March 17, 1863.] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



199 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



Day 



of 



of 



51'nth 



Week. 



17 



Tu 



18 



W 



19 



Tu 



20 



F 



21 



S 



22 



Sex 



23 



M 



MABCH IT— 23, 1S63. 



Sir J. E. Smith died, 1828. B. 



Princess Louis* bokn, 1S4S. 



White Poplar flowers. 



Sun's declin. 0° 14 ; a. 



Jethro Tull died, 1740. 



5 Sundat in Lent. 



f rankenius died, 1G31. B. 



Weather near London in 1862. 



Barometer. 



Thermom. Wind 



29.746—29 730 



29.763—29.671 

 29.60S-29.49.5 

 29.416-29.316 

 29.678—29.372 

 29.979—29.921 

 29.817-29 517 



degrees. 

 45—35 

 49-2.5 

 53—35 

 39-30 

 43-32 

 44—31 

 44-34 



S. 

 S.W. 

 N.E. 



N.E. 



N. 



N. 

 S.E. 



Rain in: ° u " 

 Inches. , Rlaes - 



0.21 



0.02 

 1.11 

 0.07 

 0.14 

 0.42 



m. h 

 13 af 6 



10 6 



8 6 



6 6 



4 6 



1 6 



59 5 



[ Sloon 

 Sun [ Rises 

 Sets, and Sets 



Moon'i 

 Age. 



Clock 

 before 

 Sun. 



m. h.l m. h. 

 5af6 | 51 4 



7 



6 



14 5 



28 



8 



6 



sets 



• 



10 



6 



44 a. 7 



1 



12 



6 



58 8 



n 



IS 



6 



9 10 



3 



15 



6 



16 11 



4 



Pay of 

 Year. 



36 

 18 





 43 

 25 



6 

 48 



76 

 77 

 78 

 79 

 80 

 81 

 82 





Meteorology op the Week. — At Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-six years, the average highest and lowest 

 temperatures of these days are 50. 9 3 and 33.9° respectively. The greatest heat~ 67=, occurred on the"l9thand 20th, in 1S36; and the' lowest 

 cold, 17', on the 20th, in 1S45. During the period 156 days were fine, and on 96 rain fell. 



THE PEOGEESS OF FLOWEE-GABDENING. 



FTEE searching 

 through, many gar- 

 dening periodicals 

 I find that we have 

 arrived at our 

 present system of 

 massing flowers 

 by almost imper- 

 ceptible degrees. 



Towards the end 

 of the last and be- 

 ginning of the 

 present century, 

 to judge from a 

 report that I once 

 saw of the annual 

 exhibitions of flo- 

 , rists' flowers that 

 ' were then held 

 in nearly every parish around cities and towns, auch 

 flowers must have been in high repute. It appears that 

 they were not only cultivated for exhibition, but also for 

 planting in the beds and borders of the flower garden. 



I can well recollect the fine display that I have seen 

 many years ago, when the beds were filled with Crocuses, 

 Anemones, Hepaticas, Auriculas, Hyacinths, Tulips, 

 Cowslips, Eanunculuses, Narcissi, Ixias, Gladioli, Poly- 

 anthuses, Carnations, Pinks, Lilies, Double Sockets, &c. 

 Herbaceous plants were also of some service to give 

 variety to the beds and borders, and when annuals were 

 introduced, more especially the sorts sent home by 

 Douglas, they combined to produce a pleasing but tran- 

 sitory effect. 



Abercrombie, Nicol, and other practical gardeners of 

 their time, seem by their writings to have had no distinct 

 ideas on the subject of arranging flowers in flower gar- 

 dens. However, Nicol in his " Gardeners' Kalendar," 

 published in 1810, gives the following instructions on the 

 formation of gardens — "A variety of forms may be in- 

 dulged in without incurring censure, provided the figures 

 be graceful, and not in any one place too complicated. 

 An oval is a figure that generally pleases, on account of 

 the continuity of its outlines. Next, if extensive, a circle. 

 Next, perhaps, a segment in form of a half moon, or the 

 larger segment of an oval. But hearts, diamonds, tri- 

 angles, or squares, if small, seldom please. A simple 

 parallelogram, divided into beds running lengthwise, or 

 the larger segment of an oval, with beds running parallel 

 to its outer margin, will also please." 



The following observations made by a lady, authoress 

 of the "Florists' Manual," published in 1S06, are the 

 first indications that I have found worthy of particular 

 notice, as they attest, to my apprehension, the first ap- 

 proach to a correct taste in the arrangement of flowers. 

 " In the formation of that assemblage of flowers which 

 may be distinguished by the term of the mingled flower 

 garden, it is essential that the separate parts should, in 

 No. 103.— Yoi. 1Y., New Sebies. 



their appearance, constitute a whole, and this appearance 

 is not ineompatable with any form into which the ground 

 may be thrown, if attention be given to the manner of 

 planting. In some gardens this appearance of a whole 

 is entirely destroyed by the injudicious taste of setting 

 apart distinct borders for Pinks, Hepaticas, Primulas, or 

 any other favourite kinds of flowers ; also for different 

 species of bulbs, as Anemones, Eanunculuses, Hyacinths, 

 &c, these distinct borders, although beautiful in them- 

 selves, break the whole, that should always be presented 

 to the eye by the mingled flower garden, as single beds 

 containing one species only form a blank before that 

 species produces its flowers, and a mass of decaying 

 leaves when the glow of their petals is no more. The 

 reverse of this mode of planting is essential to the per- 

 fection of the mingled flower garden, in each border of 

 which there should be at least two of every species, but 

 the precise number must be regulated by the force of 

 colour displayed by the plants, and the size and relative 

 positions of the borders. It will be only necessary to 

 observe, that to whatever view the garden presents itself, 

 the eve should not be checked by the failure in any part 

 of it, of the prevalent colours of the season." 



I think Mr. Hogg, who was master of an academy at 

 Paddington, Middlesex, was the first writer to give us 

 some ideas on the arrangement of colours. In his 

 " Treatise on Flowers," published in 1S12, he says — " We 

 are apt to ridicule the Dutchman, as well as the imitators 

 of him here at home, who divide their gardens into small 

 beds or compartments, planting each with separate and 

 distinct flowers. We ridicule the plan because it exhibits 

 too great a sameness and formality, like unto the nosegay 

 that is composed of one sort of flowers only ; however 

 sweet and beautiful they may be, they lose the power to 

 please, because they want variety. It must, undoubtedly, 

 be acknowledged that a parterre, no matter in what- 

 form, whether circular or square, elliptical or oblong, 

 when all the shrubs, plants, and flowers in it, like the 

 flowers of a tastefully arranged bouquet, are variously 

 disposed in neat and regulated order, according to their 

 height and colour, is a delightful spectacle, and worthy 

 of general imitation. Yet, still, in some particular cases, 

 I am disposed to copy the Dutchman, and I would have 

 my bed of Hyacinths distinct, my Tulips distinct, my 

 Anemones, my Eanunculuses, my Pinks, my Carnations, 

 distinct, and even my beds of Hollyhocks, double blue 

 Violets, and dwarf Larkspurs, distinct, to say nothing of 

 hedgerows of different sorts of Eoses. Independent of 

 the less trouble you have in cultivating them when kept 

 separate, you have beauty in masses, and you have like- 

 wise their fragrance and perfume so concentrated, that 

 they are not lost in air, but powerfully inhaled when you 

 approach them. Mrs. Siddons, the celebrated tragio 

 actress, is a great admirer of this mode of planting, 

 and fond of contemplating their beauty in masses. She 

 adopted this style of gardening at her late residence on 

 the Harrow Eoad. Her favourite flower was the Viola 

 amcena, the common purple Heartsease, and this she set 

 with unsparing profusion all around her garden." 



No. 755.— Yol. XXIX., Ou> Sebies. 



