BEDDING 



BEDDING 



465 



selves, but this is because they demand much room by 

 reason of their trailing habit. 



Subtropical bedding. 



Summer bedding for subtropical effects employs 

 chiefly cannas, musas, castor-oil plants, crotons, palms, 

 ferns of coarser habit, screw-pines, dracenas, araucarias, 

 elephant-ear caladiums, and, to a lesser extent, abutilon, 

 acalypha, achyranthes, anthericum, Carica Papaya, 

 sanchezia, and others. Cannas are by far the most 

 popular at the present time, especially for mass-work. 

 Sometimes the tall, purple-leaved old-fashioned, small- 

 flowered types are used in the center or at the back of 

 the bed, and the dwarf, modern, large-flowered types 

 around the edges or in front. Frequently, massing with 

 a single variety of canna is practised. Next to cannas 

 in popularity probably come the crotons or codieums, 

 the broad-leaved types, as Queen Victoria, being better 

 for this purpose than the narrower-leaved or simply 

 curious kinds, as Codiseiim interruptum and C. voiutum, 

 which belong to fanciers' collections. For carpeting the 

 ground in a croton bed, two variegated trailers can be 

 used with good effect, the wandering Jew or trades- 

 cantia and Oplismenus Burmannii, which is familiar 

 to gardeners as Panicum nariegntum. The large leaves of 

 bananas give a very rich tropical effect, especially if 



the3* can be so 

 sheltered that 

 the wind will 

 not split them. 

 One of the very 

 best plants for 

 encircling a 

 public fountain 

 is the huge- 

 leaved ele- 

 phant-ear cala- 

 dium. For in- 

 teresting points 

 concerning its 

 culture, see Co- 

 locasia. Among 

 the first half- 

 dozen favorities 

 for sub -tropi- 

 cal bedding is 

 the castor - oil 

 plant, or rici- 

 nus. Its mar- 



492. Tudor rose pattern. 

 1. Scarlet begonia. 1. Lobelia erinus, 

 white. 3. Echeveria secunda glauca. 4. 

 Scarlet geranium. 5. Cineraria maritima. 

 6. Alternanthera paronychioides. 



velous growth from seed in a single season makes it 

 one of the very best of all plants for rapidly filling up 

 large areas temporarily. Grasses furnish an exception 

 to the general rule that betiding plants are tender. 

 There are some kinds of bamboos that are more or less 

 hardy in the northern states, and these are bound to 

 increase in popularity. Figs. 487, 488. A favorite 

 combination of grasses for bedding is Arundo Donax, 

 the giant reed, surrounded by eulalias. Grasses and 

 their kind are particularly effective in aquatic groups. 



No well-kept large 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, dracenas, araucarias a 

 class of foliage plants that really does better outdoors 

 during summer in a shady and sheltered position than 

 indoors all the year round. In the more formal styles 

 of ornamental gardening, such plants often form the 

 nucleus of a subtropical bed, the large tubs of the 

 palms being hidden 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 



30 



plants are arranged in a freer and more natural manner, 

 and the outer fringe of begonias and the like may be 

 dispensed with. The chief dangers to such plants are 

 from the sun and wind. Palms once scorched or wind- 

 whipped are ruined. Hence, a sheltered position on 

 the north side 



of a building, fe_ 



or under the 

 shade of trees, is 

 usually the best 

 spot for their 

 summer v a c a - 

 tion. 



Carpet-bedding. 



C-RF 



493. Eighteenth century English border 



pattern. 



1. Lobelia erinus, blue. 2. Begonia, 

 "Fairy Queen." 3. Cineraria maritima. 4. 

 Calendula pfficinalis, "Sulphur Queen." 5. 

 Lobelia erinus, white. 6. Alternanthera 

 paronychioides. Alternative: Use pansies 

 alone. 



What is known 

 as carpet- or de- 

 sign-bedding is 

 the most formal 

 and most expen- 

 sive of all kinds 

 of bedding, and 

 employs plants 

 that stand pinching and shearing, as coleus, achyran- 

 thes, alternanthera, lobelia, one of the dusty millers 

 (Centaurea gymnocarpa, C. candidissima will not bear 

 the shears), and certain succulents of the hen-and- 

 chickens type (as echeverias), and many others. The 

 plants are started indoors, mostly by cuttings, and 

 from very carefully selected stock. The terms "geo- 

 metrical bedding" and ''fancy bedding" are somewhat 

 synonymous. Here belong the imitations of buildings 

 and animals, the portraits of men, the lettered greet- 

 ings to conventions, the calendars, floral clocks, and 

 similar ingenuities. 



The designs of carpet-beds are very numerous, but 

 there are certain recognized standards. The diagrams 

 (Figs. 489 to 494) give forms and planting material for 

 a half-dozen unlike and regulated patterns, with har- 

 monious color combinations. Forms of pattern-beds on 

 the lawn are shown in Figs. 495, 496. A proper setting 

 for pattern beds is indicated in Fig. 497. 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 published 

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

 of bedding requires the highest degree of technical 

 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 



