September 19. 19«7. J JOUBNAL OP HOBTICOLTDRE AKD COTTAGE GAUDENER. 



SEPTESTBER 19-25. 1867. 



Day breaks 8.45 a.>i. 



Bolfi-*! Horticultural Show. 



Kciv il Horticulluval Society, Promenade. 



H SrVDAT AFTER TKIKITY. 



Autuoia commences. 

 Twilight ends, 7.47 p.m. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Average Tcmpernturo l '''}'').,''' i Son 

 near lAiDdon. 'lo jtiiie. K'80»- 



Dov. Nicht. Mem DayB. [ m. h. 



f.7.4 45.0 ! 5D.2 19 , 42 at 5 



02.2 44.1 1 58.1 18 44 6 



66.4 45.3 55.8 22 ,45 5 



06.7 45.1 65.9 19 47 6 



66.4 46.1 6G.2 20 49 5 



66.1 4-1.8 65.2 18 50 5 



66.0 43.3 54.6 19 52 S ; 





Ran 



SeU. 



Hooa 

 BiaeH. 



Moon 

 SeU. 



m. h. 

 6af6 

 » 6 



m. h. 

 21 af !) 



in. h. 

 4Ufll 



Moon's 

 Afc-e. 



DavB. 

 21 

 22 

 < 

 24 

 25 

 26 

 27 



Cloak 

 after 

 Son. 



6 10 

 6 31 



•Mil 



^7 



Venr. 



262 

 263 

 264 

 265 

 266 

 2«7 

 268 



From obBervaUoDB taken near London during the last forty years, the average day temperatnre of the week is 659^; and its night 



89% on the asth, 1832 ; and the lowest cold 82', on the 20th, 18tu. The greatest fall of rain was 



temperatoro 44.7% The greatest heat was 

 1.21 inch. 



BEDDING ANNUALS IN THE VICTOKL\ PARK, 



GLASGOW. 



HE compavativel}' sliort pe- 

 riod (lurinr; which oven the 

 best of known annuals can 

 be hail in perfect bloom 

 precludes tlie possibility of 

 their ever supersedin<;, to 

 any extent, our present class of bedding plants. But there 

 are many gardens, both public and private, where, owing 

 to want of means and accommodation, only a hundred of 

 these can be propagated and wintered for every thousand 

 required, and the result is, that when bedding-time comes, 

 these few hundreds are distributed over so much space that 

 no striking eil'ects can possibly be produced until far on in 

 the season. 



Now, for places of this class — and they are more plenti- 

 ful than pleasant — a selection of good annuals is invaluable 

 for lilling up largo beds and borders in situations of second- 

 rate importance, places which otherwise swallow up any 

 amount of good plants writhout ever looking more than 

 half-furnished, while the more prominent beds are robbed, 

 the plants being dotted here and there over them scarcely 

 within speaking distance of one another. 



It is, then, plainly the duty of every one at all uiterestcd 

 in these matters to gather up all available facts that maj' 

 in any way lead to the simplifjing, and, consequently, 

 to the diininLshing of the expense and trouble attending 

 tlower-gardon operations. 



Some strikint; examples of what can be done with the 

 simplest of materials may at present be seen in the Victoria, 

 or, as it is oftener called, the South-side Park, in the 

 suburbs of Glasgow. Although not intending to give a 

 detailed account of these grounds, I may state that they 

 embrace an area of about 150 acres, and are laid out, if 

 not in a style the most elaborate, yet witli great taste and 

 judgment, and are eminently adapted to the wants of the 

 working part of the community as a place of promenade 

 and recreation. 



Entering from the city side, and ascending the first ter- 

 race by a massive flight of stone stairs, the first tiling 

 that attracts the attention in the way of bedding is a long 

 narrow ribbon-border, about 'HW yards in length, by not 

 more than 4i feet in width, occupying part of the space 

 between a broad iO-fcet wilk and the top of a terrace : 

 it is composed wholly of annuals, and. taking that into 

 consideration, is one of the most perfect things of the kind 

 I have ever seen. The middle row is purple Candytuft, 

 on each side of which is a row of Mignonette, and tlio two 

 outside rows white .Vlyssum. The soft beauty of this 

 arrangement, so free from violent contrast, yet so striking, 

 needs only to be seen to bo admired. It reminded ine of 

 No. 833.— Vol XIII., New Se^ubs, 



a somewhat similar aiTangement of a short ribbon-border 

 I met with in the neighbourhood of Brixton a few years 

 ago ; it was also open on both sides, the centre row 

 scarlet Pelargoniums, the next pair of the gi'ey Coleas 

 Blumei, and edaings either of wliite Centaurea or Cine- 

 raria, I cannot remember which ; but of these two borders, 

 both beautiful in my estimation, that composed of homely 

 annuals was by far the more effective ; only it must be 

 borne in mind "that little more than five or six weeks of 

 perfect bloom can be calculated upon in the one case, 

 while the other is more or less attractive from the day of 

 planting-out until destroyed by frost, which is, in some 

 localities at least, a period of nearly as many months. 



The next feature worthy of notice is a series of oblong. 

 alternated with circular, beds. The latter not bemg filled 

 with annuals, but with Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, Ac., 

 and some of them edged with Clvrysanthenium Sensation, 

 although looking beautiful, need not he particularly de- 

 scribed. The others, which are pretty large, aic fiUed in 

 the centres with purple and next with white Candytuft, 

 and edged with the blue Kaulfussia amelloides. In some of 

 the beds this latter is rather a failure, oning, no doubt, to 

 the dull sunless weathei-. always so prevalent about Glas- 

 gow, and wliich has seldom been more so than during the 

 last summer. 



'J'he sheets of bloom these beds of Candytufts produce 

 is such as no Verbenas can rival, and wheiu viewed near at 

 hand are almcist painful to look at : but when seen at a 

 distance, and in conjunction \vith other objects more soberly 

 graceful, they have a gay and pleasing appearance. 



The rock upon which so many split who attempt the 

 bedding of annuals seems to he the employing of too many 

 varieties, and the taking on trust from seedsmen or others 

 the heights and times of blooming of many with wliich 

 they are themselves not intimately acquainted: whereas 

 the fewer that are employed the better. pro\ided the re- 

 quisite colours be obtained, and none should be extensively 

 used which have not been previously tested on a small 

 scale, in as nearly as possible the same soils and exposures 

 thev are intended to occupy when bedded : the heights, 

 colours, times of coming in and remaining in bloom can 

 then bo carefully noted', together with the general habits 

 and peculiarities of each sort, and the whole well digested 

 luid arranged for the next season, when the desired effect 

 can be coimted upon as a certainty, so far at least as 

 human foresight is concerned. 



From the middle of August, and as long after as possible, 

 is the season wlien many llower gardens in the country 

 are wanted to look their best, and the hardier annuals 

 sown so as to be in bloom at that time will out-wear our 

 tender and expensive bedding plants, and look fresh and 

 passable long after these have been cut down by early 

 frosts. 



Cut it is from the economical st.ond-point that the merits 

 of annuals are seen to the best advantage ; for although 

 I would be one of the last to advocate their adoption in 

 places where better things could be provided, yet when it 

 comes to be a question of these or nothing, armuals or a 

 nearly total absence of all show, half-apologised for, per- 



Ho. ceo, -Vol. XSLXVUL, Old Sebies. 



