122 Encyclopaedia of Gardening 



FLOWER GARDEN continued. 



Cocoa-nut string is suitable. Or the shoots may be looped. 

 Bedding-out. In these days " bedding-out " does not mean 

 quite the same as it did in years gone by. A much greater variety 

 of plants is used, and more consideration is given to the provision 

 of beautiful combinations. Once upon a time " bedding-out " 

 consisted in little more than putting out so many thousands of Zonal 

 -Geraniums. These plants were as much prized for their foliage as 

 their flowers, and a new variety with richly-coloured leaves was 

 very valuable. They were by no means without beauty, and the 

 bright old Geranium has much to recommend it, but it must not be 

 used to the exclusion of everything else. A group of flower-beds on 

 a lawn is still a feature of many large gardens ; and it may be made 

 attractive most of the year by arranging two plantings: one in 

 autumn, the other in spring. At the former, bulbs and Wallflowers 

 may be used largely, but as with the former alone the ground would 

 be bare until growth began at the end of winter, and bare earth is 

 not liked in these days, Arabises, Aubrietias, Forget-me-nots, mossy 

 Saxifrages, and other dwarf carpeting plants are used with them. 

 The three first-named are easily raised from seed outdoors in early 

 summer; the last may be propagated by division. Daffodils, or 

 Daffodils and Hyacinths in mixture, may be used in some of the 

 beds; but Tulips give a richer glow of colour, and these noble 

 flowers enjoy high favour. The early Dutch varieties bloom with 

 the other bulbs, and are of low stature; the Cottage and Darwin 

 Tulips flower in May, -and are tall growers with immense flowers. 

 They are in full bloom with the Wallflowers, and may be cleared out 

 of the beds at the end of May together; the Tulips to be " laid in " 

 somewhere in the reserve plot, the Wallflowers to the rubbish heap. 

 Another plan for part of the spring bedding is to raise a stock of 

 coloured Primroses, Auriculas. Polyanthuses, and Oxlips from seed 

 in summer, and plant them out a foot apart in beds in autumn. 

 They are at their best with the Wallflowers and May Tulips, and 

 may be planted out with the latter in the reserve garden. When 

 the spring flowers are over, the turn of the summer and autumn 

 flowers comes. A good stock of these should be prepared before- 

 hand: Geraniums from cuttings struck the previous autumn and 

 wintered in boxes in a cool house ; Calceolarias, Pansies, Violas, and 

 Pentstemons from cuttings struck in autumn; Verbenas, Snap- 

 dragons, Pentstemons, and Indian Pinks from seed sown in a warm 

 house in January, and hardened in a cool house or frame; China 

 Asters, Mimuluses, Ten-week Stocks, Phlox Drummondii, Marigolds, 

 Salpiglossis, and Nicotianas (Tobacco) from seed sown under glass 

 in March ; tuberous Begonias from tubers started in boxes in a green- 

 house or frame in March; Sweet Peas from seed sown in pots or 

 boxes in early spring ; and Carnations raised from layers in summer. 

 With a nice variety of plants such as this much more beautiful 

 and diversified beds can be made than with the old combination 

 of Geranium. Calceolaria, and Lobelia alone. There is room for 

 the display of much taste and originality in bedding with this class 

 of material, and it is free from the objections urged against the old 



