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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August H, 18C6. 



the recent showers, so free from Plantains and other weeds was 

 it, that I could not help wishing that many who are am- 

 bitious to have large lawns round their residences, but who 

 either cannot or will not keep them in first-rate order, could 

 see this little gem of a grass carpet, to be convinced that hah" 

 an acre so nicely kept will be more satisfactory than half a 

 dozen or a score of acres which can only be kept in the roughest 

 possible way. Something would be done for gardening, and a 

 great deal for the comfort of gardeners, were proprietors suffi- 

 ciently aware of the trouble, labour, and expense of keeping a 

 large lawn as it ought to be — labour, which often interferes with 

 other matters being sufficiently attended to. 



Connected with this small flower-garden lawn there were 

 three changes, and I think improvements, so far as I recollect 

 since my last visit. First, a piece of rockwork and fernery, that 

 bristled out from the evergreen shrubbery, had been removed 

 and transferred to a miniature glen, where, amid the spray of 

 a fountain, and just enough and not too much shade from 

 embowering trees, the rapid growth of some fine specimen 

 Ferns, and the general health and luxuriance, showed that the 

 plants have there found a .suitable home. 



Second, with the exception of two round beds near the man- 

 sion, about 10 feet in diameter, and nicely filled, thus — centre 

 of scarlet Verbena, broad baud of Ceiastium, and broad band 

 outside of blue Lobelia — the flower-beds are all small, chiefly 

 confined to groups nearer the sides than the middle of the 

 lawn, the beds crammed with plants, and showing a dense 

 mass of bloom ; and though, perhaps, scarcely exceeding 2 or 

 2J feet across, I would not have wished them larger or higher 

 above the lawn ; so much of ease, room, light and shade, and 

 contrast and blending of colour, were thus secured, and yet 

 from the front of the house, and still more from the windows 

 I presume, each bed could be seen distinctly. The lawn 

 furnished a fine example of what may be accomplished with 

 comparatively few flowers when these are grouped so as to 

 secure alike individuality of interest and breadth, instead of 

 contractedness of view. Calceolarias have been almost entirely 

 excluded, and their place supplied with yellow-leaved Gera- 

 niums ; the former having proved rather uncertain for several 

 years, and no satisfactory reason can be given further than 

 they have become tired of the place ; but I can recollect when 

 they used to thrive admirably. 



Third, the most striking feature, however, was the long 

 waved ribbon-border which occupied the site of the old rock- 

 work, &c, in front of the shrubbery, and which with that 

 shrubbery formed a grand side background to the lawn. The 

 beds referred to, however pretty, were lost in the dazzling 

 splendour of this nice border. It was thus planted : — Two rows 

 of strong plants of Stella Geranium next the evergreen shrub- 

 bery, one row of strong plants of the white-leaved Centaurea, 

 two rows thickly planted of Mrs. Pollock Geranium, and two 

 rows of Lobelia speciosa next the grass verge that separated 

 the border from the winding walk. Perhaps a string of Ceras- 

 tium next the grass might have improved the appearance, but 

 as it was it was very dazzling, and owed, no doubt, a good 

 portion of its effect to the rich green background of the shrubs, 

 the size and vigour of the individual plants, and the unbroken 

 lines, as there did not appear to be a single vacancy in the 

 rows. — R. Fish. 



PELARGONIUM ST. FIACRE. 



As a bedding plant, of the whole of the Zonale Pelargoniums, 

 this is, in my opinion, the most useful. It is not, however, 

 till this season that I have grown it as a bedder. Its compact 

 habit, and the profusion of its beautiful salmon-coloured 

 flowers, are great recommendations, and it is of so hardy a 

 character as to be uninjured by winds or rain — a quality much 

 wanted in many other varieties. I wish I could see after a 

 heavy rain my beds of Madame Vaucher, Francois Pesbois, 

 Christine, and many others, in the same perfect condition as 

 St. Fiacre. I think that this variety must ere long find its 

 way into every modern flower garden. Too much cannot be 

 said in its favour. — Charles Edwards, Bristol. 



Tuupa sylvestris. — I beg to thank " A Yorkshire Incum- 

 bent " for informing us (page 93), that Tulipa sylvestris is still 

 to be found in the meadows between Hexthorpe and Sprot- 

 borough. Two years since, I was informed that in making one 

 of the new Hues of railway a quantity of ballast was laid on the 



spot where Tulipa sylvestris grew, and by so doing it was com- 

 pletely destroyed. Had I known that it was still to be found 

 there I should have visited the spot during the last flowering 

 season. "A Surgeon's Wife " appears to have been misled 

 by the information contained in Baines's "Flora of Yorkshire ;" 

 it reads thus — " In a field between Hexthorpe and Sprotboro' 

 broats, on the banks of the river Don ; covering a considerable 

 space, but flowering only sparingly." In Miall and Carrington's 

 " Flora of the West Riding," another Yorkshire station for 

 this interesting flower is given on the authority of the Rev. 

 G. Pinder; but this is open to doubt, as it is not now to be 

 found there, and it is not easily eradicated, as the bulbs run so 

 very far into the ground. — Rustic Robin. 



GRASSES FOR LAWNS. 



(Continued from page 106). 

 Festuca ovina (Sheep's Fescue Grass). — This Grass, repre- 

 sented beneath, forms a dense carpet of dark glaucous green, 

 and is much in request, and highly prized for lawns and bowling- 

 greens. It constitutes the principal vegetation on some hills, 



especially those which are dry and steep. Though dwarf it 

 roots deeply, and is, therefore, remarkable for remaining green 

 during the hot summer months and the most severe winters. 



Festuca ovina tenuitolia (Fine-leaved Fescue Grass), is 

 of a more slender growth than the preceding, which it much 

 resembles, and is possessed of all its excellent properties. It 

 is to be preferred to it for lawns, where it forms a finer turf, 

 especially on dry gravelly soils. It is admirably adapted for 

 lawns, bowling-greens, and parks, as it is always green, summer 

 and winter. — G. Abbey. 



(To be continued.) 



VARIEGATED MAIZE. 

 I observed in your Journal a few weeks ago a complaint that 

 the new ornamental-foliaged plant, the variegated Maize, pro- 

 duced from seed plants devoid of any variegation. My own 

 experience does not accord with this. Out of a packet of seed 



