76 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



reminded her of craz}' patchwork more than an3'thing else. She 

 saw a garden in the county where she lives which was equally 

 objectionable in this respect. It is a waste of time to make such 

 beds, or any other ugly thing. She does not believe in planting 

 flowers in straight lines. She alluded to the beautiful water-lilies 

 exhibited here last fall by Mr. Sturtevant, and said that we ought 

 to have them, in place of the flower beds, in the Public Garden. 



Henry Ross said that he did not hear Mr. Beard's essay very 

 well, but should want to read it and make one more patchwork bed. 

 He wanted to go and see Mr. Beard's garden, which, his neighbors 

 said, was wonderful. He believes in shrubs, herbaceous plants, 

 and bulbs, and wants them all, but to give perfection you want 

 flower beds also. The number of plants proposed is too great for 

 small gardens. You cannot get in enough to give a succession of 

 blooms. He has advocated partially doing away with bedding 

 plants and having more herbaceous plants. He likes to visit 

 picture galleries, and on entering one has stood entranced by some 

 beautiful picture, and the same effect was produced on him when 

 he saw the arrangement of bedding plants at Forest Hills, which 

 required as much artistic skill as painting. At Es-President Gray's 

 he has gone round the grounds and looked across the lawn, with 

 its solid beds of gernniurns and background of shrubs and rocks, 

 and tlie beauty of the scene has so entranced him that he wanted 

 to look at it in perfect silence. It adds to the attractions of bed- 

 ding plants that we have them only a few months in the year. 

 Taking them awa}^ would remove one of the greatest beauties of 

 our gardens. He wants both bedding and hardy plants, and does 

 not believe we can get the best effect with onl}- one ; but if he could 

 have only one in a small garden, he would have the bedding plants. 

 Shrubs give bloom but for a short time, but with carpet bedding 

 we can have beauty through the season. 



Hon. Marshall P. Wilder was much pleased with the remarks of 

 Mr. Ross. The pendulum may swing too far, as Mr. Wood sa3's. 

 What is the object of bedding plants? Is it not the ornamentation 

 of our grounds ? What else will give such a constant show of color 

 for three months? The effect produced by bedding plants cannot 

 be attained in any other wa}'. But the materials must be used 

 with taste and discretion, and the work must be well done. He 

 had never seen anj^thing so beautiful in carpet bedding as at 

 Forest Hills. Mr. Beard's lecture will be a check to the extrava- 

 gant and injudicious use of bedding plants ; but the speaker would 



