September 28, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICDLTDRE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEK. 



239 



one of the most effective varieties that can be grown for bedding 

 purposes. One arrangement on the left consists in the first 

 bed oi Oulford Eoae in the centre, triangles of the golden-leaved 

 Crystal Palace Gem at each end, and the spaces at each side of 

 Mrs. Pollock, which, however, is here by no means bright in 

 its leaf-colonrfl. The next oblong consists of the silver-variegated 

 Qiieen of Qaeens intermixed with Purple King Verbena, an 

 effective combination. The third oblong is the same as the 

 £rst, and the fourth the same as the second. 



We now come to a splendid series of beds, in which the ob- 

 longs on the right are filled with Pelargoniums, mostly of the 

 'kinds already named ; G-iines's Dwarf Calceolaria, Heliotrope 

 Miss Nightingale, a very free-flowering kind, and Ariosto Im- 

 proved Verbena, interspersed with Pelargoniam Annie, silver 

 edged. The whole of these beds are edged with Parple King Ver- 

 bena, and margined with Iresine Lindeni. It is, however, on the 

 •other side of the walk that the bedding is seen to the best ad- 

 vantage — it is superb, and a triumphant example of what may 

 be done by the use of plants with coloured foliage alone without 

 the aid of flowers. The circles are filled with Alternanthera 

 magnifica, edged with Iresine Lindeni, and margined with Sem- 

 pervivum californicum. These are very fine, but much more 

 so are the five oblongs with rounded ends ; three filled with 

 'ColeuB Verschaffelti, presenting a broad mass of rich brownish 

 crimson, outside of which is aline of the silvery-leaved Gentaurea 

 oandidissima, an edging of Golden Feather Pyrethrum, and a 

 margin of Echeveria secunda glauca. The two intermediate 

 beds consist of the pretty gold-mottled Abutilon Thompsoni, 

 beneath which is a carpeting of Coleus nigricans. 



The next combination consists of heart-shaped beds at each 

 ■sad, Iresine Lindeni being used in the one case and Alternan- 

 thera magnifiea in the other, the edging being Antennaria to- 

 mentosa and Mesembryanthemum linguum, a grass-green, 

 ■fleshy-leaved, yellow-flowered succulent. The oblongs are filled 

 with silver-leaved Pelargoniums and blue Lobelias intermixed; 

 with Parple King Verbena and Queen of Queens or Hendersoni 

 Pelargoniums ; with Ariosto Improved Verbena and Mrs. Pollock 

 Geranium, or Beauty of Oulton ; with Heliotrope Miss Night- 

 ingale, Gaines's Dwarf Calceolaria, &o. 



The next series of beds extends from Mount Street to Gros- 

 venor Gate. The edgings of those on the right consist of Blue 

 Lobelias, the margin being alternate plants of Viola Intea 

 grandiflora and the pretty white-variegated form of Dactylia 

 glomerata. On the left Parple King Verbena and Alternanthera 

 magnifiea are used, the latter not strong enough to be apparent 

 above the rich marginal line of Golden Feather Pyrethrum. 

 The yellow-flowered Viola on the right has also a rather rough 

 appearance, though blooming freely — a drawback, no doubt 

 attributable to the season being so much more favourable to 

 the production of leaves than of flowers. In this group there 

 are effective beds of Pelargoniums Duchess of Sutherland, 

 l-iueius, Madame Vanoher, Madame Eudersdorff, Beaton's 

 Indian Yellow, Mrs. Laing, Dr. Lindley, an excellent variety 

 both for beds and pot culture, Golden Fleece, Crystal Palace 

 Gem and Luna, intermixed with Viola coruuta, and Mrs. Pol- 

 lock. Gold is the prevailing colour in this arrangement. We 

 now come to a mixed bed, the arrangement of which is so com- 

 plicated as to baffle description without a diagram, but very 

 pleasing in its effect. Its principal components are Palm Grass, 

 the hoary-leaved Solanum marginatum, and Dracsenas, the 

 ground beneath being carpeted with Alternantheras, Mesem- 

 bryanthemum cordifolium variegatum, and Iresine Lindeni, 

 with an edging of blue Lobelias, and an outer line of alternate 

 plants of Dactylis glomerata variegata and Viola lutea. Two 

 heart-shaped beds of Alternanthera versicolor on the opposite 

 side of the walk are edged with a pretty little green-leaved 

 Thyme, name unknown ; and after passing abed of Ehododen- 

 drons, and light and dark Fuchsias, we come to two more heart- 

 shaped beds of Alternanthera magnifiea, surrounded with Eche- 

 veria secunda glauca. In this section of the bedding-out, 

 Pelargonium Eev. J. Dix, deep scarlet, Lucius, before noticed, 

 and Chieftain, are conspicuously good. There are also some 

 beautiful beds of Alternantheras which are much admired. 



The last division to be noticed in this part of the Park i 

 that extending from Grosvenor Gate to the Marble Arch. The 

 first combination is one of three beds — namely, a long parallel- 

 ogram with a circle near each end. This has a very good 

 effect. The circles are filled, one of them with Mrs. IPoUock 

 Pelargonium, the other with Crystal Palace Gem, surrounded 

 with a line of Iresine Lindeni, and outside of this is Eche- 

 veria secunda glauca. The parallelogram is chiefly occupied 

 with Coleus Verschaffelti richly coloured, set in a bordering oi 



Centaurea candidissima, and edged with Golden Feather Pyre- 

 thrum. Next we come to a series of circular and oblong beds 

 with rounded ends. In these Coleus Verschaffelti and Cen- 

 taurea are introduced with splendid effect. An oblong of Pelar- 

 gonium Queen of Queens, intermixed with Verbena Ariosto 

 Improved is very good; so are several beds of Waltham Saed- 

 ling Pelargonium, Golden Fleece, and Crystal Palace Gam. 

 Bafore arriving at the Marble Arch we pass several large and 

 small circles. These are very neatly planted with Pelargoniums 

 surrounded with Lobelias, alternating with Alyssum variega- 

 tum, and an outer ring of Iresine Lindeni. Finally, we have 

 a figure-8 bed centred with Coleus Verschaffelti set in Cen- 

 taurea edged with blue Lobelia, with a margin of Iresine 

 Lindeni. This bed is very telling, so is the small circle of 

 Pelargonium Excellent, at the end next the Marble Arch. 



The last part of the bedding which we shall attempt to de- 

 scribe — and we can only attempt to do so — is that respecting 

 which three young ladies wrote to us a fortnight ago, saying 

 they had heard it was the smartest piece of bedding anywhere 

 to be seen. " When you get to this place you must take out 

 your note-booiiand give ns in ' our Journal' a crayon sketch 

 of the semicircular bed, &c." We are very sorry to disoblige 

 any ladies, and especially young ladies, so we took out our note- 

 book and made a pencil sketch of the arrangement while the 

 shades of evening were drawing on ("Young ladies like that," 

 said one of the Editors with a nod and twinkle in his eye), but 

 it was not to the sketcher's satisfaction, and he therefore 

 wished to be excused from making a public display of his 

 artistic talents, whilst confessing the necessity of a drawing to 

 give an adequate idea of the arrangement ; whereupon he grew 

 sour, and declared that the group was not quite perfect — there 

 was some irregularity in the balancing, but the effect as a 

 whole was very beautiful, and that the superb beds of Alternan- 

 theras and Coleus by Park Lane were far more chaste. The 

 bedding here referred to is that at " the Temple," the house 

 where Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Gibson's esteemed aide lives. In 

 front of this there is a horseshoe bed, the ends of which are 

 planted with a great variety of subjects, cut off from the rest by 

 a band of Alternanthera magnifiea, which is also extended along 

 the middle of the horseshoe, meeting at intervals circles of 

 Centaurea, whilst segments of circles on each side of the middle 

 band are filled with the brighter-coloured Alternanthera amojna 

 and A. versicolor. The same arrangement is continued all 

 round, and the whole is margined with Echeveria secunda 

 glauca. Two heart-shaped beds near the centre of the horseshoe 

 are planted with Pelargoniums Mrs. Pollock and Variegated 

 Stella, edged with Alternanthera magnifiea, and bordered with 

 Sempervivum californicum ; two more, one on each side of 

 these, consist of silver variegated Pelargoniums and blue 

 Lobelias intermixed, and Mrs. Pollock, edged with Alternan- 

 thera versicolor and margined with Mesembryanthemum lin- 

 guum. In the circles the materials used consist of Coleus Ver- 

 Bohaft'elti, Centaurea candidissima. Bronze Pelargoniums, Al- 

 ternantheras, Golden-feathered Pyrethrum, Mesembryanthe- 

 mum cordifolium variegatum, Iresine Lindeni, Sempervivum 

 californicum, and Echeveria metallica. Between the beds are 

 plunged plants of Masa superba, the Bird's-nest Fern, Cha- 

 maarops, Caryota, and next the walk Acacias. 



The bedding-out at Kensington Palace is also most efficiently 

 carried out, and many of the beds being less shaded, afford 

 even a better floral display than those in the Park. 



It will thus be seen that Mr. Gibson, even in his first few 

 months of management, has done great things in improving 

 and rendering more attractive London's greatest park ; but we 

 expect from him greater things in the future, when the means 

 shall have been afforded to make the necessary preparations. 

 The London parks are the property of the rich and the poor ; 

 to the one and the other they are capable of yielding much en- 

 joyment and instruction, and by neither is the amount of 

 damage done worthy of consideration, save when the London 

 "rough" has a "demonstration." 



PLUMBAGO GAPENSIS CULTURE. 

 The following is the mode of culture which I adopt. Having 

 received a plant of Plumbago capensis in January last, when it 

 was in a 4-inch pot, and little more than 6 inches in height, 

 in March I shifted it into a 5i-inch pot, and in the latter part 

 of May I gave it a second shift into a 7i-inch pot, as by that 

 time it had made good growth. In June I cut some of the 

 leading shoots, for the first and last time tising the knife. The 

 plant i3 2 feet in height is now in flower, and has been so 



