August 10, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



115 



worthless. I think this fact worthy of being mentioned, as 

 the information may be useful to others residing in dry dis- 

 tricts. — J. B. S., Cla-pham Park. 



THE FLOWEK GABDEN AT BISHOPSTOWE. 



This flower garden is effective, yet simple is its design and 

 the mode of planting. The designs of many flower gardens 

 are so elaborate that the beds can only be formed and their 

 ornamentation carried out by those trained in the advanced 

 school of flower gardening. The flower garden at Bishop- 

 stowe, on the contrary, can be " laid down " by anyone who 

 can describe a circle and draw a few Btraight lines. It is 

 also suitable for being carried out on a large or a small scale. 

 At Bishopstowe it is on a large scale, and the effect very im- 

 posing. We have figured only a portion — one-half — of the 

 plan. The design may be carried out to any length desired, 

 the beds being planted in duplicate. The plants, as a rule, are 

 easily raised in large numbers. 



Iresine Lindeni associates well with Golden Feather, and 



up its first shoots as fine as a horsehair, and these are' very 

 easily damaged to the ruin of the plant. It is said to be par- 

 ticularly partial to gravel. iil&BZ SfflBS 



I would advise "D., Deal," to plant some on a gravel'walk 

 or drive if he can conveniently do so, and in different aspects, 

 and Bhould the summer be particularly dry to water it oc- 

 casionally (I have left mine unwatered as a test), but, r above 

 all, to protect the tender shoots from being hoed-ofi or de- 

 stroyed.— H. C. Ripley, Minster Lovell, Oxon. ;;r^25 



Some years since when travelling in Scotland I was greatly 

 struck with the plant, and on my return I endeavoured to 

 obtain it, but was assured that it would not grow in this part 

 of the kingdom, every attempt to acclimatise it having failed. | 



In May last a friend brought me a root of the coveted Tro- 

 pasolum from Ayrshire, and I had it planted in a sheltered 

 nook exposed only to the west with a wall at the back, and the 

 root of the plant is protected from the extreme heat of the sun 

 by a piece of coarse zinc wirework, into the meshes of which a 

 few green twigs are loosely interwoven. The ground^is kept 



, 6 



Fig. 13. — Bishopstowe — plan of the flower garden. 



MODE OF PLANTING THE BEDS. 



1,1, Centre, Iresine Lindeni, a band of Golden 

 Feather, and edged with blue Lobelia. 



2, 2, Centre, Flower of Spring Geranium, edged 

 with Iresine Lindeni. 



8, 3, CeDtre, Purple King Geranium, edged with 

 Golden Feather. 



4, Centre, white Geranium, surrounded with scar- 



let Gerauinm and edged with Golden Thyme. 



5, Centre, Culeus Verschaffeltii, edged with 



Polemonium caeruleum variegatum. 



6, 6, Centre, Vesuvius Geranium, edged with Ta- 



getes signata pumila. 



7, Centre, Dracrena indivisa, surrounded with 



Euonymus radicans variegata, edged with 



a double row of Eeheveria secunda glauca. 



the blue Lobelia surrounding the Pyrethrum is always agree- 

 able. The Flower of Spring Geranium and the Iresine are 

 also extremely effective, and especially so is the combination 

 of the two plants, Coleus Verschaffeltii and Polemonium caern- 

 leuin variegatum. This design is worthy of attention at this 

 season for propagating plants for future displays. 



TBOP^EOLUM SPECIOSUM. 



In answer to my friend, " D., Deal's," inquiries, allow me to 

 say that Tropjeolum speciosum is growing in perfection at 

 Laggan House, Maidenhead. I should think, therefore, that it 

 would grow in Kent. I have seen it in perfection in Perthshire, 

 Selkirkshire, and Roxburghshire, where cold and frost is keen 

 enough for anything. I have a plant established against the 

 wall of this house, due south, in the gravel drive. I brought 

 it from Scotland at the end of Jane last year. It has never 

 been watered, but has suffered a little from the extreme heat 

 and drought which we have had here for some time. 



It has been found difficult to establish at gentlemen's houses 

 in Scotland as well as in England ; whilst, perhaps, it was 

 growing in luxuriance at that gentleman's lodge, simply, I 

 believe, because it was let alone at the cottage, but destroyed 

 by frequent hoeings, rakings, and weedings at the gentleman's 

 place. The root is like piecss of round maccaroni. It throws 



constantly moist by frequent waterings. The plant is now in 

 a perfeotly healthy state ; it has made a growth of nearly 4 feet, 

 has thrown-up suckers, and the upper branches are now covered 

 with flower buds.- — E. L. P., Richmond, Surrey. 



CALANDEINIA TJMBELLATA. 

 In the wild race of the horticulturist after novelties, good old 

 things far more worthy of his attention and care are too often 

 heedlessly passed over or altogether ignored. Here is an instance 

 of it. Where in flower ground or in rockwork do we meet 

 at this season a bed or patch of Calandriniaumbellata? Echo 

 answers, Where ? and yet for striking effect in either situation 

 we scarcely know anything to equal this lowly but dazzlingly 

 brilliant little plant, as it spreads its umbels of lovely flowers 

 in theiull blaze of a July sun. If we were to take at this season, 

 and on a fine sunny day, an admirer of hardy herbaceous plants 

 into a choice and most extensive collection of his favourites, 

 and that among the said collection was a patch of Calandrinia 

 umbellata, we firmly believe it would be the first to arrest his 

 eye and challenge admiration. We should be glad to see it more 

 largely availed of for summer decoration. For a few pence seed 

 Sufficient to raise any quantity of plants may be obtained, and 

 it is most accommodating as to treatment. It is naturally a 

 perennial, and may be grown and treated as such or as an 



