500 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ December 31, 1868. 



have yet tried. I am, however, in Lopes that Barbarea vulgaris 

 variegata, recommsncled by your able correspondent, " Ayrshire 

 Gabdeneb," and of which he has luDclly sent me specimens, 

 will form an excellent companion to the Arabis. 



A much less efifective plant is Staohjs lanata, as its foliage 

 becomes somewhat grey and dirty-looking, only when a suffi- 

 cient number of the Arabis and other plants cannot be had, it 

 may be worked in. Cineraria maritima I have found trans- 

 plants badly, and is injured and ilisfigured by frost, if not 

 killed, and the same may be said of Centaurea gymnocarpa. A 

 white-leaved Ajuga which I have tried, is bad in habit, and I 

 have never been able to have the ornamental Kales in condition 

 before the time it was necessary to take them up, so that I 

 have abandoned them as winter ornaments, however beautiful 

 they may be early in spring. My object is to have all perfect 

 by the end of November, but these varieties of Kale rarely 

 show more than a sort of embryo colouring at that time. 



As the site of the bed and borders which are winter-deco- 

 rated is exposed to high winds, the plants named in the pre- 

 ceding paragraph often suffer more than might be expected, 

 and dead or partially decayed leaves following after high winds, 

 we have not used them much. Perfectly hardy plants with 

 ornamental foliage not being numerous, 1 have for some years 

 been on the look-ont for such, and after repeated trials and dis- 

 appointments I have found the best for appearance under all 

 vicissitudes of weather to be the very old and much-neglected 

 Helleborus foetidus (Bear's Foot) ; its Fern-like foliage spread- 

 ing evenly all round the stem, contrasts by its dark preen hue 

 very strongly with the paler aud more delicate tint cf the in- 

 florescence, which appears in defiance of all weather during 

 the dark days of winter. This plant also transplants well, and 

 in summer is not particular as to site. I have, therefore, evei-y 

 confidence in recommending it as one of the very best of its 

 size for winter use. It may be had from 1 foot to 18 inches 

 high, as even small plants look well, but I prefer those ap- 

 proaching the flowering condition. In addition to this I have 

 sometimes used a broad-leaved Saxifrage — I believe S. ealen- 

 ■dulacea — but its leaves are liable to be battered by the wind ; 

 and the pretty foliage of Pulmonaria officinalis, rivalling that 

 of many hothouse Begonias early in autumn, seems unable to 

 hold its own against the same influence. Sedum glaucum, Sem- 

 pervivum californicum, and others of their class look well 

 when near the observer, but are tcareely visible at a distance of 

 50 or 60 yards ; but they are admirable for vases with a plant 

 of the Hellebore alluded to for the centre, where it braves the 

 winds without sustaining any damage. Patches of Eibbon 

 Grass when it has been cut down late in summer and formed a 

 fresh growth come in very well, and I have more than once 

 made use of a plant that baffled experienced flower gardeners, 

 who, after admiring its outline, could not well withdraw their 

 commendations when informed that it was the common Sedge 

 from the sides of ditches and ponds. Good plants of this look 

 remarkably well, but some cara ought to be taken not to have 

 those with too long slender leaves; but stubby, short-folieged 

 plants from an exposed place do well, end form no bad sub- 

 stitutes for Arundo conspicua, or Pampas Grass — besides, they 

 have the recommendation of costing nothing. The wild and 

 other Primroses I have also used at times, but they present 

 but little to recommend them in November ; nevertheless, a 

 place may be assigned them. The single white Alyssum saxa- 

 tile, although beautiful as a spring flower, is too late for my 

 purpose ; but Crocuses are often planted, and Snowdrops are 

 better still, as they are less interfered with by mice. 



Some other plants have at times been tried. A friend of 

 mine uses plants of wild Heath from a-neighbouving common 

 that have been nibbled into shape by rabbits ; aud now and 

 then Wallflowers and other neat-looking plants are worked 

 in, but I am no advocate for great variety, and the best 

 results which I have yet seen have been accomplished by the 

 plants at present employed. Although I have mentioned many 

 names, the number of different plants used on each occasion 

 has always been small. In my case, however, perhaps the 

 most important one of all remains yet to be mentioned, and 

 that is plain turf, which has always been more effective 

 than any other. 



It may here be remarked, that although variegated Hollies of 

 both the Silver and Golden sections would be a great addition, 

 I have omitted them in consequence of their being difficult to 

 obtain in quantity, and because they do not bear transplanting 

 so well as some of the other plants. To those, however, who 

 do not mind expense these shrubs would, no doubt, be an ac- 

 quisition ; probably, also, neat plants of common Yew, Thuja 



aurea, and others. My plan, however, has been to make the 

 greatest display I can with the commonest plants. 



As colouring materials are an important feature in the 

 arrangements, I may state that these, too, are the simplest 

 and least costly that can be had. We only use three colours — 

 red, white, and black ; the last is produced by sifted cinder 

 ashes; a good white sand found in the neighbourb.ood gives 

 the white ; while a cartload or two of waste kiln bricks not 

 sufficiently burnt to be of any use for building, serve when 

 broken up to make a bright and telling red. The beds or 

 groups of plants are often surrounded by an edging of turf 

 6 inches wide, or if it is a large group a wider band is made 

 use of, while the figures denoting the embroidery or fancywork 

 in colours are marked out by lines of broken stones of uniform 

 size and hue, picked out of a heap ready for road-making or 

 mending. Pebbles would, perhaps, be better, but these are 

 not plentiful here, and the stones answer. With these a toler- 

 able representation of a sprig of foliage may be formed, which, 

 being coloured differently from the ground, may be made to look 

 well ; but too much intricacy is not advisable, as confusion in 

 plan is much to be deprecated. I well remember when the 

 Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Chiswick was first laid 

 out, there were four compartments in the polychrome style, 

 representin<; the four plants emblematic of the countries com- 

 posing the United Kingdom, but it required more discrimina- 

 tion than most people possessed to ascertain with certainty 

 which was the Thistle and which the Leek. Puzzles of design 

 in this way may be admissible and admired by some, but I 

 have no taste for them. I would rather see a simple design 

 carried out clearly than have to guess at a complex one, or 

 what is more likely still, to have to hear it explained by some 

 one in the secret of its conformation ; and as a very simple 

 figure repeated becomes one of beauty, it is better to be con- 

 tent with that than attempt too much in the way of enrichment. 

 Having said that we only use three colours, I may yet farther 

 add that some of our best designs have been accomplished with 

 only two, white being always one. Some years ago a bordering 

 to our large bed, which I think was upwards of 8 feet wide, 

 was done in two colours only, and with great eSect ; it was 

 simply that kind of bordering we often meet with on china- 

 ware or other objects, and called " the Greek pattern." The 

 limbs or lines of this figure were about 10 inches wide, and it 

 was simply black and white, the bead-like lines of stones 

 adding much to the general effect. I do not think I have ever 

 excelled that pattern as a bordering, although I have tried 

 various kinds of what is usually described as fringework. The 

 groundwork of the main portion cf the bed where the groups 

 of plants, with their turf margin, stand wide enough apart to 

 allow it, may be further embellished by some bold lines of 

 scrollwork thrown in amongst them, with now and then, per- 

 haps, a email circle of turf, or a collection of smaller plants in 

 a group, edged either with the stones alluded to, or it may be 

 the variegated Arabis. Description of this kind of work is 

 difficult without recourse to a plan, which also only imperfectly 

 conveys an idea of what is aimed at, and it is not easy without 

 the inspection of an example to conceive the effect produced. 

 It is only after repeated trials that the objections from which 

 no design is exempt, are rendered fewer and of less importance. 

 Enough, however, has probably been said to euable the reader 

 to comprehend what is really meant. As few flower beds 

 are, perhaps, so large as those here operated on every year, it 

 may not be in the power of evei-yone to produce the same re- 

 sult, but some modification of it may be attempted in most 

 places. I shall be well repaid if I succeed in inducing anyone 

 to whom the winter's appearance of his flower beds is of more 

 consequence than the spring display, to abandon the latter ; and 

 by taking advantage of the four winter months, which do not in 

 the least infringe on the summer display, he may have the whole 

 removed by the middle of March, and the beds undergoing the 

 necessary working for the summer flaral crop, for which the 

 two months at his disposal give ample opportunities. Winter 

 gardening, therefore, in my opinion is of much more impor- 

 tance than spring gardening, and I expect to see it still more 

 practised than it has hitherto been, when the number of light- 

 colonred-fohaged plants available for the purpose shall have 

 been fm-ther increased, for I consider plants with foliage of 

 that description, contrasting as they do with the damp earth, 

 indispensable to effect. 



Having said so much in favour of a winter display, I by no 

 means wish to imply that some attempt at spring gardening 

 should not also be made, but I would advise a distinct set of 

 beds for this purpose — say those of a promiscuous class, which 



