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JUNB 13, 1907. 





The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



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Wedding Decoration by Andrew Wilson, Summit, N. J. 



CARPET BEDDING. 



Please state what kind of blooming 

 plants would be best for making a fine 

 long bedding design in letters. The let- 

 ters will be about twelve in number and 

 will extend along a strip about four feet 

 wide. Now, what would be the best 

 plan for marking the letters so plain as 

 to be easily read from a distance of 300 

 feetf Should not the bed be on a slope T 

 I intend to use Little Gem alyssum for 

 planting the letters and dwarf blue ager- 

 atum for outside of the letters. How 

 is Stella Gumey ageratum, if cut back 

 hard, for tKis work? How would yellow 

 altemanthera do for the outer work? I 

 think something quite dark should be 

 used for this and that the letters should 

 consist of something in light colors. 

 How far apart would you plant themf 

 How would Echeveria seeunda glauca 

 mixed with Echeveria metallica do for 

 a framework on the outside of the whole 

 job, to finish oflf? 



Santolina might do for the letters, but 

 it does not show so well as the Little 

 Gem alyssum, and I think that the 

 Little Gem would keep in good shape 

 all summer. 



I intend to support my letters on the 

 beds with some strong wire and have 

 this tied to an iron stake driven into the 

 ground. The letters will be about eight 

 or ten inches wide on line; they will 

 measure about three feet and a half or 

 four feet from top to bottom and a little 

 more than that from right to left. 



Please mention, also, if it is not wise 

 to plant other plants on top of this bed, 

 for blooming, etc. Would this make it 

 look bad? How would Begonia Vernon 

 do for this? I think that the bed 



ought to be planted altogether with low- 

 growing plants, as I am going to make 

 a large canna bed thirty feet behind this 

 first bed, and between these two there 

 will be a bed of blooming petunias and 

 another of geraniums, etc., with salvias 

 and other plants on both sides, and I 

 wish to make a clean job of the whole 

 design. A. T. 



I do not think that any of the flower- 

 ing plants, such as alyssum and ager- 

 atum, are so suitable for such carpet 

 bedding as you refer to as are some of 

 the various colored-leaved plants. I see 

 no necessity for the lettering being of 

 flowering plants. Such colored-leaved 

 subjects as Pyrethrum Golden Feather, 

 santolina or golden altemanthera would 

 answer fully as well. If they could be 

 depended upon to flower persistently. 

 Lobelia puraila White Gem and L. pum- 

 ila magiijifica, dark blue, are unsur- 

 passed. The white sport of Begonia 

 Vernon woulfl' be preferable to white 

 alyssuhi^ If afilolute formality in let- 

 tering is needed, why not use Echeveria 

 seeunda gl3.uba? I would raise the soil 

 a little where- the letters are, to bring 

 them up to the necessary height. Wires 

 are considered unnecessary. The ager- 

 atums will grow rather too strong, in 

 spite of pinching. Echeveria metallica 

 will do very well for the outer frame- 

 work. Vernon or Erfordii begonias 

 stand the sun perfectly and can be de- 

 pended upon to flower all summer. Per- 

 sonally, I see little to admire in these 

 mosaic constructions, but if you want a 

 lettered bed it would not do to relieve 

 the flatness by dotting taller plants 

 through it. This would spoil the effect 

 of the lettering altogether. I think, 



however, that if you planted a bed on 

 this principle it would be in much better 

 taste than the one you are now plan- 

 ning to create. Carpet beds should be 

 by themselves on a lawn, and no other 

 bedding should be sufliciently near to 

 spoil their effect. To make the lettering 

 show up, it would be better to give the 

 bed a slight slope. The whole bed should 

 be of low plants. Do not attempt to run 

 any lines of taller growing ones at the 

 back; even coleus, if pinched, will be 

 too tall. Centaurea candidissima is a 

 nice, white-leaved plant, but it cannot 

 be sheared into shape. C. W. 



CALTHA PALUSTHIS. 



Is Caltha palustris, or meadow daisy, 

 a plant which grows in water? Can it be 

 used as a bedding plant with coleus, ire- 

 sine, etc.? H. J. H. 



This is a moisture-loving plant, being 

 usually met with in a wild state near to 

 running streams or in moist woods. While 

 it is classed as a semi-aquatic on account 

 of its partiality for wet ground, it suc- 

 ceeds well in garden borders which are 

 deeply spaded and liberally manured and 

 makes an effective spring flower. Its 

 common name is marsh marigold. In 

 New England it is frequently called the 

 American cowslip. 



We cannot recommend this plant for 

 bedding purposes except for mass ef- 

 fects in an early spring border. With 

 coleus and other cOlored-leaved, heat-lov- 

 ing subjects it would be entirely out of 

 place and of no value whatever. 



C. W. 



Grafted Eose book sent by the Ee- 

 viEW for 25 cents. 



