November 19, 1871. 1 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



441 



.-V 



THE FLOWER BEDS AT THE CRYSTAL 

 PALACE.— No. 3. 



K?/^=^=s»N important advantage belonging to the 

 ■'■ ' ' enamel bedding is that very few kinds of 

 plants are really necessary to produce an 

 endless variety of these floral pictures ; thus, 

 for example, none of the beds which I exa- 

 mined closely were precisely alike, and yet 

 the two or three designs figured in the first 

 paper nearly exhausted the list of plants used 

 here for this purpose. Not that this list is by 

 any means an exhaustive one of available 

 kinds, for there is a perfect host of alpine and succulent 

 plants — gems of most exquisite beauty, which I hope to 

 see gradually brought into general cultivation for this 

 purpose, as well as for the decoration of rockeries. This 

 is the point to keep fully in view : — A taste for enamel 

 bedding, and a consequent interest in the formation of 

 designs and management of the plants, have now become 

 general ; to foster and strengthen this feeling something 

 more than mere variety of design is necessary, and if we 

 only draw our supplies of fresh plants from the rich store 

 that is open to us, the popularity of the system will ex- 

 tend as it becomes more interesting and ornamental, 

 and, what is even more important, the public will become 

 intimately acquainted with a class of plants hitherto 

 neglected, simply from ignorance of their very existence. 

 A single specimen of any dwarf hardy plant rarely at- 

 tracts more than a passing glance, but a mass of it gene- 

 rally arrests attention, and induces a critical examination. 

 There can, therefore, be no doubt that the enamel style of 

 bedding affords greater facilities than any other for show- 

 ing not only the intrinsic merit of a plant, but its relative 

 value to others for decorative purposes ; moreover, it 

 appears to me that this is precisely such an educational 

 work as comes within the scope of the managers of large 

 public gardens. Popular education is fairly triumphant 

 over the old, dry, cramming process ; and when it points 

 to increasing profits and bulky dividends, as it undoubt- 

 edly does at the Palace, it assumes an importance that 

 is perfectly irresistible, and to which the dullest director 

 Las a lively susceptibility. 



Thus much of future measures. For the present, or 

 rather next season, it is so important that beginners 

 should clearly understand with bow few varieties great 

 things may be done, that I will give here a connected list 

 of the plants now most used in such beds. 1, Alternan- 

 thera amcena ; 2, A. versicolor ; 3, A. amabilis ; 4, A. mag- 

 nifica ; 5, Tagetes signata pumila ; 6, Lobeha speciosa ; 

 7, Coleus Verechaffelti ; 8, C. Verschaffelti Improved ; 

 9, Echeveria secunda glauca ; 10, Sempervivum cali- 

 fomicum ; 11, Gnaphalium lanatum ; 12, Cerastium ; 

 13, Geranium Duke of Edinburgh ; and 14, Iresine 

 Lindeni. 



The border between the upper rosery walk and the wire 



arches, the arrangement of which is shown in firf. 121, 



(page 442), was magnificent. The plants were in capital 



condition, the colours skilfully blended and thoroughly well 



Ho. 7U.— ToL. XXVn, Nsw Seeies. 



balanced, and whether regarded simply as a beautiful 

 border or as part of a grand whole, it was equally satisfac- 

 tory. Frequent objections have been made to ribbon 

 borders from the air of monotonous formality that is in- 

 separable from a number of parallel lines, and the skilful 

 manner in which this difficulty is overcome here is worthy 

 of attention. The broad mass of rosy Alternantbera 

 stretching along behind the pale silvery Echeveria loses 

 all the stiffness of a formal band by the graceful way 

 in which it is made to sweep outwards, meeting the 

 curvatures and assuming the character of the central 

 lines, enclosing completely within itself the pretty masses 

 of pale yellow Mesembryanthemum ; thus imparting 

 breadth, substance, and a full rich harmony to the com- 

 position precisely simUar in its effect to that of a deep 

 mellow bass in music. Mark, too, the importance of the 

 alternating masses of pink and deep rich scarlet, still 

 developed with tolerable excellence in old Christiae and 

 SteUa, and which glow with more than common brilliancy 

 from the fine contrast of the silvery variegated Geranium, 

 which is thus effective simply because its flowers are kept 

 pioked-off. Then glance across the border, and try to 

 take in its fuU significance — the bounding line of silvery 

 grey with just a bluish tinge first meets us, quiet it 

 may be in tone, but wonderfully effective ; then come 

 the carmine, crimson, and pink of the Alternantbera, 

 the soft dreamy yellow of the Mesembryanthemum, the 

 deep blue of the Lobelia — deeper too and all the more 

 striking fi'om contact with the fleecy Golden Pyrethrum 

 that comes in with such wonderful power between it and 

 the deep rich crimson of the Coleus over which the eye 

 lingers luxuriously as it passes to the refreshing bright- 

 ness of the hghter variegation behind ; while the masses 

 of pink and scarlet, though detached, yet exercise a very 

 similar effect in the position which they occupy to that 

 of the Alternantbera in front; and behind all are the 

 flowers of white Geranium nestling so charmingly among 

 the abundant green foliage, and forming with it an appro- 

 priate fringe and foil to the more brilliant colours. My 

 object in dwelling at such length upon this border is not 

 only to assist the earnest teachable student, but to show 

 to those who object to such displays, regarding them as a 

 mere "flash of colour," that there are meaning and ex- 

 pression in every mass, or line, or colour, hidden, per- 

 chance, from those who rail at a system which they can- 

 not understand, but fraught with that significance and 

 poetry which invariably belongs to objects of beauty 

 formed or composed upon the sound principles of art, 

 and which the cultivated mind and refined taste never 

 fail to enjoy fully. 



I found a good deal of excellent enamel bedding upon 

 the terrace, but it is unnecessary to dwell particularly 

 upon the arrangement of the plants. It was undoubtedly 

 good in every instance ; but a description would simply 

 take your readers through a repetition of the plants already 

 named. The beds upon the turf at the upper fountains, 

 consisting of a series of circles and oblongs connected by 

 bars about a foot in length, thus — =C;=^ZZ;;=C;=> 

 and so forming a continuous chain, have a very pretty 



Mo, U64.— Tob. UL. Ou> SisiBB. 



