SELECTION OF PLANTS FOE FORMING " CARPETS." 289 



A Selection of Plants for forming "Carpets" beneath larger Subjects. 



Very little reflection suffices to show that a much more beautiful effect may 

 be obtained from a mingling of several distinct types and sizes of vegetation 

 than from an array of any one species or even plants of one size. On the moun- 

 tain-sides Violets and Lilies of the Valley bloom beneath Hazel and Mezereon, 

 and below the golden showers of the Laburnum, while the forest vegetations 

 reign over all. One of the most successful ways of getting like effects in 

 the rock-garden and on the choice border is by covering the ground with 

 small spreading plants, which heighten the effect of the taller objects placed 

 among them, and indeed often benefit them by keeping the ground in a more 

 open and natural condition. Besides, the highest effect is not possible in any 

 garden where there are bare surfaces in spring or early summer. I should 

 strongly advise the reader to "carpet" his choice mixed border as well as his 

 rock-garden with any dwarf spreading plants he may think suitable. It is 

 obvious that almost all herbaceous plants may be used in this way under certain 

 conditions. A species that might seem a giant compared to some of those in 

 the following list, would form a "carpet" far beneath the branches of forest 

 trees. This list, however, is confined to things of dwarf stature suitable for 

 beds, borders, and the rock-garden. Those requiring plants to form " carpets " 

 in woods may consult the fist of plants that will grow in woods and copses. 

 Subjects, however, as large as the Vincas, Common Forget-me-Not, and Creep- 

 ing Forget -me -Not (Omphalodes verna) are included, as they would answer well 

 for placing beneath Rhododendrons and other shrubs, and also in permanent 

 arrangements of the stronger perennials. Not a few plants may be enjoyed in 

 this way better than in any other, as, for example, such as Mentha Requieni and 

 lonopsidium acaule, which are not usually considered ornamental enough for 

 cultivation, but used as ' ' carpets" in the ground occupied by choice bulbs, or 

 alpine plants, their effect will be of the happiest kind. Annuals are in- 

 cluded in this selection in consequence of their freedom of growth and the 

 facility with which they may be raised and grown, for at once forming a turf. 

 Somewhat slow-growing things are also included, as, for example, the /Ethione- 

 mas, but these could be used with the]best effect as surface plants for groups or 

 small beds of neat shrubs, or other subjects that thrive best when planted 

 permanently. 



