182 



JOUR SAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t August 30, 1877. 



" A Golden Pippin! " I shouted out with the same eostacy as 

 Columbus hailed the sight of America, and in went my teeth, 

 entirely forgetting as I did that this excellent Apple is what is 

 sailed a late-keeping sort. My fellow Judge watched my face 

 with interest — he knew. " Ah ! I thought you were a little 

 rash," he said, as he saw anguish spreading over the face not 

 only of a " Wyld Savage," but one who apparently was suf- 

 fering from excruciating toothache. At last, far away in the 

 cottagers' tent, we espied a dish of splendid Cherries. "Are 

 they MorelloB ? " I ask with fear and trepidation. " They look 

 like it ; fine, dark ruby complexion, splendid Cherries. Shall 

 I try ? I will. No, they are May Dukes, splendidly ripe." 

 " Stop," said my fellow Judge; "there is no competition, we 

 -cannot taste them." 



The flowers were very attractive, and in order to encourage 

 tie cultivation of garden flowers and herbaceous plants special 

 prizes were given, and I had the satisfaction of judging about 

 eight exhibits of Buch flowers as have almost disappeared from 

 the gardens of the wealthy; and the various collections of 

 ■wild flowers staged by school children were most interesting. 

 We were four hours judging. 



After sundry amusements the prizes were paid to the for- 

 tunate winners. The Judges were cheered (most wonderful 

 event), and so ended one of the most successful cottage ex- 

 iibitions that has ever been seen by a — Wyld Savaqe. 



CARPET BEDDING AT CLEVELAND HOUSE. 



Like many others who have read of the beds which have 

 now become famous, I resolved to avail myself of the oppor- 

 tunity kindly afforded by Mr. and Mrs. Ralli and judge for 

 myself how far the reputation of this garden was merited. 

 JMy visit to them has enabled me to dispel a popular idea re- 

 specting these renowned beds which I do not think has been 

 fairly examined. I heard more than once when in London 

 that " the Cleveland House beds ought to be done well, because 

 the place is so small and the beds so few." I have some- 

 where seen it stated that by constantly repeating an error it 

 becomes accepted as truth, and I cannot help thinking that 

 the oarpet beds in question afford a ease in point. Not once 

 did I hear the popular notion questioned, and the smallness of 

 ■the beds appeared to be tacitly admitted ; yet I make bold to 

 affirm — not looking at the matter with London eyes, and not 

 being embued with metropolitan notions and perhaps pre- 

 judices — I make bold to affirm that there is as much carpet 

 bedding in the little garden at Cleveland House as in either of 

 the great parks of Battersea or Hyde. So much for a popular 

 error — a London notion — and, may I add, a countryman's cor- 

 rection, for there is nothing like starting fair. It is the more 

 agreeable to make this correction, because it does not detract 

 in the slightest degree from the decorations in the parks, 

 which are of such excellence that both the Government which 

 provides them and the public who enjoy them may justly be 

 proud of the results. The remarkable beds, then, which I 

 shall attempt to desoribe are not the few small patches repre- 

 sented, but are really extensive; they are also distinct from 

 all others, and afford evidence of great taste in design and 

 skill in workmanship that must be admitted by all who see 

 them. The beds are masterpieces of decorative art, and should 

 he seen by all who are interested in this mode of garden 

 embellishment. 



The more laboured the attempt to describe them minutely 

 the greater probably would be the failure ; a few words, there- 

 iore, need only be used, giving an outline of the character of 

 the decorations. Let us take the centre bed in the design. It 

 is 12 feet in diameter — a novelty of the most decided kind. 

 The term " carpet bed " is quite inappropriate as applied to this 

 •example of decoration. Fancy a huge hollow and rather deep 

 saucer-like dish 12 feet across with a rim a foot in diameter, 

 and in the centre of this dish a raised mound, formed after 

 ■the style of an inverted bowl, this mound being about 3 feet 

 across the top and proportionately wider at the base, and about 

 •3 feet high. Such is the ground-plan of the bed, and now for 

 the mode of decoration. In the centre of the mound is an 

 elegant specimen of Dracaena indivisa, rising from a circular 

 base about 2J feet in diameter of Mesembryanthemum eordi- 

 folium variegatum ; this is surrounded with a ring 2 inches in 

 diameter of Sedum Lydium, followed by a oircle of Eoheveria 

 secunda glauca. Next comes a broad band about 8 inches 

 wide of Sedum glaucum, in which at regular distances are 

 richly berried clusters 6 inches aoross of Nertera depressa, 

 each plant of Nertera being encircled with very email plants 



of Echeveria secunda glauca. Next comes a narrow belt 

 round the mound of Alternanthera amojua, margined with 

 Echeveria. At intervals in this outer circle eight chains of 

 the same plant descend down the sides of the mound, termi- 

 nating in the lowest part of the bed — the " dish " of the 

 saucer, each chain encircling a miniature mound of suoculents, 

 out of which springs a small plant of the silvery Chamsepuce 

 Diacantha. There remains now the groundwork decoration of 

 this design — the whole interior of the saucer and sides of the 

 central mound. It is simply planted and densely covered with 

 the dwarf emerald green Sedum Lydium. There is yet the 

 rim of the saucer to be noticed. It is a foot or more in width 

 and rather rounded. The inner and outer circles are Eche- 

 veria secunda glauca, next two narrow circles of Alternanthera 

 amoena, the centre of the rim being a band 6 inches wide of 

 Sedum glaucum, dotted every 3 inches with small round plants 

 of Nertera depressa. Such is the outline of this bed — a bed 

 as striking in appearance as it is original in conception and 

 artistic in execution. Every part is excellent, and, being chiefly 

 of neutral colours enlivened with the brilliant bead-like 

 clusters of Nertera, the more and the longer it is looked at the 

 better it pleases. 



Surrounding this central bed six other beds are formed. 

 These beds are each 21 feet in length and 8 feet across at the 

 widest end, tapering to 4 feet at the ends next the central bed. 

 These are planted in duplioate. It is no easy task to describe 

 them, as all will allow who have inspected them. It is popu- 

 larly supposed that carpet bedding cannot be successfully 

 carried out without dwarf blue Lobelias, Alternantheras, and 

 Golden Feather; but the mo3t striking pair of beds in this 

 design contain no Lobelia, no Golden Feather, and only a 

 faint streak of Alternanthera. The planting is somewhat as 

 follows :— A row of raised diamond-shaped cushions is arranged 

 down the centre. The groundwork of the bed, which is 

 hollowed after the manner of a shallow boat, is carpeted with 

 the green Mentha ; above this the diamonds are raiBed, the 

 largest at the wide end of the bed, the others diminishing in 

 size to the smaller, the whole of them being banded and 

 chained together with Echeverias. These diamond-shaped 

 cushions are formed with Sedum acre elegans, each having a 

 central plant of Pachyphyton braoteosum except the two end 

 diamonds, the largest of which oontains a small plant of 

 Draoasna australis, and the smallest, a still smaller one, of 

 Yucca filifera. And now to the edge of the bed. The outer 

 margin next the grass is of Echeverias — a straight row ; then 

 Sedum glaucum dotted with Nertera, and an inner margin of 

 Echeverias, but this inner margin is scolloped, the points ter- 

 minating exaotly between the points of the central row of 

 diamonds in the body of the bed. These pointB end in raised 

 mounds of succulents, each being surmounted, and this con- 

 stitutes the great beauty and novelty of the bed, with a fine 

 plant of Nortera quite 6 inches in diameter. This row of 

 brilliant summits — there are fifteen of them — elevated above 

 the green ground of the Mentha produce a remarkable effeot — 

 soft yet sparkling, brilliant yet ohaste, the full beauty of which 

 cannot be appreciated without being seen. The other beds are 

 totally different in charaoter and are extremely effective. It is 

 not necessary to describe them, but the " square bed," which 

 is 21 feet long by 9 feet wide, should not be passed in silence. 



This is by many considered to be the most highly finished 

 bed of all. Near each end of the bed are two pinoushion-like 

 mounds, 2 feet in height, surmounted with Dracasna indivisa, 

 the four corner edges, the seams of the pincushion, being 

 formed with a double row of Echeverias, Sedum glauoum, and 

 Nerteras. The tops of the mounds are also covered with Sedum 

 glaucum dotted with Nertera. In the centre of the bed is a 

 raised circle nearly 3 feet in diameter containing a plant of 

 Agave filifera in a carpet of Sedum acre elegans, and edged 

 with Eoheverias and Alternantheras. Surrounding this raised 

 cirole, and oonnected with it and also raised, are eight small 

 circles of the silver Sedum and Echeverias. The edge of the 

 bed, which is very chaste, is formed with a band about 4 inches 

 wide of Sedum acre elegans, two narrow lines of Alternantheras, 

 and an inner and outer margin of Echeverias. The ground- 

 work of this fine bed and the sides of the mounds are planted 

 with Sedum Lydium. 



There is also a raised bank on one side of the lawn about 

 70 yards long by 4 wide ; this is carpeted in the " highest 

 style of art " with Golden Feather, raised chains of Mentha, 

 panelB of Alternanthera, and triangles of Sedum glaucum. It 

 is a splendid bank which cannot be described without a dia- 

 gram, whioh I had not time to trace. The Vine border is also 



