THE FLOWEK GiNKDEN. 



seeming quite out of character with succulents, even 

 though the flowering plant itself belongs to that 

 order. The most suitable kinds of shrubs for the 

 winter planting of this central bed are upright 

 growers ; not clipped to make them unnaturally 

 formal, but such as Thvja aurea, Cnprcmisi Laivsonii 

 erecta, and golden Retinosi)Oras ; and the carpeting 

 may either be that of the summer or variegated Ivy, 

 Euonymus, Stachys lanata, or variegated Thyme. 

 Taking this arrangement as a whole, and taking into 

 account the gloom of winter, it is proportionately as 

 bright as that of the summer ; add to this the fact 

 of how little labour and how comparatively few 

 plants are needed to so transform the bed, and the 

 merits of wiuter bedding become consj)icuously ap- 

 parent. 



The same principle of arrangement is applicable to 

 the simplest or the most varied of gardens, and what 

 is another advantage, it can bo done wholly or in 

 part, according to the material at command. Even 

 half the beds filled in winter would certainly look 

 better than all being empty ; for so accustomed are 

 we to sue bare beds at that season, that the half 

 which must remain empty, if necessary, owing to 

 lack of plants, would not appear particularly objec- 

 tionable. But we must again repeat that there is 

 such an abundance of material to be had at a very 

 cheap rate as will, when coupled with the desire to 

 carry out winter bedding on the lines here indicated, 

 render it a very easy matter indeed to fully furnish 

 the whole of the beds. 



List of Plants. — Keeping in view the first essen- 

 tial condition to the successful practice of this duplex 

 method of planting, viz., that of using in the summer 

 arrangement as many hardy plants as possible suit- 

 able for association with the various descriptions of 

 summer bedding plants, the list of these is placed 

 first. 



Evergreen shiaibs, in small plants for middles 

 and angles of beds, to relieve objectionable flat sur- 

 faces and dense masses of colour : — 



Cupressus Lawsonii aurea. 

 C. Lawsonii argentea. 

 C. Lawsonii erecta viridis. 

 Euonymus macrophyllus 



yariegatus. 

 E. japonicus albo-variegatus. 

 .luuiperus hibernica. 

 .f . japonica alba variegata. 

 Osmantlius ilicifolius varie- 



aatus. 



■Retinospora obtusa densa. 



E. filifera. 



E. pisifera. 



E. pisifera argentea. 



E. pluniosa aurea. 



E. squarrosa. 



Thuja aurea. 



Thujopsis borealis. 



And all other small Conifers that bear transplanta- 

 tion well. The following arc also suitable : — 



Aralia Sieboldii. 

 Barabusa Metake. 

 B. Fortiinei, 

 Phormium tenax. 



P. tenax variegata. 

 Yucca gloriosa. 

 Y. filameutosa. 

 Y. recuiva. 



Of suitable small-growing hardy plants that har- 

 monise well with summer bedders for use as ground- 

 works and divisional lines, the name is legion. 

 Amongst the best are many kinds of Saxifragas, 

 Sedums, Sompervivums, and others of like growth and 

 habit, that arc too well known to 1)e particularised 

 here. In addition to the shrubs, kc, lierc named as 

 suitable for use 'in summer — and, as a matter of 

 course, throughout the winter — the following may be 

 added as effective winter kinds : — Green and varie- 

 gated Aucubas for massing ; variegated Hollies, as 

 standards amongst masses of Berberis AquifoUmn, B. 

 japonica, or other greenery ; Cotoneaster microphylla, 

 a plant most suitable for large vases, as a companion 

 plant for the green and variegated I^des, and Peri- 

 winkles (Vincas) for drooping over the edges,- and it 

 also makes a good dot-plant, on a ground-work of 

 the broad-leaved Vinca elegantisshna variegata. The 

 golden variegated Yew is another good plant for 

 either grouping or as single plants, and no shrub 

 bears the frequent transplantation that winter bed- 

 ding entails as do this and the common Yew, un- 

 less perhaps it be Box, both green and variegated, 

 which are also invaluable for winter decoration. The 

 Japanese Honeysuckle, Portugal Laurels, SJcimmia 

 japonica, and Kalmias complete the list of shrubs ; 

 but there are numerous other plants that, if common, 

 are in their way just as valuable. Amongst them 

 are Ajuga orptans purpurea, Stachys lanata, common 

 and variegated Thymes, Heaths, Veronica incana, and 

 Veronica rapestrU:. Here, then, is an ample array of 

 material with which, combined with the will, labour, 

 and ground, our gardens can be made as attractive in 

 winter as in summer. 



To get up a stock of plants of course takes time, 

 but when once had they are comparatively a per- 

 manency, which is more than can be said about sum- 

 mer bedders ; whilst, as comjiared with these, they 

 do not involve a tithe of their cost, if houses, fires, 

 labour, and short duration be placed in the balance, 

 with the piece of ground that is required as a reserve 

 garden for the transfer and increase of shrubs, &c., 

 during the spring and summer. 



To be effective at once, Sedums and other dwarf 

 ground-work j^lants should, at the winter season, be 

 lifted in turf fashion, and be pressed down in their 

 allotted positions. To this end it is necessary to divide 

 them in spring time, and plant out in beds of con- 

 venient width for paring off without treading on the 

 plots. In districts where Heather is plentiful, that 

 which has been nibbled close by rabbits makes the 

 most perfect setting, or ground- work, for all descrip- 

 tions of shrubs ; and if this cannot be had, or any of 

 the other ground- work plants mentioned, a surfacing 

 of cocoa-fibre refuse will prove of immense service by 

 imparting a finished and neat appearance. 



