enchanting ribbon I ever saw was thus formed. 

 The line was a curved one. Back row — Delphinum Hendersonii, blue; Pentste- 

 mon gentianoides coccineum, red scarlet; Calceolaria Kayi, orange; Geranium 

 Cerise Unique, cerise ; Lobelia speciosa, blue ; Geranium Golden Chain, orange 

 variegated. The beautiful play of color in this arrangement was very remarka- 

 ble. The variegations of the Golden Chain, the flowers being taken off, the cerise 

 of the flowers, coral stems, and peculiar marking of the foliage of the Cerise- 

 Unique, divided as the two kinds were by a dense line of bright blue, and backed 

 by the Orange Calceolaria, was a combination of color the effect of which must be 

 seen to be appreciated. For a narrow ribbon no arrangement could be more 

 effective, but it is not every person that can plant out Golden Cliain by the thou- 

 sand, and those who cannot will find a good substitute in small plants of the 

 Flower of the Day, if the flowers are regularly taken off, and the plants are not 

 permitted to get too tall. The Cerise Unique, in this arrangement, will also look 

 best if placed in the full sun; then the stems and leaves get their full color, 

 which is a matter of much importance. I should mention that the preceding 

 ribbon was verged with Grass. Here is another arrangement with a Grass verge: 

 Back row — Humea elegans, brown ; Salvia patens, blue ; Calceolaria Kayi, 

 orange ; ditto, Indian Chief, crimson brown ; Geranium Tom Thumb, scarlet ; 

 Forget-me-Not, blue ; Geranium Golden Chain, orange and green. 



I think perhaps the groups at Dudmaston, near Bridgenorth, were still more 

 beautiful. Nothing could exceed them, and I never saw beds so perfectly sheeted 

 with bloom. The garden is small, as compared with those previously mentioned, 

 but the whole of the shrubbery borders were ribboned, and standing as you could 



one point, and take in almost the whole of the garden, nearly a mile of ribbon 



