April 34, 1866. ] 



JOUENAI, OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



301 



SOME HINTS AS TO THE ARRANGEMENT OF 

 FLOWER-BEDS AND BORDERS. 



I NTS on the above subject 

 ai-e desirable, now that the 

 season for bedding-out is 

 rapidly approacliing, and 

 accordingly I ofi'er a few, in 

 the hope that they may 

 prove useful to the readers of the .Journal. 



Any of the following arrangements will look well if the 

 beds are surrounded by grass. 



No. 1. Centre. Verbena Velvet Cusliion, about 2 feet 

 wide ; next, a band of Geranium Manglesii, 2 feet wide, 

 with the tlowers kept on : tliis Geranium, however, \vill 

 require to be kept pegged, so that it may well cover the 

 space of gi'ound allotted to it : between it and the grass 

 put an edging, 1 foot wide, of Viola cornuta. This would 

 make a magnificent bed. 



No. 2. Centre. Iresine Herbstii ; 2nd row, Viola cornuta ; 

 :3rd row, Cerastium tomentosum. The centre in this ar- 

 rangement should be 2 or y feet wide, and each of the other 

 rows about 15 or 1<> inches in width. 



No. .'H. Centre, I'urple King Verbena ; 2nd row, Gera- 

 nium Bijou, with the tlowers picked off; :ird row, Lobelia 

 speciosa ; 4th row, Anibis lucida variegata. 



No. 4. Centre. Geranium Flower of the Day, with the 

 flowers left on ; this should be 8 feet -wide. Next to it plant 

 2 feet of Vei-bena General Lee. tlien IH inches of Viola 

 cornuta. finishing off next the grass with a margin, a foot 

 wide, of Geranium Golden Fleece. 



No. 5. Centre, Ccutaurea candidissima ; 2nd row, Colous 

 VerschaffeM ; ■'ird row. Cerastium Biebersteivii. 



No. G. Centre, Mrs. Pollock Geranium; 2nd row. Lobelia 

 speciosa ; .3rd row, Cerastium tomentosum. Tliis should 

 be kept pinched-in very closely, so as to form a very close 

 and compact edging. 



No. 7. Centre, Amaranthus melancholicus ruber, ;! or 

 4 feet wide ; next to this a row of Golden Fleece or Cloth 

 of Gold Geranium, 2 feet (i inches wide ; then a band of 

 Ijobelia speciosa, IH inches wide ; finishing off with a nine- 

 inch margin of Variegated Alyssum. 



No. 8. Centre, Verbena Ariosto Improved ; 2nd row. 

 Geranium Christine ; .'ird row. Verbena Ruby liing. 



No. n. Verbena General Grant. This is a very large 

 pink flower, of fine shape and substance ; next row, Viola 

 cornuta. This was one of the finest beds at Oulton last 

 summer. 



No. 10. Centre, Geranium Cybister; 2nd row. Verbena 

 Mrs. Holford, or Snowflake ; 3rd row, Amaranthus melan- 

 cholicus ruber. 



No. 11. Centre, Calceolaria Bro^^^l I'rince of Orange. 



So. 265.— Vol, X„ Nkw Series. 



This should be planted pretty closely together, some small 

 pieces of wood being stuck around each plant to prevent 

 its being broken by tlie wind ; if nicely put in the sticks 

 ^vill support the plants all through the summer, and the 

 foliage will soon hide them. A good margin. 2 feet vdde, 

 of Mhnulus cupreus ^^■Ollld look well, and if the bed is 

 situated in a shady part of the garden it will not easily be 

 sm-passed for beauty all through the smumer months. 



No. 12. Centi-e, Calceolaria Victor Emmanuel : 2nd row. 

 Geranium Flower of the Day ; 3rd row, Verbena Claret 

 Queen ; 4th row. Lobelia Paxtoniana. 



No. 13. Centre, Geranium Chi-istme ; 2nd row. Gera- 

 nium Spread Eagle ; 3rd row, Geraniimi Queen of Queens. 



No. 14. Centre. Geranimn Bijou ; 2nd row, Pm-ple liing ; 

 3rd row. Golden Fleece. 



No. 15. Centre, large bed, twelve large plants of Carina 

 discolor, covering a space of 4 or 5 feet ; next a band of 

 Cineraria maritima, 3 feet wide ; then a two-feet band of 

 Iresine Herbstii ; tinisliing oft' with a margin, 1 foot wide, 

 of Viola cornuta. 



No. 10. Large bed. Centre, seven good plants of Humea 

 elegans ; fliese occupy 6 feet, let the tallest and best plant 

 be put in the centre, and plant the other six in a circle 

 round it ; then plant A'erbena Maonetti Princess Victoria 

 between the Humeas. and allow it to cover the whole 

 sm-face of the bed between them, allowing it to extend 

 about i) inches or a foot outside of the circle formed by 

 their stems. Next put a two-feet-six-inch band of the 

 true Lobelia speciosa, dotting this band alternately with 

 two rows of Cloth of Gold or Golden Fleece Geranium 

 about IS inches apart. These, however, should be very 

 nicely-shaped httle plants, and must not l)e allowed to 

 gi-ow too large ; they can be easily kept within their proper 

 bounds by frequently pinching them in. Finish with a 

 good margin of Cerastium tomentosum, a foot \ride, next 

 tlie grass. This would be a magnificent bed. 



No. 17. If it is desirable to have a pair of large circular 

 beds similar to No. 1(1, the centre of IT should be planted 

 tlie same ; but the two-feet-six-inch margin, ujstead of 

 being planted with Lobelia speciosa, may be planted witJi 

 Cerastium, and dotted with neat little plants of Iresine 

 Herbstii or Colons Verschafl'elti, using Lobelia speciosa for 

 the outer foot margin. 



No. IW. If Nos. 1(' and 17 form a sort of triangle with 

 No. in. the latter should be planted as follows : — Use lln-ee 

 good Humeas for the centre, fill up tlie space between them 

 ivith Verbena Velvet Cushion, let (l feet of the centre be 

 covered with Verbena Velvet Cushion, using a row of 

 Fuchsia Meteor outsiile the Humeas. These should be 

 kept nicely pinched m, so that they may form handsome- 

 shaped plants, and they must be planted altenuxtely. Next 

 plant 2 feet U inches of Geranium IMauglesii, allomng the 

 flowers to remain on, and finishing off with a fiiot margin 

 of Viola cornuta. The eft'ect of these tliree beds planted 

 and situated as above described would be very fine. 



No. 111. A lied planted with Lobelia speciosa. and dotted 

 with nice little plants of Fuchsia Pillar of Gold, would 

 look well. Tliis bed maj' be improved by edging it ^-itli 

 Lobelia Snowflake. 



No. 9n.-VoL. XXXV.. Ou) Sepjes. 



