OotolMr 16, 1873. ] 



JOUBKAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



235 



WINTER FLOWER GARDENING.— No. 2. 



HE beds, when cleared of theii' summer and 

 autumn occupants, should be trenched, a 

 liberal dressing of mamu'e being apphed and 

 put in between the spits in trenching. Leaf 

 soil or well-rotted manure should be applied 

 to the surface and pointed-in with a fork. 

 If the beds are to be planted with bulbs, or 

 plants that do not succeed in a close soil, 

 sand or some other opening material may 

 be added and mixed with the soil, and to 

 most kinds of ground a dressing of Ume would be very 

 beneficial, especially those that are heavy and close. All 

 soils except chalk and limestone are benefited by the 

 application of lime and old mortar rubbish, broken up 

 small so as not to interfere with the dressing of the beds. 



Now, as we intend to occupy the beds at once, this 

 trenching and manuring of the beds may seem superfluous 

 and not consonant with good practice ; but I bold that 

 autumn is the proper time to enrich the ground, so that 

 by spring the materials may be dissolved or decomposed, 

 and so mixed with the soil, ready in a liquid or gaseous 

 form, for the summer plants to lay hold of ; and not in 

 spring prior to planting, as some time must elapse ere 

 the fertilising properties are mixed with the soil, and in 

 a form for the roots to benefit by. The plants that we 

 shall call to our aid for winter gardening wiU be shrubs 

 and plants with green, coloured, and variegated foliage, 

 with a few flowering subjects that will avail us between 

 now and the end of March. 



The fij-st subjects I will name are shrubs, and the first 

 on the list shall be the Ivy, and of the tree kinds, there 

 being few, if any, evergreens than can vie with these in 

 the bright gloss of their leaves and decided characters. 



Hedcra arbnrca lia-gneriana. — Deep green, bright, 

 glossy, large, heart-shaped leaves. Distinct and good. 



H. arborea aurea. — Large, thick, leathei-y loaves, with 

 golden variegation. 



H. arborea clegantissima. — Thick leaves, with wliite 

 variegation. 



H. arborea fructu-luteo. — Large, thick, leatliery leaves, 

 bright deep green. When covered with its bright yellow 

 berries it is magnificent. 



The Ivies above named are very distinct, and of them- 

 selves afford materials for making a good bed, or bed 

 alone, each and all, separately or together. We can have 

 a centre of the bright, deep green, bold-foliaged Rsegneri- 

 aaa, a broad band of the golden, and margin tlie bed with 

 the silver, and on the extreme edge of all Snowdrops, 

 placing them in a continuous lino about 8 inches from 

 the margin of the grass, where they may remain per- 

 manently. Clumps of Snowdrops should be planted in 

 the angles that will be formed by the outer lino of Ivies, 

 so as to prevent any appearance of soil on tlie margin of 

 the bed. The Ivies should be grown in pots, so that they 

 can be moved safely, or at least for a time, potting them 

 in autumn wlien removed from their summer quarters, 

 and in pots that will liold the roots comfortably. Light 



So 855.— Vol. XXV., New Sbbies. 



fibrous loam, with a third of leaf soil or well- rotted ma- 

 nure, and a fourth of old mortar rubbish, will grow them 

 well. The pots should be well drained, and the potting 

 firm. Wlieu placed in the beds the pots should be plunged 

 so that the rims may be covered, but when removed from 

 the beds they should only be plunged level with the rim. 

 In summer they should be well supplied with water and 

 occasionally liquid manure, the pots being surfaced with 

 fresh sheep droppings or cow dung, mixed with an equal 

 quantity of loam, laid on an inch thick, and dished for 

 holding water. The shoots should be kept closely pinched, 

 if they are disposed to grow at all irregularly, and the 

 plants formed into bushes 1'2 to 18 inches high, keeping 

 them to a single short stem. They are best grafted on 

 the common Ivy (Hedera Helix), choosing for gi-afts parts 

 that have the tree character well developed. For town 

 gardens these Ivies are invaluable, and give a charm no 

 beds of bulbs can afford in winter. 



Auciiha japonica mascula. — Green leaves, not unlike 

 those of the common Lam'el. 



A. japonica limbata. — Bright green leaves, with a 

 broad stripe of white up the centre equal to about one- 

 third the width of the leaf. 



A. japonica lonrjifolia. — Bright deep green leaves, 

 longer and narrower than any other variety ; the leaves 

 deeply serrated, elegant in growth. 



To these we may add the old variety with its golden- 

 blotched leaves. 



These plants are also well suited for town gardens, and 

 move with such fine balls as to be well adapted for beds 

 in winter, as they can be moved without experiencing 

 any or a very slight check, which tends to a close leafy 

 gi-owth, all u-regularities of growth being removed in 

 summer so as to promote and maintain a compact growth. 

 If any pruning be required, which will apply to the strong 

 growths only, it should be done in spring, before or when 

 growth commences. The plants ought to have single 

 stems, branching close to the ground, and be kept dwarf, 

 though it is well to have them of three sizes — 12 inches, 

 18 inches, and 24 inches for large beds. The roots may 

 lio kept within bounds by cutting away their long parts 

 in autumn. After planting in the beds in autumn they 

 should have a good watering to settle the soil about the 

 roots, and also in spring after they are placed in the 

 reserve ground. 



The Aucubas form fine masses either separately or 

 together. The green kinds may have edgings of double 

 red Hepatica or the single white Hepatica ; A. limbata 

 margined with double red Hepatica ; and the old sort, 

 witiryellow-blotched leaves, margined with blue Hepatica 

 or Scilla sibirioa. 



If they are massed in one bed the green-leaved mascula 

 may occupy the centre, with limbata next it, then longi- 

 foha, and the old sort outside, margined with blue He- 

 patica ; or the planting may bo reversed, dispensing with 

 mascula, and margining the bed with Euonymus radi- 

 cans variegatus, or if the situation be exposed, Skimmia 

 japonica. 



Skimmia japonica. — Leaves green, margmed with 



No. 1307.— Vol. L., Old Sebies. 



