ON SHRUBBY BORDER AND BEDDING CALCEOLARIAS 



THE garden Slipperworts have lost some of the import- 

 ance which they possessed in the days when " bedding- 

 out" was popular. Inasmuch as flower-gardening has 

 spread so much during these latter years it is probable 

 that if a Calceolaria census were taken it would be found 

 that the plants are grown in greater quantities than they 

 ever were ; but florists pay little attention to them, and it 

 is rare for a new variety to come out. If one did, very 

 little notice would be taken of it. It would certainly not 

 be surrounded by a thick crowd of admirers at a show 

 like a new Rose or Sweet Pea. 



The Slipperworts were misused in days gone by. 

 They were associated with red Zonal Geraniums and 

 blue Lobelias in the famous " ribbon border," of which 

 cultured people grew so weary that they could not see, 

 read, or hear of it without an impatience that almost 

 amounted to anger. And as if the ribbon border were 

 not enough, it was common to fill the principal beds 

 with Geraniums and border them with yellow Calceolarias 

 and blue Lobelias. In fact, flower-lovers became so 

 surfeited with this eternal red, yellow, and blue (and all 

 on plants that required glass protection in winter), that 

 they could hardly look on the triumvirate without 

 loathing. 



There is nothing inherently repulsive in a Calceo- 



