SUBTROPICAL GARDENING. 117 



MEETING FOR DISCUSSION. 



Saturday, March 27, 1875. 



In the absence of the I'resident the chair was occupied by 

 Marshall P. Wilder, and the discussion was introduced by the 

 following paper : — 



Subtropical Gardening, 

 by william gray, jr. 



Subtropical gardening, so called, means the combination of 

 plants, remarkable for habit and foliage, with the brilliant flowers, 

 which formerly were used alone under the name of " carpet 

 bedding." 



Some years ago when this last system had reached its climax of 

 absurdity, with its meaningless masses of glaring, unrelieved color, 

 and its ribbon borders wandering aimlessly all over the land ; 

 taxing the resources of the largest places to raise coleus and 

 pelargoniums by tens of thousands, a new departure was taken 

 in Paris by the use, in the smaller parks and squares, of plants of 

 striking foliage to relieve and diversify the masses of color. 



To William Robinson, more than to any other person, is due the 

 credit of introducing this great improvement into England. As 

 coniespondent of the " London Times " he went to Paris in 1867, 

 and by his letters to that journal gave the impetus to the change 

 which has revolutionized English summer gardening. He has 

 since published many books, the main feature in all being an 

 earnest advocacy of a more natural style, and has established 

 "The Garden," that admirable magazine whose motto, "The Art 

 itself is Nature," is the keynote to all his writings. And I am told 

 that now, as is usual in gardening matters, the English excel the 

 French in the arrangement and effect of their groups and beds. 



To come nearer home : we have a climate better than that of 

 Paris or London for the growth of tropical foliage, and are free 

 from the constant rains which in England mar the beauty of their 

 flowering plants. 



It is not necessary to say much about the detail of cultivation ; 

 the beds must be deep and rich : mine are four feet deep, filled 



