THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 19 



pands from the first. Consequently, the number of plants necessary 

 IS considerably in excess of the number required of such things as 

 geraniums and calceolarias. To plant each of the beds at the Crystal 

 Palace, to which allusion has been made, about seven hundred were 

 required, the total required for the 18 beds, therefore, was 12,600. 

 But it must not be forgotten that a very considerable propor- 

 tion of the subjects are perfectly hardy, and also that the beds 

 present a finished and attractive appearance immediately the planting 

 is completed. There is no waiting for eff"ect, and no matter what the 

 weather during the summer may be, they present a most attractive ap- 

 pearance until tlie frost cuts off the Alternantheras, and other tender 

 things. Those who are strongly wedded to flowers will not like the car- 

 pet system, because, with one or two exceptions, leaf-plants are ex- 

 clusively employed. That it has defects there can be no doubt, 

 but when well carried out, it has advantages ever flowering plants 

 which cannot be gainsaid. It has been said by those who object to 

 it, that an equally good effect could be produced by stretching strips 

 of coloured calico over the beds ; but to make this assertion is to 

 talk nonsense, and to exhibit a profound ignorance of the whole 

 question, as the examples at the Crystal Palace abundantly testified. 



STANDAED WISTARIAS. 



BT A KENTISH GAEDENEE. 



fiVEEYONE is acquainted with the lovely Wistaria sinensis 

 as a climbing plant, but very few people know how 

 effective it is when grown in the form of a standard 

 tree. It is not unfrequently supposed that the cha- 

 racter of its growth renders it unsuitable for standards, 

 but it is not so, and I hope to be able to show how readily they may 

 be produced. There are not many examples to which reference may 

 be made, but there is one in the gardens of the Crystal Palace at 

 Sydenham, at the foot of the Rose Mount, and those who have seen 

 it when in full bloom will readily call to mind the very beautiful 

 appearance it had. I should not advocate the planting of a con- 

 siderable number of standards in one garden, as one or two will be 

 quite sufficient for those of an ordinary size. 



As the Wistarias trained in the manner here referred to cannot, 

 so far as I am aware, be purchased, they will have to be grown at 

 home, and in selecting a position, it must be remembered that the 

 Wistaria thrives best in a warm well-drained spot, and in a rather 

 light soil. In forming a standard in a place where the natural soil 

 is not deep and good, take out the old soil two feet deep in a circle 

 eight feet over, and well stir up the bottom, and then fill up the 

 place with turfy loam, halt' rotten turfs chopped to pieces, and leaf 

 soil, in equal proportions. Well mix these ingredients together, 

 and put the stuff in the hole when quite dry. If the tree is to be 

 on turf, as it ought to be, there should be a circle two feet over left 

 Janasr^. 



