HERBACEOUS PLANTS VS. BEDDING PLANTS. 73 



Discussion. 



In reply to an inquiry as to what plant would make a good 

 edging, Mr. Beard suggested the dwarf variegated Fiinkia ; but 

 he did not particularl}- favor edgings in gardens. 



Mr. Beard went on to speak of the Aquilegia glaiidulosa as he 

 saw it in the Botanic Garden at Cambridge, where nothing could 

 compare with it. Most people make a mistake in transplanting 

 their Narcissuses at about the time when frost comes and they have 

 begun to grow. Those who have never grown Tulips have little 

 idea of their beauty. Tulipa Gesneriana will stand as long as it 

 is supplied with food. Crocuses sliould not be put into beds with 

 a single bulb dotted here and there, but should be planted in 

 groups. The speaker mentioned a garden, which he saw in Bal- 

 timore, over a hundred years old, and containing twenty acres, 

 in which were great groups of flowers, such as we rarely see now ; 

 among others a mass of Muscari moschatum., twenty feet across, 

 the fragrance of which was perceptible a mile awa}'. There are 

 no more beautiful flowers than Anemone coronaria and A. fulgens ; 

 they are cultivated in England as Pansies are here. Last spring 

 Mr. Allan demonstrated that it is possible to grow Auriculas more 

 easily than many other thing? which are more generally cultivated. 

 Few people realize the fact that bedding plants afford the mem- 

 bers of the household but little opportunity to go out and cut 

 flowers. 



William E. Endicott said that he did not altogether like edgings, 

 but where they are necessary Sempervivuras make the best. Almost 

 any kind will do well for a great many years. The Erysimum 

 jmlchellmn is a dense, carpet-like evergreen, about three inclies 

 high, which early in spring throws up numerous spikes of bright- 

 yellow fragrant flowers, and is adapted for edgings. There are 

 also annual species. 



Warren H. Manning tliought Mr. Beard's paper very interesting 

 and instructive. The dwarf Phloxes deserve more attention than 

 the}' have received. The light and dark varieties of Phlox subu- 

 lata are ver}' pretty in the border or rockery. 



William C. Strong said that the essayist presented his paper in 

 the character of an advocate. He threw all classes of herbaceous 

 plants into the scale, and they outweighed the bedding plants ; but 

 the speaker thought we ought to be thankful for bedding plants. 

 He admitted that they had been more popular than they deserved 



