BEDDING 



BEDDING 



139 



modem, large-flowered types around the edges or in 

 front. Frequently, massing with a singU- variety of 

 canna is practiced. Next to cannas in popularity prob- 

 ably come the crotons or codiffiums,— the iiroad-Ieaved 

 types, as Queen Victoria, being better for this purpose 



than the narrower - leaved or simply cu- 

 rious kinds, as Codupuni inierraptum 

 and C. volutum, which belong to fan- 

 ciers' collections. For carpeting the 

 ground in a croton bed, two variegated 

 trailers can be used with good effect, the 

 wandering jew or tradescantia and Op 

 fismenns Bwrmanni, which is famil 

 iar to gardeners as Panicum variega 

 turn. The large leaves of bananas give 

 a very rich tropical effect, especially if 

 they can be so sheltered that the wind 

 *'"• will not split them. One of the ver> 



Typical Snap, or hest plants for encircling a pul lit 

 String Beans fountain is the huge-leaved elephant 

 (Xj^). (See p. 136.) ear caladium. For interesting points 

 concerning its culture, see Colocabta 

 Among the first half-dozen favorites for subtropical bed 

 ding is the castor-oil plant, or ricinus. Its marvellous; 

 growth from seed in a single season makes it one of the 

 very best of all plants for rapidly tilling up large areas 

 temporarily. Grasses furnish an exception to the general 

 rule that bedding plants are tender. There are many 

 kinds of bamboos that are" perfectly hardy in the north 

 eru states, and these are bound to increase in popularity 

 A favorite combination of grasses for bedding is 

 Arnndo Donax, the giant reed, surrounded by eulahas 

 Grasses and their kind are particularly effective in 

 aquatic groups. No well kept establishment is complete 

 without a pond or body of water in which aquatic plants 

 are naturalized. For a more extended account of this 

 attractive subject, see the article Aquatics, There is a 



large class of tender material — as palms, screw-pines, 

 the coarser ferns, dractenas, araucarias — a class of foli- 

 age plants which really does better outdoors during 

 summer in a shady and sheltered position than indoors 

 all the year round. In the more formal styles of orna- 

 mental gardening, such plauis often form the nucleus of 

 a subtropical bed, the large tubs of the palms being hid- 

 den by lower-growing plants, as begonias, or whatever 

 may be left over from the spring operations. In less 

 formal gardening, the tubs may be hidden by plunging 

 them half-way into the ground and grading the sod. which 

 has been previously broken, in such a manner as to 

 conceal the tubs entirely. The plants are arranged in a 

 freer and more natural manner, and the outer fringe of 

 begonias and tlie like may be disix-nsed with. The chief 

 dangers to such phi!its arc frnni the sun and wiud. 

 Palms once scurchrd (ir wiml-whipped are ruined. 

 Hence, a sheltered position on the north side of a build- 

 ing, or under the shade of trees, is usually the best spot 

 for their summer vacation. 



Carpet Bedding is the most formal and most expen- 

 sive of all kinds of bedding, and employs plants that 

 stand pinching and shearing, as coleus, achyranthes, 

 alternanthera, lobelia, one of the dusty millers (Oen- 

 taurea gymnocarpa , — C . candid is at ma will not bear the 

 shears), certain succulents of tlie hen-Miid-chickens 

 type (as echeverias), and many others, wliich list may 

 be found in a classified and convenient fr)rm at p. 245 of 

 Bailey's Garden-Making. The terms "geometrical bed- 

 ding" and " fancy bedding" are somewhat synonymous. 

 Here belong the imitations of buildings and animals, 

 the portraits of men. the lettered greetings to conven- 

 tions, the nilenihirs, d<»ral 'jlocks, ;ind similar ingenui- 

 ties. A siuL: Ic- example is ].ictiired in Fig. 199. A ground 

 plan for a tan<-y carpet bed is shown in Fig. 200. For 

 designs and for extended cultural information, the 

 reader is referred to the numerous German books on the 

 subject, to Mottet's La Mosaiculture, and to a book pub- 

 lished by Geo. A. Solly & Son, Springfield, Mass. This 

 style of bedding requires the highest degree of tech- 

 nical skill, and is especially enjoyed by the Germans, 

 whose gardeners excel in it. 



The position of a bed is far more important than the 

 style of bedding or the kinds of plants that are used. 

 The natural school of landscape gardening, as opposed 

 to the various schools of ornamental gardening, makes 

 no objection to beds in themselves, but dislikes their 

 usual position. They are commonly given the most con- 

 spicuous places, where they must be seen, whether peo- 

 ple like them or not. They should be in a place by 

 themselves where they do not interfere with the quieter 

 and larger pictures of the whole place. Sunken areas. 



<;.. 



199 Example of fancy bedding 



as in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, are particularly 

 commendable. A flower-bed should not be in the mid- 

 dle of a large lawn, because it distracts the attention 



